Rossendale Raptors 3rd Team - Congleton 30 Raptors 54

The Raptors 3rd team travelled to Congleton with a squad of nine, looking to continue the good start in their League programme.

The opposition started the scoring with free throws but Raptors’ man to man pressure told and the opposition struggled to score. Meanwhile Turner hit a purple patch and hit from all areas scoring 11 of the team’s 20 points. Raptors finished the quarter 20 – 11 and then went on to pressurise their opponents with great defence and all round scoring in the second quarter to finish 42 -21 up at the half.

Coach Worsley tried a new zone ploy in the third quarter, but try as they may Raptors could not buy a point and lost their impetus, allowing Congleton to claim the “merits” 9 – 4! However the mix of young and old Raptors responded to the pressure man to man called for, and denied the home team any points in the last quarter, a unique experience! Top scorers for Raptors were A. Fry 14 with a sound all-round game, A. Jones and C. Turner with 13 each and there were good supporting roles from Morris, Chicken, Clegg, Edmonds and Captain Watts.

This was another step on the path for the emerging Raptors, who need to consolidate the learning curve with some good training sessions. Fitness and pressure produced a convincing win.