BBL Championship: Essex Pirates set sail for Northgate Arena aiming to plunder Cheshire Jets

Feb 3 2011 by Alec Doyle, Chester Chronicle

LAST time the Essex Pirates visited the Northgate Arena in October, they lost 91-59, kicking off the Cheshire Jets’ longest winning streak so far of six games. But this time Pirates coach Tim Lewis is confident his side will give a good account of themselves.

Still without a point in the BBL Championship, the Pirates come to the Arena to face one of the favourites for the title.

“Paul’s done a good job with the Jets,” said Lewis.

“They’ve had to make a lot of changes but they’re still one of the top teams. We’re both vastly different teams now and I’d expect us to be a lot more competitive.

“We should be able to get more minutes from Ronnie Baker this weekend. He didn’t play much against Plymouth last week because he was still getting over food poisoning, but he’ll certainly help us continue to move in the right direction.”

Pirates forward Walid Mumuni is looking to build on a good performance last week which saw the Pirates just miss out on their first win of the campaign, 92-88.

Mumuni said: “Greer can put the ball on the floor and cause problems. I love the way Gareth Murray plays on offence. He can post-up and hit you from the outside – he really is their X-factor. I’m old friends with Steve Gayle so I know what he brings, but it’s a horrible place to go and we’ll need to play hard all game if we’re going to get something.”