Vikings Hand Hawks First Loss
The West Yorkshire Hawks suffered their first defeat of the season on the road at Active Copley, as the Tameside Vikings handed them a 72-58 loss. Despite starting brightly and showing promise in the opening quarter, the Hawks couldn’t maintain the momentum, and a strong second-half performance from Tameside saw them take control of the game.
The Hawks came out firing early, establishing a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Offensively, they were sharp. However, Tameside quickly found their rhythm from beyond the arc, keeping the pressure on and ensuring they stayed within striking distance. By halftime, the game was tied at 40-40, as the Vikings utilised their physical presence in the paint to claw back into contention.
Coming out of the break, the Hawks’ energy levels dipped significantly. Defensively, they struggled to contain Tameside’s offensive flow, allowing the home side to build a six-point advantage by the end of the third quarter. The Vikings capitalised on the Hawks’ lack of defensive intensity, with their physicality and ball movement creating open looks, particularly from deep.
In the final quarter, the Hawks’ offensive production dried up entirely. Tameside maintained their momentum, keeping the Hawks at bay as the gap widened. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Vikings had secured a convincing 14-point win, leaving the Hawks with plenty to reflect on.
Rob Donaldson was the standout for Hawks, leading all scorers with 19 points. Jermayne Laing and Jacques Misambu contributed 11 points apiece, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Hawks in the game down the stretch.
Hawks head coach Danny Byrne didn’t mince his words post-game: “Credit to Tameside, they came with a clear game plan and executed it perfectly, especially in the second half. We were disappointing today. We played the game at their pace and never really looked to up the tempo. Defensively, we lacked intensity and the effort levels were too low. We have a couple of weeks break from games now and will be increasing our efforts in training so that we are ready to bounce back straight away.”
The Hawks will look to regroup as they face a big challenge in the 4th round of the National Cup, where they will travel to the North East on Sunday 17th November to take on Division One side Newcastle University. Following that, they’ll return to the Hawks Nest at the University of Huddersfield to host Tees Valley Mohawks on Saturday 23rd November.
This setback offers a valuable lesson for the Hawks as they prepare for the grind ahead, but with Byrne’s focus on ramping up intensity in training, expect this squad to come back stronger.