Cardiff CELTS Wheelchair
Basketball Club
4th Division Team
Match Reports from the
2009 – 2010 season
Cardiff CELTS Wheelchair Basketball Club are Development South
Champions for the second year in a row after two impressive victories in
one day!
Final scores :
CELTS 39 - 22 Bears
CELTS 19 - 16 Sparrows
The CELTS Development Team headed for Warwickshire bright and
early on Sunday for their final tournament of the season.
The first game against the home team, Warwickshire Bears started really well
with CELTS rookies, Gethin and Rhys Thomas securing the first baskets of the
game. This coupled with some impressive zone Defence from the CELTS meant
the Bears were struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. Captain,
Damien Hallett and G. Thomas added to the score line before Bears managed to
put their first point on the scoreboard. A fantastic free throw by Stephen James
meant the CELTS ended the first quarter 11 - 2 in the lead.
The second quarter started well but some slight lapses in the CELTS defence
allowed Bears to claim two baskets from close range. CELTS responded with
baskets dropping for Shaun Swetman, Hallett, and the Thomas brothers. Despite
another close range basket from the Bears, at the half way break the CELTS
were comfortably in the lead 23 - 8.
The third quarter saw the Bears alter their defensive structure which clearly put
the CELTS off their game and produced a basket for the opposition. Coach
Joanna McGrath called a time-out and adjusted the CETLS attacking formation
to break through the new defence. This worked well and lead to further baskets
dropping for the CELTS. Bears kept fighting and clawed back two baskets but
CELTS now had a decisive lead with the score-line 33 -14
With such a commanding lead the Coach was able to rest some of the players
and give extra game experience to the younger members of the squad. They
acquitted themselves really well and provided excellent support to assist Julie
Salmon with two quick baskets.
A really solid team effort lead to a final score of 39 - 22 in favour of the CELTS.
CELTS Scorers : Gethin Thomas - 18; Damien Hallett - 8; Julie Salmon - 4; Rhys
Thomas - 4; Shaun Swetman - 4; Stephen James - 1.
The second game of the day was expected to be tougher and CELTS had only
narrowly beaten the Sparrows on their last encounter. It certainly lived up to
expectations!
The Sparrows are a very fast team with several key shooters and the CELTS
zone defence was soon put under pressure. Three early unanswered baskets
from the Sparrows left the CELTS shaken and the Coach Joanna McGrath called
a time out to motivate the team. This seemed to have the desired effect and
quarter ended just 6 - 4 in favour of the Sparrows.
The Sparrows defence was hard for the CELTS to break as they found
themselves caught in a full court press for the entire game. This meant real team
work and determination was needed from the CELTS and that's certainly what
they had plenty of! For the vast majority of the game there was never more than
a four point gap in the score but it was always the Sparrows who were ahead.
Going into the final quarter the CELTS were 11 - 14 down but the
Coach reminded them all that the win was still well within reach. As the Sparrows
started the quarter by adding to their score the CELTS were now 5 points down
and could easily of lost hope, however they fought back strongly and never gave
up under the pressure of the Sparrows relentless tight defending. CELTS
G.Thomas and S.Swetman both netted shots for the CELTS to bring them just
one point behind with 3 minutes left on the clock.
The CELTS bench could hardly bear to watch as the tension mounted and it was
the two most experienced players on court who provided the thrilling conclusion
to the game. Julie Salmon scoring in the final two minutes put the CELTS in the
lead for the first time. This now lead to a nail-biting end to end battle between the
two teams before Hallett produced a scorching basket with just 31 seconds
remaining in the game. This took the CELTS to an outstanding 19 -16 victory.
CELTS Scorers; Damien Hallett - 8; Shaun Swetman - 4; Julie Salmon - 3; Rhys
Thomas - 2; Gethin Thomas – 2
The Cardiff CELTS 4th Division Wheelchair Basketball Team win two matches
against the Gloucester Blazers (one league and one friendly) on Saturday 28th
November 2009!!!
The CELTS Development Team start their season ON FIRE!
