WEYMOUTH TANDOORI BANDITS 60 DORSET STORM CAVS 70

WEYMOUTH Bandits failed to break their Dorset Storm hoodoo.

For some years now, Weymouth have come up against the Storm with recent results going in favour of the Bournemouth-based side.

There have been some fierce contests and the Cavs seem to always get the better of the Bandits and this game was no different. Weymouth welcomed new signing Vitoldras Balkinas into their ranks for his first game.

The opening quarter started perfectly for the Bandits who flew out of the blocks.

Some great offensive plays between Julien Lawes, Dzintas Kalkis, Ian Manley, Alex Fuhrmann and Chris Canham, all resulted in points for the hosts. On the opposite end of the court, the Bandits seemed to have the better of the Cavs stopping plenty of their early offence.

Weymouth came in to the end of the first quarter commanding a 25-14 point lead, only for this to be whittled down to 38-37 at the end of the second quarter with the Cavs showing some authority on the court.

The second half was in the Cavs’ favour as they built on their second quarter success, although the Bandits did come up with some nicely-worked plays, which resulted in scores for Sam Dodge. However, it proved not enough as the Storm took the points.

Coach Che Osborne said: “I was expecting the game to be tough. Cavs are a very strong team but when we came out of the blocks so strong I was convinced that with current form we could get the better of them on this occasion.

“However, we let them creep back into the game in the second and third quarters and with a team like the Cavs you rarely get a second chance.

“Overall it was a good performance, although I do feel like I witnessed our team prematurely concede defeat after Cavs’ scoring streak to take the lead in the third quarter.”

Bandits: Ian Manley 15, Julien Lawes 13, Dzintas Kalkis 10, Chris Canham 3, Alex Fuhrmann 7, Sam Dodge 8, Vitoldras Bakliunas 2, Richard Camp 2, Matt Board, Brett Dunster.

MVP: Ian Manley