The Taunton Tigers Slapheads had a tough test this week against the very physical league new-comes, BC Somerset.
The Slapheads were only able to field seven for this match — due to unavailability of players — prompting head coach Richard ‘Frosty’ Frost to drag himself out of retirement, only to be denied at the last minute due to not being registered.
The game started with the opposition stringing successive baskets together with Matt Nolan swiftly replying from the free throw line. Offensively Slapheads played reasonably well with excellent jump shooting from ‘Super Kev’ and an outstanding finish on a contested lay up by Julian ‘Jib’ Cottingham.
But the defence was a concern for Tigers Slapheads, conceding 20 points alone in the first quarter, the bulk of which came from the free throw line. This theme was to continue with BC Somerset's unorthodox play creating a fourteen point lead in the third quarter.
To compound the problems Slapheads Leigh Hunt fouled out leaving the team rather undersized. This gave the opportunity for Jib to step up for the team showing smart offensive play with intense defence and his never give up attitude stopping the opponents seemingly easy fast break plays.
Finally some fluidity on the offence opened up open jump shots for Franklin and super Kev and strong play from Lofty and free scoring from Matt Nolan sealed the tough contest. The fourth quarter saw Slapheads outscore the opposition 19 – 7.