NEWS ARCHIVE

As they look to make a mark on the BBL in their first season in competition, the Essex Pirates will certainly be looking to better their last result against Newcastle Eagles, when they host the Tyneside outfit on Saturday evening, at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre. Last time the two teams did battle, the Eagles dominated from tip to buzzer, as they convincingly dealt with the Pirates 46-97. They also won the only other encounter between the two teams back at the start of the season, 99-72, but player-coach of the Eagles, Fabulous Flournoy, is not expecting it to be an easy game, as his side adjust to the addition of former Tyneside legend and Team GB Captain, Andrew Sullivan, to the squad.

He said: Improvements that we have to make are adjusting and gelling together. Since we have signed Andrew (Sullivan), we are working out our rotations to get the best out of all our players, and the more games we play, the better it will become. Essex is the league and we cannot afford to drop any games.

Whilst many see Sullivan as the Eagles X-Factor for the rest of the current campaign, Flournoy was quick to pay tribute to other players who have put in significant performances to bring the Eagles to a 21-5 record, as they sit second, on the same number of points as first placed Sheffield Sharks. The charismatic defensive specialist also gave credit to his players for coming through a tough weekend last weekend with two wins, as he added: Last weekend we had a big test playing a re-established team in Worcester on Saturday, this team has been playing at a new level since Paul James took over. Then on Sunday we took on Milton Keynes for the first time this season and they are always a tough team to play. Coming out of the weekend with two wins from two good teams on the road at this point in the season is a huge step for us in the last run up to the season. He continued: This year we have so many stand out players and each team has two or three. Of late, Joe Chapmen has been very consistent for our team.