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Tees Valley Mohawks suffer loss weekend against Yorkshire teams

5 Mar 2014 14:10

Tees Valley Mohawks couldn't have asked for a worse weekend on the basketball court with two defeats at the hands of Bradford Dragons and Leeds Carnegie

Photo credit: Karen Brown

Jerome Narcisse can find no way through for Tees Valley Mohawks

Tees Valley Mohawks couldn’t have asked for a worse weekend on the basketball court with two defeats at the hands of Bradford Dragons and Leeds Carnegie.

Off the court the club took giant strides at the basketball launch of the partnership between the club and Middlesbrough College on Sunday which attracted more than 250 people to the game, and to support the club.

The weekend started with a trip to Bradford as Mohawks looked to boost their chances of a play-off spot but, in a poor start, Bradford took the first quarter lead as Mohawks found it hard to make a basket with Bradford’s pressure defence causing Mohawks all sorts of troubles.

The second quarter was similar to the first as Bradford Dragons went into the locker room well ahead by a score of 52-26.

Coach Steve Butler knew his side couldn’t play much worse, and they went back out and put the pressure on to the Dragons and won the second half by eight points but it wasn’t enough as Mohawks lost the game 89-71.

Butler said after the game “I’ve said it plenty of times this season but we can’t allow teams a 20 to 25 point start and then play catch-up.

“We can compete with any team in this league but are really struggling to get out of the blocks.

“We’ve got to improve and get some wins to help our play off position.”

Mohawks then held a big launch party at Middlesbrough College on the Sunday against Leeds Carnegie.

It started with a dance show from The Ayresome primary Pink Ladies doing a Grease Lightning song which had the crowd on their feet with a standing ovation and as the crowd was loud again it was the away team that started brightly with Matt Holland scoring his team’s first 13 points in a 13-4 lead, but with some quick points from captain Jorge Ebanks Mohawks ended the first quarter 18-10.

A change of defence from the Mohawks produced a 10-2 run as the teams levelled at 20-20 midway through the second quarter and Mohawks took the lead for the first time with a good drive to the basket from Jerome Narcisse.

But with Mohawks leading by a single point captain and birthday boy Jorge Ebanks picked up his third foul with two minutes to go in the first half, with this this inspiring Leeds who went on a 9-0 run to lead in the locker room by 34-26.

During the half time break Breckon Hill took on Ayresome primary in a friendly game to entertain the crowd and Mohawks seemed inspired as Mohawks got back in the game but again a poor finish to the quarter enabled Leeds to extend their lead to 10 points.

With the crowd encouragement Mohawks battled again and kept in touch but just couldn’t reduce the lead to less than four as Leeds kept their lead as Mohawks couldn’t get over that line.

As Mohawks pressed Leeds made their free throws to extend their lead to 10 with a 73-63 victory.

Butler said: “We battled harder today and I was proud of the guys. It’s a shame we couldn’t get the victory but the crowd were amazing.

“The pink lady dancers were fantastic at the start of the game and I thank all our volunteers that helped on the day.

“The club is heading in the right direction and we will continue to work hard and get back to winning ways very soon.”

Mohawks head to Medway Crusaders on Saturday.

Daniel Curry too hot for rivals as Middlesbrough AC strike gold

5 Mar 2014 14:09

The final meeting in this season's North Yorkshire South Durham Cross Country League, the Cross Country relay championships, took place at Croft Circuit

A general picture of cross-country runners

The final meeting in this season's North Yorkshire South Durham Cross Country League, the Cross Country relay championships, took place at Croft Circuit.

In the under 13 boys category Middlesbrough AC won the gold medal after a tussle with the team from Richmond and Zetland.

In leg one Daniel Curry finished third behind the Richmond A & B teams. With a strong second leg from James Somers Middlesbrough moved into second place, one second down on the Richmond A team.

Middlesbrough played their ace card with National Champion Josh Cowperthwaite on the final leg, and he turned the deficit into a win by over a minute with the day’s fastest time of five minutes 57 seconds.

In the under 13 girls age group the Middlesbrough team of Emily Dixon, Laura Havis and Courtney Johnson came finish fourth. Johnson was the fastest for the team, in 7 mins 38 secs.

