Folkestone Saints embarked upon the new 2004-2005 Medway Division One League Season with a hard-fought win on Wednesday over the Dartford Sharks in Dartford.

Saints took the early initiative through the physical strength and poise of Dave May, and the sharp shooting of Captain on the night Paul Jessop. Dartford never are fall guys though and they soon regained the lead, shooting an amazing eight three pointers in the first quarter.

Saints finally found some fluidity in defence in the second quarter, shifting as a unit, to prevent the Dartford hotshots from draining any further three-pointers. Once that threat was effectively extinguished, the Sharks were in deep water, struggling for scoring opportunities, whilst Saints consistency bagged baskets at the other end. 6'7" Dave May the main protagonist again, bagging a personal haul of 21 points for the half.

Progressing into the second quarter 57-47, Saints kept up the momentum, only for Dartford to keep dragging themselves back into the game, three times coming to within five points of Folkestone. Ultimately though, the Saints were too strong for the home side, with National Leaguer Jessop and busy guard Mark Hinton raining three pointers at will, aided by May and Paul Kennedy, crashing both boards. The final scoreline of 77-89 was a fair reflection of a tough first game but Folkestone deserved their victory.

Team: May 33, Jessop 28, Hinton 15, Kennedy 7, Coulson 6, Bushell 2

Team: Drylie 18, Maasbach 12, Cullum 8, Abrahams 7, Cooper 6, Harding 3, Dagger 2, Howkins

Folkestone Saints Basketball Team continued their winning ways with three more wins this week. Most impressive was a 75 - 5 demolition of Ashford by the Saints Under-16 Team. The convincing win was a testament to the wealth of young talent at the club and comes as a pleasing consequence of Saints Junior Basketball sessions on Saturdays at the Sports Centre.

Saints Senior side made it two-wins-out-of-two in the Medway League Division One with an organised display against Gravesend Iroquois. Saints choose to field just one Club side in the strong Medway League this Season, so every Saints player has the chance to compete. 12 players started against Gravesend, so Coach Mark Harding had a job on his hands to maintain the required balance and rotation of the squad.

Thankfully, Saints summer training is already playing dividends and every players is now able to fit into whichever system Harding chooses to play. As a consequence Folkestone won the game very easily 74-42, playing mostly a motion offence. Every player contributed with Paul Jessop and Mark Hinton the two players in double figures.

Team; Jessop 26, Hinton 11, Harding 8, Redfearn 7, Thomas 7, Drylie 6, Cooper 4, Atkins 2, May 2, Coulson 2, Howkins, Dagger

Team: Drylie 14, Giri 8, Cullum 6, Prado 6, Thomas 6, Aldeen 5, Cooper 4, Abrahams 3, Dagger 3, Brayshaw, Howkins, Rai

On Wednesday at the Sports Centre Saints kicked off the 2004-2005 East Kent League Season with an inter-club derby, as Saints A played Saints B. The Folkestone Second side shone throughout the first quarter, with many of Saints youngsters embarrassing the Senior squad, displaying the greater desire, agility and energy. The first quarter scoreline of 19-17 to Folkestone B was totally justified, and thanks largely to the wiley determination of centres Davies Drylie (10 points in the first quarter) and Ross Cooper. Ultimately though, there was always going to be one winner and the Senior side gradually wore down their opponents. With both sides testing out new offensive formations, the battle of attrition was finally concluded with Saints A bagging their third win of their Season 79-44.

A Team: May 16, Jessop 15, Redfearn 12, Kennedy 9, Harding 9, Thomas 6, Atkins 4, Bushell 4, Hinton 4, Rai

B Team: Drylie 17, Maasbach 8, Cooper 6, Abrahams 5, Aldeen 3, Dagger 3, Cullum 2, Brayshaw, Howkins, Prado, Giri

Folkestone Saints B Team chalked up a second win out of two in an East Kent Division One Encounter with Herne Bay.

Herne Bay are always a tough team to breakdown with a number of seasoned campaigners and a host of young talent. Most years the Folkestone second side would have succumbed to such a team, but this year with Davie Drylie and Ross Cooper dominating the boards and some organised offensive plays, they will be a challenge for any team.

