POOLE BAY FLYERS 76 WEYMOUTH RAIDERS 47

JOSH Turner scored 32 points for the Raiders but the Weymouth outfit were comfortably beaten by the Flyers in Solent Men’s Division Four.

With only five men making the trip to Poole, the Raiders always knew they were going to be in for a tough time.

But spirits were high in the Raiders’ camp as they went in search of revenge after being beaten by the Flyers earlier in the season.

The first quarter was evenly contested with Turner opening the scoring for the Raiders.

Midway through the period, the determination of the Weymouth players started to get the better of the Flyers, with numerous rebounds forcing the hosts to take a time-out.

With the Raiders keeping the pressure on and attacking the basket, the quarter finished 15-10 in favour of Poole.

The second quarter was very much the same as the first, both teams trading baskets, though the Flyers used their bench to their advantage.

Weymouth’s scoring was kept alive by Scott White and Turner, who were assisted greatly by the passing of Max Gilmartin.

The Flyers also kept a good pace to the game, breaking fast in an attempt to wear down an already disadvantaged Wey-mouth side.

The home team were guilty of giving away fouls but the visitors failed to convert a number of free throws and they trailed 34-27 at half-time.

Heading into the third quarter, it was visible that fatigue had started to kick in for the Raiders, but some good play from Kyle Houlden created scoring chances for Turner and Gilmartin.

The Flyers started to find a rhythm with their scoring, which was proving hard to stop as they brought their large physical presences into the game.

This was answered by two straight long-range three-point shots from Jay Willson, however, the Flyers went on to stretch their lead to 57-38.

Quarter four consisted of more of the same, although Gilmartin and White did their best to spoil.

Poole’s experienced heads took advantage of the tired Raiders’ defence and ran away with the game in the last few minutes despite great scoring efforts from Turner.

Raiders: Josh Turner 32, Jay Willson 8, Max Gilmartin 3, Scott White 3, Kyle Houlden 1.

Game MVP: Josh Turner