UEL Men’s 1st team is set to take on Essex men’s 1st team this Wednesday at the Sports Dock at 1:30pm.
The home team sit top the table, in the Premier South Division having played three games with which they achieved a maximum of nine points.
Winning Formula
UEL’s encounter last Wednesday, saw the home team emerge victorious in a 16-point win against last season’s Premier South winners, Southampton Solent, who suffered the loss against UEL with a final score of 59-43.
The win against Solent hasgiven the men’s 1st team side a boost of confidence having beaten the opposition who finished top of the table last season and were a contributer to one of the two losses which cost UEL a 1st place finish last season.
UEL Men’s 1st team appear favourites ahead of this match with their pristine record so far of three wins, including two home wins and one away win.
Not only are the UEL Men’s 1st team maintaining a clean record of three straight wins but also demonstrating a solid, professional performance with an ongoing string of points.
UEL Men’s 1st sit top with a massive goal difference of 85, which is a monster 69 points more than 2nd place Southampton Solent and an even more astonishing 90 points ahead of their opposition this Wednesday.
Confident Visitors
Visiting team, Essex men’s 1st now sit in 4th position, just three points behind the home side, UEL, with six points having played four games.
Essex’s previous game last Wednesday, saw the visiting side display a strong performance against Middlesex 1st team in a 20-point win, with a final score of 89-69.
The recent win for Essex may boost the side with confidence but facing a strong side like UEL Essex will hope to improve their -5 goal difference, and will have to put on a near perfect performance to come out on top against UEL.
Tough Task
Looking back to previous games between Essex Men’s 1st team and UEL Men’s 1st will no doubt leave Essex weary as the past two meets against the home side have both resulted in heavy losses.
UEL put on two strong performances with a 90-71 win over Essex, away at University of Essex’ sports centre, and an 83-61 win against their opposition this time at UEL’s sports dock.
Captain’s Comments
Ahead of the game veteran Dzaflo Larkai spoke to Rising East and said: “I expect the guys to play with more focus this game, last week we lacked that aspect and it showed, even though we won by 16 points.
Larkai added: “I doubt we will have a repeat performance of last week, this game will be better and we’ll finish the game in a more jovial mood than we did last week.”
If UEL can put on another convincing performance this week, the east Londoners could possibly be on a path to running away with the league, extending their lead even further.
