Westminster and Solent beaten – but they’re close calls for Worthing Thunder

Thunder travelled to lowly Westminster Warriors and encountered a tough physical performance by the hosts on an afternoon when Thunder were not at their best.

It was a close match with a nail-biting finish, which saw Thunder home 88-84.

Thunder took an early seven-point lead with Warriors hitting back with a nine-point run. The home side got the upper hand to lead 31-23 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second period Warriors pulled into a 17-point lead but following a time-out Thunder were playing confidently and in just two minutes had pulled it back to just four points. At half-time the lead was down to just 51-50.

The third stanza was nip and tuck and finished all square at 63-63.

The final ten minutes saw Warriors start with great determination but as the minutes ticked by Thunder were forcing errors. Thunder were trailing by a point but then... step forward the man for the big occasion, David Moya hitting a big trey to take a two-point lead followed by a couple of frees to clinch a close victory.

Next day, Thunder were away to Solent Kestrels in the National Cup 5th round.Thunder started slowly with the home side taking a big lead. Thunder looked tired and they trailed by nine points at the first break.

The second period saw Solent stretch the lead to 13 points but as the quarter went on things were beginning to change.

Fouls were mounting against Solent and with the dismissal of the home side’s No3, the game was changing. Led by strong defence from Orlan Jackman and great offensive pressure from Veron Eve, Thunder closed the deficit they trailed only 40-39.

In the third period Ronald Blain and the inspiring Andre Arrisol ere on fire, and with OJ was having a great game in defence, it was 63-59.

Thunder’s lead increased to 13 points but Solent made a late fight of it, Thunder winning 83-80.

Thunder host Hemel Storm at the Thunderdome on Saturday in a clash of two sides with perfect records. Doors 5pm – a division three game precedes the big one.