Sunday, 29th October 2017
@ Gloucestershire College, Gloucester
An experimental U14s team travelled to Gloucester last Sunday with two players making their debuts and another two playing only their second match for the club; each of them U13s.
Game 1: Gloucester Saxons 21 - 14 Leadonites (ht: 10-8)
A game that slipped away in the early exchanges of the second half with a poor opening four minutes being the difference in the first match, against the hosts, Saxons. Finlay Chalkley top scored with 12 and Tom Smith got the other 2 points.
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Game 2: Leadonites 17 - 20 Stroud Sharks (ht:9-8)
In the second match of the day, against Stroud Sharks, it was once again a poor opening to the second half where the damage was sustained as 6 unanswered points left Leadonites chasing the match. Tom Smith top-scored with 8 points. Fin Chalkley got 5 points (and fouled out with 12 seconds remaining) and Micheal Stunt got 4.
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Game 3: Leadonites 10 - 8 Swindon Shock II (ht:6-6)
The last match of the day was a tussle from start to finish with a big, strong and aggressive Swindon Shock team.
The teams traded scores up to 4-4 before the Leadonites coach rested Chalkley, Brownson and Smith, leaving the four year 8 players (Elliot Bailey, Harry Unthank and Harry Warnock) on court with Branagan marshalling them well for the last three minutes of the first half.
Stunt drove in to the basket for a lay-up to leave the half-time score at 6-all.
The second half became a true war of attrition. Shock took the lead in the second minute of the second half with a long outlet pass down court to an unmarked player for a simple score. Leadonites levelled the following minute through a Chalkley lay-up. Swindon then repulsed repeated Leadonites attacks with foul after foul under their own basket and Leadonites failed to capitalise on the free-throws and base-line inbounds. Eventually Smith broke the deadlock in the eighth minute and Leadonites held on for the win with more free-throws missed that could have made for a more comfortable victory.
Chalkley top-scored with 6 points, with Smith and Stunt getting 2 points each.
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