Blazers again bid to halt the high-flying Kestrels
IN a home double header weekend, Derby Trailblazers must again attempt to get the better of powerful Team Solent Kestrels.
They meet Leicester Warriors in NBL Division One today (7pm) and the Kestrels, their conquerors last weekend in the National Cup, are back in town tomorrow (3pm) for a semi-final in the L Lynch Trophy.
On paper, today’s game is the easier, with the Warriors 1-9 in the league and Derby having won 23 of the 26 league meetings between them.
“Saturday brings us another local derby and another tricky challenge,” said head coach Matt Shaw.
“It’s always hard to play against Karl Brown’s teams because he has them playing really tough defence and it’s always a battle.”
The Kestrels, beaten only once all season, will will be a different proposition.
One of the problems teams face playing them is figuring out just who
to try and stop, because they have by far the deepest bench in the league.
Last Saturday, in a convincing 80-56 win, they were led by Luke Busumbro (15), Andre Arissol (14), Elliot Sentence (12) and Cole Gentry (11) but there are numerous other players who could produce doubledigit contributions
“We’re hoping for a really big crowd against Solent because I really do believe they can help push us over the line,” said Shaw.
“The Kestrels are clearly one of the best teams we’ve seen in division one for the last couple of decades, so it will be a really difficult challenge.
“We’re really excited by that challenge though, because it’s a chance for us to get into a final which we’ve not done for a while now.”
Supporters who cannot get to the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre can find links to the scoring progress of the games through the club’s social media channels.
Meanwhile, those are going have been reminded of the new government restrictions for indoor events
Face masks must be worn unless people are exempt.
The club also encourage everyone to adopt a self-screening process and if you have a temperature, cough, headache or feel generally unwell, please do not attend.