The contest see-sawed throughout the first three quarters of the game, with Herne Bay dominating mostly, only for Saints to keep dragging themselves back into contention.

The fourth quarter was the most dramatic, as Saints looked destined for defeat with just minutes to go and down 42-38. But then, in a matter of two minutes the momentum shifted, and the shots started raining down for Saints with Joel Cullum draining three 10 footers and Pi Rai 2 three-pointers. A couple more unopposed offensive moves by Drylie and Cooper and Saints were to ride out eventual winners 44-56.

Team: Drylie 22, Cooper 13, Cullum 8, Abrahams 6, Andrews 5, Prado 2, Maasbach 2, Rai, Howkins, Dagger, Aldeen

Saints A hosted Dover Wizards on Wednesday at the Folkestone Sports Centre, collecting another win in the process as they defeated the visitors 72-56. Dover have recently joined forces with Medway outfit Larkwood Wizards, historically one of Kent's strongest teams. In a bizarre combination spanning the county, Dover/Larkwood have strength in depth, so it was to Saints considerable credit that they ran out winners. Not that Saints paid particularly well, but a win is a win, and it is a good sign when your team plays badly and stills wins.

Team: May 19, Jessop 14, Kennedy 12, Harding 7, Atkins 6, Redfearn 5, Thomas 5, Smith 4, Coulson, Hinton

Folkestone Saints Medway Club Team trawled up to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Thursday to play Bromley B in a Medway Basketball First Division encounter. Crystal Palace dilapidated facilities rarely live up to it's grand heritage but this time the game was contested on the prestigious London Towers court. This turned out to be somewhat of an advantage for the home side who knew how the spring-loaded rings would respond. Folkestone found themselves in great rebounding positions, only to see the ball looping over their heads. The resultant farce was the main cause of a football type scoreline in the first quarter - 6-8 to Saints.

Once Saints got the measure of the court and the measure of their plucky opponents they went on to extend their lead in the second quarter, holding their hosts to just 2 baskets through a concerted man-to-man defence. Meanwhile at the other end Harding and Thomas sharp-shot Saints into a 10-23 lead. The second half of the contest was much of a formality for Saints as they extended their lead further through the powerful offensive abilities of centres Dave May and Ross Cooper.

Saints ran out deserved winners 28-60, bagging their third win out of three in Medway under the auspicious leadership of rookie captain Steve Thomas, who unfortunately fouled out of in the game with five personal fouls on the night.

Team: May 15, Cooper 12, Atkins 9, Harding 8, Thomas 7, Redfearn 6, Bushall 3, Drylie

Saints A hosted Dover Wizards on Wednesday at the Folkestone Sports Centre, collecting another win in the process as they defeated the visitors 72-56. Dover have recently joined forces with Medway outfit Larkwood Wizards, historically one of Kent's strongest teams. In a bizarre combination spanning the county, Dover/Larkwood have strength in depth, so it was to Saints considerable credit that they ran out winners. Not that Saints paid particularly well, but a win is a win, and it is a good sign when your team plays badly and stills wins.

Team: May 19, Jessop 14, Kennedy 12, Harding 7, Atkins 6, Redfearn 5, Thomas 5, Smith 4, Coulson, Hinton

Saints continued their winning streak when the B team narrowly beat Ashford 52-55 with an under strength side. A tight game saw Folkestone overcome their hosts with two late baskets in the final minute from captain Ross Cooper.

Team: Maasbach 16, Thomas 14, Cooper 14, Abrahams 8, Prado 4, Brayshaw, Major, Hinton, Dagger, Aldeen

Folkestone Saints Basketball Club recorded their first loss of the Season this week away to the University of Kent in Canterbury.

Folkestone felt angry with themselves for the loss to UKC, because if they had played their normal game, they would have expected to have battled through to victory. The loss of Paul Jessop on the night relieved the Saints of one of their most potent offensive weapons, but this season Folkestone have enough strength in depth to see off any team. To find themselves 16-9 down after the first quarter was an unusual situation after leading most recent games throughout.

