Captain Charles Smith was clearly happy at the end of last night’s game v Bristol Flyers as The Eagles came away with a solid 98 – 72 win.

“It was good to get the win, all of them are important and help us build as the season goes. We really got it right in the second half particularly on the defensive end and as we always say that’s our strength and what we’re all about.”

“Once we get our defence right our offence kinda flows from that and it makes it easier. We’re still coming together as a unit and learning all the time but I like what I’m seeing and the way the guys are working.”

Charles also paid tribute to Bristol and the way they’ve come in to the League but felt it was Eagles strength in depth as well as the defence that made the difference.

“They were well organised and you could see they were confident and believed in each other the way they jumped out tonight. They played well in that first quarter and gave us a lot of problems but once we sorted them out and found our rhythm with our bench we were always going to have too much for them.”

“We hadn’t practised too much going up and down which effected us early but once we shook that out it was good. I felt at half time we had their measure and we just needed to tighten up on a few little things and be more focused. That’s what we did second half and took care of business.”

Eagles had five players in double-figures on the night and all except Eddie Matthew got on the score sheet and even he was only a whisker away. Their bench outscored Flyers’ by almost 2-1 and as a defensive unit The Eagles forced 25 turnovers from Bristol confirming Charles’ comments about the defence.

“We’re a team. We play for each other and cover for each other. We got good contributions from all the guys tonight and that’s one of our biggest strengths. We don’t rely on any one guy to step up and lead us, anyone of us can have their night which helps the others get in to positions and take advantage. Right now we can only get better and grow as a team.”

So, what about Cheshire on Sunday?

“That’s a real tough game and we have to be ready and focused. It’s always a difficult place to play given their floor and the way their crowd gets behind them. No matter who they have in their rotation its always tough to play there.”

“They look like they’ve put a really good team together and mean business. Being at home will give them that extra edge and make it hard for us. But, if we play to our strengths and are ready for the then I’m confident we have enough to get the win. Anything less than 100% from anyone then we’re in trouble.”