Match Preview

Saturday 8th December 2007

PAWS London Capital vs. Newcastle Eagles 7.30pm

PAWS London Capital and Newcastle Eagles meet for the first time in London on Saturday as the home side look to gain revenge for an early season mauling at the hands of the north east club.

Eagles picked up their first victory of the campaign when the pair met in September running out comfortable 107-84 winners. Great Britain star Richard Midgley led the victors with 26 points, supported by 17 from Lynard Stewart and 15 from captain Andrew Bridge. The now departed Anthony Anderson led all scorers with 32 points.

After a tight first quarter, the Eagles broke the game open late in the second as they closed it with a 14-2 surge. The run was inspired by Midgley, as the Eagles led 56-41 at the half, and they never looked back.

The game caps a massive week for the Capital team who face trips to Milton Keynes on Wednesday and Plymouth on Sunday with the visit of the Eagles sandwiched in between, but London coach Steve Bucknall is pleased that his side now has some competition for places: “Harvey van Stein didn’t play on Sunday as he said he was sick, but it didn’t effect us much against jets, and in fact we looked better. We used other guys in his place, and we were better defensively. We might need to sacrifice a bit of offence for defence, but he’ll have to fight his way back into the side. That’s the way I work, no one goes straight back into the side based on reputation, you have to earn your place.”

The game will saw Bucknall up against his former England colleague, Eagles coach Fab Flournoy and he’s looking forward to meeting up with him: “He was my room-mate in Melbourne with the England Commonwealth Games team. I know his style, and his team will play really aggressive defence. If we don’t match that, they’ll blow us out. Jeremy Hyatt is an explosive guard, and Richard Midgley has a good pedigree. They will move the ball around well and take a lot of good shots.”

Sunday 9th December 2007

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders vs. PAWS London Capital 4.00pm

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders will look to end a run of away victories in games between themselves PAWS London Capital when the pair meet for the fourth time this season. The opening game in the series between the two former EBL rivals saw Raiders record a comfortable 80-63 victory in the BBL Championship, but Capital caused an upset by winning 83-74 in the first round of the BBL Cup. Raiders returned to Capital City Academy a fortnight ago, and won a tight game 73-71. The visitors looked to be well on the way to a comfortable victory, leading 73-61 midway through the fourth period before Capital scored the final ten points of the game to set up a grandstand finish. Drew Lasker led Raiders with 27 points, while Wes Miller scored 16 for London.

Raiders coach Gary Stronach is expecting another tough game when his side match up with London for the final time in the league this season: “They are a tough team and Steve has done a really good job there. They’re competitive and they going to improve week by week. We know we’ll have a battle, and we were lucky to get a two point victory two weeks ago. They’ve added to their team with Fred Williams, and they are getting near to being the finished article.

“ We need to look out for the likes of Wes Miller, Sam Bradley and Harvey van Stein, but you can’t sleep on their British kids. Santa Ataha has had a new lease of life thanks to Steve, but really you could name the whole team as they go ten deep. They are finding their roles, and they will look to continue what they’ve been doing over the last few weeks.
“ We also need to continue playing the way we’ve been recently, and concentrating on our defence. We’re pressing for a place in the top four.”

Having seen his side narrowly miss out on a victory against Raiders last time they met, Capital coach Steve Bucknall is looking for his team to finish the job this time: “We made a couple of mistakes against Plymouth last time. We know what to expect from them, they are a good all-round team. Any of their starting five can win the game, but we looked a lot better last weekend, and I’m looking to build on that.”

Article by Dave Ryan.

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