Saints knew it wasn't to be their night as the students continued to intercept a number of their careless passing errors, whilst the shots at the other end never seemed to drop. Only Centre Dave May was able to keep up the Saints scoring momentum with 10 points in the first half, and Folkestone ended the half 31-19 down. Saints rallied a little in the third quarter outscoring their opponents and dragging themselves twice to within eight points of their hosts, but ultimately Saints were required to over-commit in order to make up the points deficit and often found themselves beaten on the break.

The final scoreline of 67-47 to UKC was quite justified, as Saints had a dismal game on the night. Only May, Paul Kennedy and guard Tim Redfearn were able to post scores of any significance. The East Kent League is now wide open as UKC have also lost one game, and Saints feel positive that they can overturn the defeat next year when the students come down to Fortress Folkestone.

Team: May 19, Kennedy 10, Redfearn 10, Hinton 3, Aldeen 3, Thomas 2, Giri, Smith, Bushall

Despite fielding only six players, Saints A produced an impressive display of teamwork to defeat Beckenham in the Medway Cup 64-77, and have high hopes of challenging this year for a trophy they have never won.

Team: Jessop 21, Atkins 14, May 11, Thomas 10, Kennedy 9, Drylie 6

Team: Drylie 11, Abrahams 9, Maasbach 8, Rai 4, Cooper 3, Cullum 2, Dagger 2, Aldeen, Giri

Saints A hosted the New Romney Rockets at Folkestone Sports Centre on Wednesday and, for the first time this season, started the match with every available player in attendance. Using frequent substitutions, Saints were always in control, running out 53-point winners.

Saints were most pleased with their defensive display, and despite New Romney fielding the ex-Saints Ramsey brothers, Folkestone kept the visitors to just 38 points. On the other end of the court though, every one of the eleven Saints players managed to get on the scoresheet, and Folkestone were most pleased with the offensive energy of newly-returned Folkestone old-boy Lee Andrews.

Team: May 18, Smith 12, Jessop 12, Hinton 11, Kennedy 9, Thomas 8, Redfearn 7, Andrews 7, Bushell 4, Harding 2, Atkins 2

Despite four players scoring into double figures, Saints B lost their second straight game.

Team: Maasbach 20, Thomas 15, Abrahams 14, Drylie 12, Cullum 4, Cooper 4, Giri 3, Rai, Dagger, Aldeen

Folkestone Saints finally hit full stride when they dismantled Herne Bay convincingly at home, 94-47, keeping the pressure on their rivals at the top of East Kent's Division 1.

Saints took an early lead and looked solid with Steve Thomas and Paul Kennedy each hitting six points in the first quarter. But despite their efforts, the score was only 29-20 at the first interval. Youngster Rob Dagger led the way at the start of the second period, but Folkestone's confidence took a knock when they allowed the visitors to score 10 straight points, reducing their 15 point lead to 5.

The second half saw Saints step up the pace, with Tim Redfearn taking control and leading a fast break that began to score at will. But it was the home side's defence that set the tempo and this pressure resulted in a 30-3 run in the third quarter that killed the game off. Leading scorer Paul Jessop hit 6 points in two minutes to finish the best quarter Folkestone have played this season.

The last 10 minutes saw more of the same with Mark Harding hitting his second three-pointer as Folkestone only conceded 5 points in the final quarter.

This was an impressive performance from Folkestone's A squad, made all the more satisfying as each member of the team played a substantial role, building momentum throughout irrespective of which five players were on court.

Team: Jessop 24, Thomas 12, Kennedy 12, May 10, Redfearn 8, Dagger 6, Harding 6, Smith 4, Andrews 4, Atkins 4, Hinton 2, Harman 2.

Team: Smith 25, Atkins 24, May 18, Jessop 15, Coulson 9, Andrews 9, Bushell 8, Harman 8, Hinton 3, Thomas 2, Harding, Aldeen.

Team: Drylie 15, Thomas 12, Abrahams 6, Cooper 6, Dagger 2, Rai, Aldeen, Prado, Giri.

Team: May 17, Cooper 10, Harding 9, Redfearn 8, Hinton 7, Drylie 6, Bushall 4, Thomas 4, Andrews 3, Atkins 3, Smith 2, Coulson.

Team: Cullum 19, Aldeen 18, Drylie 14, Abrahams 9, Rai 9, Cooper 4, Levenston 4, Giri 2.

