Taunton were left licking their wounds as League leaders Manchester Magic were able to tame the Tigers. Recent wins against Derby and Coventry had given the travelers hope in front of a large crowd at the Amaechi Centre, but Manchester demonstrated why they are top of the table with a comfortable win and an impressive all-round display.
The Tigers showed regular glimpses of their rapidly improving form this year but could not match the sustained quality and intensity of their more experienced opponents.
Coach Ronnie Heath was disappointed but realistic after the game,
“It is a sign of our increased belief and development that we are feeling very down after the loss but you really have to accept that they were that much better than us today. Their strength is their depth and selflessness with all their players making significant contributions. We couldn't find any rhythm offensively and even struggled from the 3-point line where we have been as good as most teams in the league. I was really pleased with my captain Joe Andrews who once again stepped up to the mark for us, but Gill is a class act was outstanding for them. Forget his 19 points, he ran the game and managed to terrorize us in the process!”
Stefan Gill led the way for Manchester with 19 points in their victory. The home side led 22 – 13 at the first break, and effectively had the game wrapped up at 45 – 26 going into the locker room. That lead had ballooned to 67 – 38 at the last break before a 16 – 14 fourth period completed the win. Orlan Jackman (11) and Patrick Dwyer (10) completed Manchester's leading scorers as the home side had a balanced scoring effort. The fast improving Clifford was the star man and led the Taunton scoring with 14 points Andrews and Richard Anderson had 11 each.
Heath quickly turned his attention to the big home game this weekend against last year's Champions Worthing Thunder.
“Having beat Manchester on the Sunday, Worthing will come expecting nothing less than a comfortable victory. Derby will of course reminded them that there no easy games at the Wellsprings centre in front of our fantastic supporters. The Thunder are packed with talent in all positions but I know as a team we can give them some trouble. They beat us by 40 points in the trophy and then described us as uncompetitive in their match programme in the league fixture. I guess we will all be interested to hear what they will think of us after this Saturday's game.”
Heath should have last year's MVP Graham Jones back for the Worthing game and with Paul Yabsley recovering fast from injury he should be able to select his best team for the first time this year.