The under 15 boy’s age group saw a clean sweep of medals for Teesside clubs with a thrilling race between gold medallists New Marske Harriers and silver medallists Middlesbrough AC.

Middlesbrough AC took the lead with a fine run from Nathan Baker, setting the day’s fastest time of five mins 39 secs to head Reece Curtis of New Marske by nine seconds.

Sean Toole of Billingham Marsh House took his team into fifth. In the second leg Jay Hedger maintained Middlesbrough’s lead, though the deficit was cut to six seconds by a good run from Morgan Spiers of New Marske with Billingham moving into fourth with a strong run from Luke Myers.

The final leg brought a change. A storming last leg from NYSD champion Hassan Ben-Tiba took New Marske to gold, n with Josh Allen keeping Middlesbrough in silver. Harry Allan, with the fastest leg of the day lifted Billingham Marsh House to bronze.

In the senior ladies Middlesbrough AC took gold and Hartlepool bronze. Kristina Grant won her leg in 11mins 33secs, the fastest time of the day.

Tracey Waller ran fourth fastest of the day to put Hartlepool second. On the second leg Grace Cuff increased Middlesbrough lead to over a minute with Hartlepool’s Sharon Stephenson holding third. In the final leg Middlesbrough’s Philippa Stone ran the second fastest time of the day to give the team a winning margin of over two minutes from Darlington.

Sharon Black maintained momentum for Hartlepool keeping the team in bronze position. The Middlesbrough and Cleveland team of Bridgid Hennehy, Joely Clark and Hazelle Costello-Webster came fourth.

New Marske Harriers dominated the senior men’s race with Hartlepool Burn Road earning bronze. Paul Wilson of Hartlepool took his team into second, just behind Loftus & Whitby. New Marske with Nasser Hussain came third.

In the second leg Hartlepool moved into second with a solid run from Ben Ward. New Marske held third through Clive Thornton.

In the third leg the medal positions changed, with Charlie Pasco of New Marske fresh from the National Indoor Championships running the second fastest time of the day to move the team into second with Hartlepool slipping to third with Mick Lamb.

A storming last leg from Dominic Shaw took New Marske Harriers to gold. He ran the day’s fastest time with 9 mins 45 secs.

Andy Minster of Hartlepool held off fast finishing Greg Jayasuriya of Middlesbrough & Cleveland National Indoor Championships Harriers, to take bronze. Jayasuriya ran the third fastest of the day to lift the team that included himself and Chris Rumsey, Joe Finn and Vincent Mullen into fourth place.

Race walk ace Johanna Jackson bounces back in style

5 Mar 2014 13:38

Johanna Jackson, who took an 18-month break after the London Olympics in 2012, has won her first event after returning to competitive action

Picture by Ian Cooper

Johanna Jackson at the official launch of the run

Back with a bang - that’s top Teesside race-walker Johanna Jackson.

The Redcar athlete, who took an 18-month break after the London Olympics in 2012, has won her first event after returning to competitive action.

She won the women’s section of the Coventry 10k in 35mins 2secs, finishing fourth overall in what was a mixed race.

And now that she’s back, the action comes thick and fast, for she has been selected for the England team for a race walking challenge in Switzerland later this month - an event she has won in the past.

She enjoyed a string of successes before suffering a major blow by being disqualified in the Olympic 20km walk for being adjudged to have both feet off the ground at the same time.

She had completed 8k of the race when she was red-carded, with officials saying it was her third offence of the race, forcing her out of the biggest event of her career.

Although she was not in contention for a medal, her 36:12 at the 8km mark had set her on course for a personal best in the event.

During her break from action she got married - her name is now Johanna Atkinson - and returned to competitive athletics after training on her own, work that was put to the test in Coventry.

Her coach Maureen Jackson said: “She’s ahead of schedule. She’s done a lot of solo training, but you don’t quite know where you stand when you are working on your own.

“One of the most pleasing things at Coventry was that she was commended for her technique, which is a big boost for her following her disqualification in London.”

Her break from action has cost her financial support, and her coach added: “She has lost funding and sponsorship, so is back home based in Skelton. It comes down to family support now.”