Team: Jessop 41, May 19, Harman 7, Smith 3, Redfearn 2, Bushall 2, Atkins 2, Thomas 2, Andrews, Hinton, Harding, Coulson.

Team: Maasbach 20, Drylie 19, Cullum 14, Abrahams 7, Giri 4, Aldeen 2, Dagger, Prado.

Team: Jessop 35, May 7, Harman 5, Atkins 5, Harding 3, Smith 2, Redfearn 2, Thomas 2, Bushall, Andrews, Hinton, Coulson.

Team: May 19, Atkins 17, Harding 9, Thomas 9, Harman 9, Smith 5, Redfearn 5, Hinton 2, Coulson.

Team: Kennedy 13, May 13, Jessop 9, Smith 9, Redfearn 8, Harman 4, Harding 4, Coulson 2, Atkins 2, Thomas 2, Hinton, Bushall.

Team: Drylie 28, Maasbach 23, Cullum 18, Aldeen 14, Dagger 6, Levenston 3, Giri 2, Major, Prado, Brayshaw.

Folkestone Saints kicked off the New Year in fine fashion with a significant hard-fought roll-over of arch-rivals Whitstable in the East Kent League Division One.

Whitstable always present as formidable opponents and though they have lost some of their quality players this season to the National League side East Kent Crusaders, they have fortunately been boosted by a number of seasoned returnees. It was a giant squad that turned up at Folkestone, and virtually an identical team to that of the 2002-2003 season; a season in which the Oystermen overcame Folkestone in most contests. It was a testament to Saints considerable progress, that although their team hasn't changed much since then, they won through the contest fairly easily.

Whitstable made the most of the opening skirmishes, dominating under the boards for a 22-23 first quarter lead. Paul Jessop held his nerve for 9 points in the quarter whilst Saints 6'7" centre Dave May traded elbows with Whitstable's 6'6" Centre Atkins, May coming off slightly worse in the scoring stakes.

Last season's Player's Player of the Year May was never to be muscled out though and going into the second quarter he quickly banked ten points in five minutes. A couple of three pointers later from Jessop, then another from Thomas and Saints established a commanding half-way 44-38 lead.

Saints further extended their lead in the third as Mark Hinton and Adam Harman continued the Saints scoring, whilst the scoring opportunities for Whitstable were restricted to outside shooting and the turning-over of some Saint's passing errors. Both teams were soon in foul trouble and most points for the remainder of the third quarter came from the foul line.

Into the final quarter, Saints held onto a valuable ten-point lead, and maintained their advantage until three minutes from time when a late and inevitable Whitstable surge dragged the scoreline back to 82-77. Saints only had themselves to blame by failing to keep hold of the ball. Thankfully though, contrary to previous seasons where they regularly lost leads in the last few minutes, Saints quickly halted their opponent's revival. Points from the foul-line by May and Jessop posted a justified 88-79 final scoreline for Saints, cementing their position as leaders of the East Kent League.

Team: Jessop 27, May 24, Harman 10, Redfearn 6, Hinton 5, Thomas 3, Andrews 2, Coulson 2, Harding 2, Smith 2, Atkins, Bushell

Folkestone Saints hosted an inter-club derby on Wednesday at Folkestone Sports Centre as the B Team matched up to the A Team in the East Kent League.

The labels A and B breached trade descriptions in a busy first half as the second side defied their lower status to cause significant problems for an under-par senior side. Defensively, the B team, headed by captain Ross Copper and the excellent Aaron Abrahams, competed as a tight mobile unit, whilst in offence their shooting proved deadly accurate. Saints A, without Paul Jessop on the night, just about managed to hold their nerve to post a 26-35 lead at half time with Adam Harman labouring to eight personal points in the first quarter.

In the second half both sides played their whole squad, and the scoring spread reflected the presenting rotation. The contest see-sawed throughout the third and into the fourth quarter, until the B side sliced into the A team lead with 11 unopposed points, 7 of those from Sig Aldeen. A Team Coach Mark Harding managed to stop the rot, with the score precariously poised at 49-50 with seven minutes to go. Harding elected for height and experience and the substitution soon paid dividends, with the B team eventually succumbing to the Kent League Leaders 51-70. The hefty scoreline gave Saints A far too much credit, and in fact they have rarely been tested so thoroughly this season, which in itself is good news as it demonstrates the depth of talent currently at the Club.

