FLYING HAWKS REJOIN TITLE RACE

Aylesford Hawks soared back into contention for the league title with a brace of victories on the road and now sit in second place behind the unbeaten leaders Tile Hill Trojans 1.

Hawks won both of their games, at Ernesford Eagles and Warwick China Red by thirty points and were in control from the first tip, particularly at Woodlands where Warwick China Red were no match for the five-time Champions, and the league’s oldest Club are desperate to make it six as they celebrate fifty years of local play. They raced into a massive match-winning 30-6 lead to leave the University students gasping, and the pace, set mainly by the flying Ricky Fennell was relentless. It understandably slowed after this initial burst, but China Red had no answer to him and colleagues Matt Glover and Calvin Moore – the trio responsible for 67 of the total which saw Hawks win 77-47.

It was not quite the same at Bilton School where Ernesford, normally hosting at Grace Academy in Coventry were entertaining, and the game proved to be just that. Hawks, for once were pegged back after their quick-fire start and although Eagles could not match them, they gave a good account of themselves, trailing by four just ahead of the first break. But Hawks then took off and flew into an impressive 43-24 lead by half-time with Fennell again the driving force behind their offensive play. It continued after the interval with Aylesford having most things their own way and Fennell, who had slammed 34 against China Red, added a further eight three-pointers on his way to 38 to send Ernesford packing. The action contained twenty-one triples, four of them coming from Eagles’ debutant Suluman Charley to go with the three downed by their top scorer Ben Clarke in his 20 points.

Eagles fared much better when they took on Cracovia Stratford and did everything right – until the last few minutes when they let slip a six-point lead to go down 62-65. Jamie Summers was consistent throughout for Stratford to finish on 32, but no points in the final five minutes cost Eagles an unexpected victory.

Tile Hill Trojans 1 had little trouble at JM Grizzlies where they grabbed a 100-49 win, despite being without their leading scorer Ash Dickson. Instead the honour of leading Trojans offense went to younger brother Austin and he excelled with a superb 34 point haul, 21 coming in the first half when Trojans raced into a 52-30 lead. After the interval they turned it on again to run up a 23-6 quarter and hit the hundred mark with the last scoring shot of the game.

Leamington Spartans consolidated their mid-table position with a hard-earned 63-51 win at Trojans 2. There was little between the pair until the third quarter when Spartans offence clicked and they rattled in a 15-0 burst to seal the game. An even point spread saw Michael O’Neill, Adrian Ungereanu and Claudio Rossi equally sharing 36 and Ben Linnett leading Trojans with 16.

Division Two strugglers Nuneaton and Trojans 3 without a game when their fixture was called off with a cricket net stuck across the Jubilee Centre court. Westwood Rhinos did make it though, and they crushed Team Rebels 50-29.

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