Final score : CELTS 26 - 20 Blazers
The CELTS left Cardiff with a long bench of 11 players all keen to get on court for
the first time in the season. It was only a short journey to Gloucester College,
home of the Blazers. Most people arrived in plenty of time but no trip to
Gloucester is complete without the van and the chairs getting lost!
Once everyone had arrived, newly appointed Captain, Damien Hallett put all the
players through their paces in the warm up. The excitement was building but with
four key players from last season (Steve, Romeo, Mo, and Phil) now moving up
to Division Two no-one knew how the dynamic of the team might be affected.
The CELTS focused on the task ahead and it was great to welcome Daniel
Clelland, Brenda Annand, and Gethin Thomas to their first ever National League
game. Julie Salmon was also joining the Development Team line up for the first
time.
CELTS 2 were unbeaten throughout the whole 2008/09 season and they were
determined to keep up the winning form and continue to dominate.
Coaches Holt and Coates-McGrath sent out a strong starting line who quickly
proved their worth with some excellent zone defence. This, coupled with some
good team work and accurate passing soon game the CELTS several shooting
chances, many of which they managed to score.
CELTS v Blazers games are always a close matched affair where either team
can win on the day. This game was no exception and the Blazers fought to keep
up with the CELTS slight lead.
Across the entire game the CELTS showed great sportsmanship and team play
with the zone defence and passing consistently good. Everyone experience
several shifts of court time and played extremely well. When on the bench,
players were encouraging their team mates and spurring them on all the way.
With the defence remaining tight for the majority of the game, the Blazers were
forced to take outside shots which did cut down considerably on their shooting
options.
The usual CELTS, Blazers end to end battle continued throughout but the
CELTS always managed to stay just slightly ahead of the game and thoroughly
deserved the 26-20 victory.
As the Bears were unable to make the tournament, it was agreed that the CELTS
and Blazers would play again for a friendly match once they had taken a short
rest.
As it was a friendly there were no classification restrictions and un-named
players were able to play. It was hoped that the Blazers new and younger players
would come to play against some of the CELTS new and junior members but
unfortunately they were not present.
With the Blazers calling on some of their Division Three players to try and secure
a victory, Coaches Holt and McGrath realised this could be quite a tough battle,
especially as Captain Hallett was now ruled out due to injury following the first
match.
Luckily Steve McGrath had come along to support the CELTS and had his sports
chair in the car so he kitted up and joined the team line-up.
The Blazers came out strong and it was clear they were looking for a victory
following their league defeat just minutes before. Luckily, the removal of the
classification rules meant that the CELTS coaches could play more than one 5
point player at a time which certainly helped the team with height and rebounding
options.
This game was extremely tense and a real nail biter. As the lead passed back
and forth, there was never more than a few baskets in it and with everyone
watching on the edge of their seats, the game ended with an 18 all draw!
The CELTS coaches were congratulating everyone on a well deserved draw
(which would have been allowed as it was a friendly). However as they prepared
for the team handshake it became clear that the Blazers coach wanted to play
overtime to decide on who would win outright.
The CELTS were more than happy to oblige, and with the supporters and
coaches hardly able to look, a thrilling period of overtime began.
It remained as close as it had throughout but in overtime CELTS managed to
score two baskets whilst the Blazers only managed one. This ended with an
emphatic CELTS team winning 22 - 20.
This great start to the season should help put the CELTS in good stead ready for
the home tournament on January 24th 2010 at Eastern Leisure Centre.
Match Report by Jo Coates-McGrath
The Cardiff CELTS 4th Division team win their division after only one loss
in six games!
The Cardiff CELTS 4th Division team retain their title as Development Division
champions for the 2009-2010 season. The CELTS won five out of their six
games to win the league and prove how competitive the CELTS can be!
The new season will start in September 2010 - and we are recruiting new players
now!! This is the perfect time to get started and join in with us when the new
season starts. We look forward to meeting you soon!!
This year's league table for the fourth division...
Team Pos
Team
W L
F
A
PD
Pts
1
Cardiff CELTS 2
5
1
157
114
43
11
2
Sparrows 2
4
2
154
95
59
10
3
Gloucester Blazers 2
3
3
128
117
11
9
4
Warwickshire Bears 3
0
6
42
155
-113
2