Thanks to Ross’s steady(ish) camera hand, here’s a selection of photos from the Congelton game for Hornets II.

Courtney with another put-back

Luba sends it back

Big Rob, down with the bigs, with a big move

Danny on his way thru the D

Not sure if that's head, face or ball - but Joel's sent it outta there!

Neil controls the play

Pretty move from Alain (from the neck-down at least)

Chris shows the knee (surely a moving screen?)

Congleton: 89

A memorable occasion as the Hornets put out a second team for the first time in their History. The bench was full and enthusiasm was high. Fellow 2nd division opposition Congleton provided the opposition and showed how much they have improved in the last 6 months. Holmes Chapel will need to practice hard to get their standard up before the season starts.

A slow start and some hurried shots saw the Hornets down by 9 without getting on the scoreboard. A time-out settled nerves and Danny Wareham opened the scoring with a well worked 3 pointer. Courtney Young, in his first match, started his account and Danny landed a brace of free throws to cut the deficit to 2 points. Everybody was getting court time and a period of loose team play now let Congleton off on a 14 point unanswered streak. Rob Moss, a product of the Youth team, showed that he will be a force to handle in future – the 6’8” youngster landing a turn around jump shot to close the quarter – Hornets down by 14.

Q2 didn’t start much better – Congleton proving that they could shoot as well as fast break. Rob Farkas scored from close in but that was scant reward as Congleton eased out their lead. But now Hornets started to gel and showed a great spirit. Courtney forced in a rebound. Alain Thomas scored two in quick succession and Neil Hawkins landed 2 x  3 pointers and the game started to take on more of an even contest. Rob finished a fine move (see below) and Chris Tappenden finished the half with a mid range shot. Hornets down by 17 but smiling at last!

Both teams Defence were tighter in Q3 and points dried for both sides. Congleton Edged forward on the back of Premiership standard free throw shooting. Lubomir Farkas opened his account on debut and then proved it wasn’t a fluke by landing an and 1 play. Alain proved he could score on the outside as well as inside  and Neil kept the scorer working towards the end. Hornets down by 18.

Hornets fell apart in Q4 – they tried to pressurise Congleton but only succeeded in opening the door at the other end and Congleton needed no 2nd invitation scoring a series of fast breaks and rattling up a 30 point quarter. Lots to work on but plenty of green shoots to nurture and grow – can we have two teams in the premiership in 2015?

• Top scorer – Neil 10 points
• Played out of their skin – Neil -  Good control and fine outside shooting. Rob Moss also showed great promise with a couple of close finishes.
• Best Basket – Joel Shields draws a defender and slips a fine assist for Rob to finish ring high
• Must improve – listen to the timeouts and respond. Nearly every timeout asked for structured play but if one player isn’t listening then it falls apart for the others.

Over the last 12-months, you’ve been voting on the MOTM (that’s “Man of the Match”, Zander) and Most Improved Player polls.

Click on the link to see a table of our voting, including the breakdown of how many votes each player recieved per game!

Happy reading!

Click to Enlarge

Woodside Golf Club
Knutsford Road
Cranage
Holmes Chapel
Cheshire
CW4 8HJ

Get any agenda points to Tush before the meeting.

Woodside Golf Club

The Iceman rises above everyone

Tush's abuser gets away without a foul call

Match ends with a 77:65 loss to the Hornets

Phoenix 59

Hornets won Division One and promotion to the Premiership in a fine all round team performance in front of a capacity crowd.

Hornets knew before the game started that a win would leave them as champions and with a full roster of players were in no mood for finishing second best. The guards played intense defence all night, the shooters all stayed calm and the power forwards and centres cleaned the boards at both ends. The crowd were magnificent in raising the roof and creating a fitting atmosphere for the most important match for the club since they entered the Manchester League.

Hornets scored right from the start with John Whelan worked free from a tip off move. Andrew Rushton used his power to score from close range but the Phoenix showed they were in no mood to surrender and scored well worked shots and drives to open an early lead. John sank a text book jump shot and Sam Barnard then proved it’s almost impossible to stop a 6’9” player who can shoot from the outside. Tush landed another shot to bring the lead back to the Hornets and it was never given up for the rest of the game. Hornets were already benefitting from their strength in depth as fresh players were always being brought in. Kris Wood scored and benefited with an “And 1”, Danny Wareham slotted from down town and Andy Sienkiewicz pulled down an offensive rebound to return it via a turn around jump shot. Hornets already clear by 7 points.

John and Barney opened early pressure by both netting from close range. Neil Hawkins stole the ball, drove on his defender and the reversed for an exquisite assist for Zander Fyfe to score. Guy Johnson scored a calm jumper and Tom Lee opened his account with a long 3 pointer. Hornets were racing away and when Kris stole to run away and Dunk - the crowd went wild as victory was in the air. Oxford pulled back with calm shooting and closed the gap. Steve Arnold finished off the half with a strong drive at the low post and Hornets now had a 13 point lead.

Hornets got a good start to Q3 but then were sloppy in defence, failing to fight around well work blocks and Oxford closed the gap with accurate shooting from their forwards. A Time Out steadied the Home team nerves and Tush and then Kris with a 3 helped the Hornets to pull clear. Sam Bithell stayed calm to slot from the charity stripe. Guy scored off a rehearsed move and then with the clock ticking at the end of the quarter produced a never seen before event - a Johnson 3 pointer!
Despite the 17 point lead Hornets were warned to keep their heads and finish the job in hand and this they did with a 27 point last quarter. The Crowd cheered every basket. Guy’s shot now looked like it couldn’t miss. John scored another straight off the training ground. Steve and Kris scored off fast breaks, Tush and Danny added 3 pointers and John finished the scoring and the season.

Cue the Champagne and the mayhem!

Top scorer – Tush 22 points

Played out of their skin – Magic Johnson – amazing shot percentage tonight. But this was truly a team performance for everyone to be proud of.

Best Basket – Lots to choose from – 3 stand out: Neil’s assist to Zander, Kris’s Dunk and Guy’s 3 pointer.

Must improve – The champagne drinking was very messy – a lot was spilt – I expect to see better when we win the play-offs!