Match Report: Taunton Tigers Mens Team — 10 & 11 November 2007

Taunton Tigers vs Worthing Thunder & Bristol Academy Flyers


Taunton Tigers returned from the weekend with pride and belief restored following their fixtures against Worthing and Bristol. The previous 2 weeks has seen them struggle in battles against Worthing and Manchester suffering heavy losses against two of the best teams in the country.

It was a very different animal that took the court this weekend however as the Tigers began adjusting to the top flight intensity and demonstrating some unique skills of their own.

Worthing Thunder had made disparaging comments in the programme about the visiting Tigers, questioning Taunton's decision to not import foreign players and describing Somerset's best as ‘uncompetitive’ at this level. You can therefore imagine the nervous tension in the ‘Thunder Dome’ when with 5 minutes to go Taunton had pulled to within 5 points!

Despite several full time professionals on the court it was Tigers Paul Yabsley who stole the MVP Award on his way to 27 points and 10 Rebounds. Joe Andrews played the Captain's role with an all-round display including 19 points and not a single turnover. Taunton finally ran out of steam to finish 109 – 89 losers but walked out with heads held high after a significantly improved performance against last years Division 1 Champions.

Taunton were able to take this energy into Sunday's game way to Bristol in the National Cup opening up an early 12 – 4 lead against their local rivals. Despite being without key players due to injury Tigers still managed to keep Bristol's Ryan Williams relatively quiet regularly changing their defensive set up. American Import Williams had led the league in scoring with Reading last year but he struggled to find clear openings against the aggressive Tigers. Instead it was Bristol's second American the 7′1″ Simons who did the damage with 21 points.

Bristol managed to work a 19 point lead mid-way into the 3 quarter only to see Taunton come strong again in the 4th a 14 point run closing the gap to 6 points before finishing 83 – 74 losers.

The next 2 weeks will see Taunton take on Sheffield and West Anglia. Both contain high profile Americans but neither match the depth in quality of the Tigers. This weekend performances will surely give the young Tigers the belief that they can go into these fixtures with a real chance of winning.

Head Coach Ronnie Heath feels they are now ready,

“The team have coped far better than we could reasonably have expected at this stage. We have demonstrated that we can play as well as anyone in this league. It literally is a case of playing well for longer periods which will come with experience. Trust me, the guys are hungry for victory and know that the next 2 weeks provide real opportunities.”

Final Score: Taunton Tigers 89 – 109 Worthing Thunder

Final Score: Taunton Tigers 74 – 83 Bristol Academy Flyers