Raptors made the long journey to Middlesbrough last Saturday to play mid-table Tees Valley Mohawks at the University of Teeside.    

The Mohawks have sprung one or two surprises on better teams this season so Raptors were expecting a challenge, however Raptors were up to the task and won a competitive game 91-77.

The game started with the home side throwing up a succession of successful shots led by their captain Thomas.    

Raptors seemed shellshocked and took a long while to settle, missing relatively easy shots and not playing as a team and in fact it was the third minute before Rossendale broke their duck.

By the sixth minute of the first quarter Mohawks had taken a 15-point lead at 21-6.

Gayle, the Raptors’ play-maker and leading scorer in the League seemed a little out of sorts and it was left to veteran John Lindsay to keep Raptors in the game, scoring nine of their first 12 points inside the paint.    

Estrada also stepped up to the mark and hit some key three-pointers to reduce the deficit.

However by the end of the quarter Raptors trailed the Middlesbrough team 26-21.

The second period started with Thomas for Mohawks again scoring freely, while a re-vamped Raptors team attempted to claw back the lead.    

The home team continued to put pressure on Gayle by double teaming him as he brought the ball up court and the Raptors team took advantage of this from time to time.

They quickly moved the ball up court, bypassing Gayle and scoring easy baskets.    

Six different players for Raptors scored in a five-minute spell and tied the game, but Mohawks responded with six quick points to regain the lead.    

From then on the quarter belonged to Raptors, who stepped up the pressure with their man-to-man defence and outscored the Mohawks 16-4 in the remaining four minutes, with strong scoring from Kornecki and Allerston.

The half finished with Raptors leading 48-41 and Gayle, as yet, had only contributed six points to the Rossendale team’s total.

The coaches’ message at the half-time break was for Raptors to improve their defence and put pressure on the Middlesbrough side’s shooters as well as getting the ball quicker up the court to put them under pressure.

However the start of the second half saw Mohawks again shooting from distance with success, and they pulled back to within one point.

The message finally got home to Raptors, and in the next five minutes, they restricted Mohawks to only four points while Rossendale scored 17.

Gayle was by now causing all sorts of problems to the opposition and their only answer was to foul him to stop him from going to the hoop.

For the second game in succession the Raptors’ playmaker found himself taking free throw after free throw as the Middlesbrough side quickly reached their quota of fouls.

Contributions by Estrada and Slabu made sure that the Raptors stayed in control.    

The quarter finished with the Rossendale side comfortably in the lead 71-55.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Raptors only had to keep their heads to ensure a comfortable victory.    

By now all the squad had played and all had scored, testifying to the side’s strength in depth.    

However, Mohawks were not going to give up without a fight and were again prepared to foul rather than let Raptors have any shooting opportunities.    

Raptors did stretch their lead to 21 points but Copeland for Mohawks suddenly had a purple patch and scored 14 points in five minutes, including four enormous three-pointers.

He finished the match as top scorer with 27 points. Raptors, however, were keeping things simple and picking up sufficient points through good passing and foul shooting and finished comfortable winners 91-77