Holmes Chapel Hornets pulled off a stunning away victory with "total basketball" that left the Oldham Titans wondering where the next basket was coming from.

The Hornets leapt out of the blocks and stormed into a quick lead. Sam Bithell driving past has man to score, Gary Masson hitting John Whelan with a sublime assist, Jon Print scoring 2s and 3s and Guy Johnson stealing to score, all combined with the tightest defence of the season to see the Hornets race into a 10 point lead with the Titans looking shocked. Titans regrouped and landed some long range shots to reduce the lead to 6 at the end of the first quarter.

The Hornets introduced Paul Colman in his first game and James Howard in his first away game and this seemed to up the defensive intensity in Q2 as both players looked to consolidate their place. Sam and Danny Wareham now found space around the man defence to drive in some mesmerising baskets and again the Hornets stretch the lead out only to see it clawed back with some excellent outside shooting. The Hornets lead by 5 at the break.

The Hornet defence at the start of Q2 locked out the Titans - who just couldn't penetrate and only scored from outside the 3 point line. The Hornets were scoring from all angles though and in particular Barney start to dominate the big man contest pulling fouls from the Titan big men and sinking the free throws. The Hornets were 12 points up when the Titans called a time out mid way through the quarter. The Hornets now played a dreadful 2 minutes, turning the ball over and watching the Titans run in 9 unopposed points leaving Coach Pickard calling a hurried Time Out to set the ship back on course again. James landed an inside lay up to end the quarter with the Hornets 9 points up.

Q4 saw a razzle dazzle display of skills from the Hornets as Titan big men tired and fouled out the home team settled into a zone defence to watch the Hornets ping the ball around court to find holes in the defence and score at will. Barney had a 15 point quarter, John Whelan landed trade mark jump shots and the Paul and Guy scored at the finish to give the Hornets a 29 point quarter.

The song from the bench was "Brazil, it's just like watching Brazil!"

HC Hornets Match Report