MYERSCOUGH II 43-73 MANCHESTER SWARM
(Q1: 8-21, Q2: 9-19, Q3: 6-22, Q4: 20-11)
TOP SCORERS:
- MYERSCOUGH II: Hezikiel (8 Pts); Johnstone (7 Pts); Prince/Campbell/Brotherson (5 Pts)
- MANCHESTER SWARM: Nathan Schall (16 Pts); Jayden Johnson/Joseph Swindells/Barry Webster (14 Pts); Stewart Havinden (13 Pts)
Manchester Swarm got their NBL Division 3 North West campaign off to a solid start, taking a professional road win at Myesrcough II. Having recieved a bye in the National Cup Round 1, this was the first competitive outing for the new look team, with coach Mbongeni Mpofu handing out 5 debuts.
The first quarter showed the visiting side's intentions, as they used a strong defensive effort to frustrate their hosts through out the period. Barry Werbster and Nathan Schall worked together well on the interior offensively, allowing Swarm to seperate on the scoreboard.
The second quarter continued the trend of suffocating defence, with newcomers Joseph Swindells and Jayden Johnson making an impact with some timely outside shooting to keep the Myerscough II defence stretched. The Manchester outfit entered the half-time break leading by a score of 17-40.
Swarm continued to turn the screw in the third period, causing a number of errors by their hosts in the process. The relentless inside attack was beginning to cause some foul trouble issues for Myerscough II, which allowed the guests to extend their lead out to a managable margin.
Newcomer Ben Berwick, alongside youngsters Louis Leyland and Jack Sankey were able to earn some valuable 4th quarter minutes as Swarm saw the game out. Myerscough II continued to battle throughout and claimed the period by a 20-11 score.
Coach Mpofu said afterwards: "I think the guys have done well here, opening up on the road is never ideal, but the work we've done over the pre-season reflected in how our performance panned out. We've had a huge emphasis on the defensive end of the floor, and everyone has bought into that. We now have to maintain our standards, fine-tune one or two things offensively, and continue the hard work ahead of our double-header next weekend, but good start overall."
Manchester Swarm play Liverpool at home on 8 October (17:00) in a NBL Division 3 North West tie, before facing the same opponents again on 9 October (16:00) in a National Cup Round 2 fixture, both at NBPC Belle Vue.
