2013-2014 Season
CELTS Vs Bury Bombers20th October 2013 tip 1420 at Talybont Sports Center
The second game for Celts 2 in Div 2 South, took place Sunday with the visit to Wales of the Bury Bombers, in what promised to be a fast and difficult game for the home side
Coach Coates - McGrath selected the following players for this fixture, having the luxury of a long bench.
9 H Jenkins (C), 12 B Jones, 16 F Jones, 22 P Furber, 25 G Price were selected to start.
13 P Macadorey, 32 R Whatley, 34 L Price, 40 E Douglas, 41 R Carpenter, 55 R Nute.
The tip was lost and immediately the fast and accurate passing the visitors had effect with the top scorer of the match Bombers 10 A Hughes making his presence felt.Celts zone defence taking a while to settle saw another successful attack converted by Hughes,However good transition saw an immediate reply by Celts captain Jenkins pulling the home side back to within a basket.
The visitors well practiced offence led to two further baskets for Hughes, one of the Bombers 5 pointers, who's height was starting to prove a handful. The hardworking Celts defence began to rally with encouragement from Captain Jenkins and 25 G Price.Good positive offence from Celts saw two further baskets from Jenkins and F Jones lifted the team, but despite constant efffort by all the CELTS, especially 22 P Furber, further baskets for Bombers saw the Celts trail 16-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Coach Coates- McGrath used this respite to rally the team and change the defence with a half press being employed in an attempt to negate the constant threat of Hughes.This tactic worked for a spell, and Celts claimed the first blood of the second quarter with a foul on Jenkins taking him to the line to convert one of two free throws.Unfortunately the press lost its focus and led to four very quick scores to the bombers. CELTS guard Furber's constant harrying of the Bombers defence led to several unconverted attempts. Good contributions were made from the bench with41 R Carpenter, 13 P Macadorey 55 R Nute all making their presence felt.Bombers 27 Celts 7 at the end of the half.
The third Quarter saw a return to zone defence with Coach Coates- McGrath's instructions to get back quickly in D ringing in the players ears, the home side worked hard with a good basket from 25 G Price in the second minute.The passing and speed of the visitors definitely made its mark however, again the score board began to tick.The excellent shooting of Bombers 10 Hughes and 33 Dickens led to 5 baskets.Celts Price again shot to score in the 8th minute to take the score to 38 11 at the end of the quarter.Positive contributions from the bench continued to help the cause of the Celts with 40 E Douglas 34 L Price55 R Nute and home debute by 32 R Whatley. Well done Rich.
The fourth quarter saw the best period of offence for the home side, with baskets from 16 F Jones, one from 25 Price and a great shot from the line by 12 B Jones. Bombers continued their previous pattern with 6 more baskets to take the game Bombers 49 Celts 19.
A really hard home defeat for the CELTS today that will bring training opportunities.The team never gave up and worked incredibly hard to try to contain the Bombers.All members worked positively and fairly, with the foul count low for both sides.We take this forward to the next adventure on the 4th of November away for the weekend.
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Report by L Price
CELTS ON THE ROAD - 2 and 3 November 2013
November 4th saw both Celts national league teams hit the road with an early start for a double header weekend.
First port of call was Newark, at the Magnum Sports Centre for the first of two hard matches for both teams.
Celts 2 were first to take on the Jaguars in what promised to be a tough test forCelts 2, especially as train delays meant that Frankie and Ben were late to arrive.However it must be said they made a fantastic effort for the team, travelling by train.
Coach Coates-McGrath rallied the troops before the tip with instructions to work hard in a tight hard zone defence and to be composed with the ball on offence, the starting line up of
G Price, L Price ( Capt), P Macadorry, R Whately and R Carpenter, with F Jones, B Jones E Douglas on the bench.
Right from the tip the jaguars had celts under pressure with their height and well drilled passing drills telling, the celts side unsettled by the journey.with 14 unanswered point in the first quarter.Low completion rate of the celts was starting to look ominous and the quarter ended with Jaguars 14 Celts O.
Coach Coates - McGrath used the time to settle the team with some encouraging words and made substitutions with the arrival of Frankie and Ben.This settled the team to some extent, with Baskets from Gee and Ben lifting the Celts score and spirits, however the full and half court press defence from the Jaguars increased the pressure, leading to an end of half scoreline of 28 to 5.Good contributions were made by the Celts bench with Emma Douglas, Lyndon Price Richard Whately and Rob Carpenter entering into the fray.
Second half saw the celts finally beginning to settle and playing some tidy ball, with good transitional play, decent offence leading to baskets from Gee and frankie taking the celts score to 11.Defence was still the achilies heel with the Jaguars height and passing prooving a stern lesson for the celts, added to inconsistant refereeing decisons seeing frustration with in the celt ranks.However the team ethos of the club shone through, with all players giving all they had and leavingeverthing on the court.The best period for the celts came in the final quarter, where we held the jaguars to only ten points, scoring nine ourselves.
A highlight of the day was the entry into the game of the legend that is Scott.Playing with unbridled commitment and vocal enthusiam , he raised the spirits of the whole team and the wonderful band of travelling supporters
Final ScoreJaguars 53 Celts 20
A stern test of skill for the celts, however the team never gave up and tried to put into practice drills learnt in club training.
A well deserved rest was had at the Travelodge in Leicester after negotiating the moon like landscape of the tar mac and Lyndon becominga bus.
The following day saw the team travelling to the Leicester Leys sports centre to compete with the Leicester Cobras.The second match of the double header weekend.
Coach Coates-Mcgrath chose the starting five of G Price, F Jones, B Jones, P Macadory and R Whitley, with L Price (capt) E Douglas and Scott on bench,
Right from the off this felt an entirly different affair to the previous days match.Everyone was more settled and focused on the task in hand.
The first quarter saw the Cobras building a high score quickly, but, today the Celts worked to set targets from Coach Coates- McGrath making sure that it was what the celts did well was important.Baskets from B Jones and G Price giving a celts score of 4 in reponse to 15 from a very good Cobras side.Bench was rotated regularly with Emma and Lyndon giving all to the cause.
The encouragement from both coach and captain focused the side to work hard in our tight zone defence.In offence Mac was becoming the curling king, working well with fowards on both sides of the key, giving good scoring opportunities to Jones, Price and Jones, sadly the conversion rate was poor.Highlight of the half was a magnificent three pointer fromB Jones that raised the team and the noise level of the supporters
Half time score
Cobras 26 Celts 12
The second half carried on in much the same vein, but the celts played some excellent ball in both offence and defence, things in training beginning to gel on the court, with some picks, curls and good passing and shooting taking place.Some good shooting and positional play led to baskets from the Jones boys and Gee showing that this is team that can play good ball, scores not withstanding.
Another legendary contribution from Scott made everyone realise how important it is just to play the game.
All members of the team made valuable contributions today, with a real feeling of having played well at the end of the game
Cobras were very worthy winners with the final score
Cobras 56 Celts 27
This is the highest score recorded by this current Celts 2 team
All in all an excellent trip which has bonded the team well and we look forward to the next game at home on the 24th November 2013
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Report by L Price