Saints A Team: Thomas 14, May 14, Smith 9, Harman 8, Kennedy 7, Coulson 5, Harding 4, Redfern 4, Bushell 2, Hinton, Andrews, Atkins,

Saints B Team: Abrahams 10, Aldeen 9, Cooper 7, Drylie 5, Maasbach 5, Prado 5, Dagger 4, Levenston 2, Giri, Howkins, Rai

Team: Jessop 35, Abrahams 8, May 6, Thomas 5, Drylie 4, Redfearn 3, Smith 2, Cooper 1, Atkins, Harding, Hinton, Maasbach.

With a squad drawn from predominantly B team players, Folkestone had a hard time in this Medway Rosebowl fixture.

This mid-season tournament uses a handicap system to give all teams an equal chance of winning, but a 55-0 disadvantage at the start meant Saints had their work cut out.

Although everybody contributed, only four players got their name on the scoresheet, led by Steve Thomas's 20.

The final score was somewhat misleading as Saints were only outscored 59-46 on court.

Team: Thomas 20, Maasbach 12, Cullum 10, Smith 4, Aldeen, Prado, Dagger, Howkins

In a clash of the East Kent League's top two teams, Folkestone Saints A side avenged their only loss of the season by beating the University of Kent 80-71, to take the outright lead in Division 1.

Folkestone scored the opening basket from the jump ball and using a man-to-man defence to stifle the individual skills of the University side, they never let their opponents take the lead.

With Dave May and Paul Jessop leading the way, the home side opened up a 24-13 lead before a brief lapse allowed UKC to score 11 unanswered points to tie the game at 24 midway through the second quarter. Saints responded to close out the half with an 11-2 run, with Lee Andrews making his presence felt in the lane.

As is usual in a tight game, there was a lot of physical contact, but Folkestone turned this to their advantage, drawing 16 shooting fouls to create free throw opportunities. Folkestone's foul shooting has been criticised this season but Jessop led by example in this game, hitting 13 of 14 shots from the foul line on the way to a game-high 30 points.

Play remained tight throughout the second half, with neither team gaining any momentum, although the driving runs of guard Tim Redfearn helped Saints build the biggest lead of the game at 68-52 with six minutes left to play.

Despite a brief flurry in the final minutes by the visitors, Folkestone had built enough of a margin to remain in control and May sealed the win with his first three-pointer of the season.

This was a good team performance in a crucial game, but Saints, with two players accounting for 50 of their 80 points, must find a way to spread the scoring load.

Team: Jessop 30, May 20, Redfearn 7, Andrews 7, Hinton 6, Harding 5, Kennedy 5, Smith, Thomas, Coulson.

Saints completed a league and cup double in Sandwich when they beat a very strong Pfizer team to progress to the next round of the East Kent League Cup.

At the end of a lively first quarter, Saints negotiated some unforgiving rings to post a 16-9 scoreline, with Smith, May and Jessop taking a brace of baskets each. In the second quarter, Saints maintained their lead and, helped by veteran Adam Harman, took what proved to be an unassailable lead of 16 points into the second half.

Saints were then able to play out a relaxed game, allowing Saints coach Mark Harding to rotate his squad of 12 to good effect. Jessop dominated the scoring on the night, as he does most nights, with a personal haul of 32 points in the game, whilst Adam Harman chipped in for 8 points and David May 10.

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Bromley's second side visited Folkestone and fought a typically South-London style of aggressive basketball. Saints knew from previous experience not to underestimate the north Kent second-string side, and the visitors did indeed prove to be slippery opponents, with a mixture of youth and seasoned veterans inherent. The two sides traded baskets in the opening quarter, which Saints won 18-11.

Throughout the second, Bromley staged a brief fight-back but Saints held both their nerve and their lead for the period, ending the half 15 points up. Folkestone then consolidated their lead, which made for a safe but unfortunately stale spectacle, which provided limited feasts for the eye. An ongoing three-point shooting contest was the only action of note as Paul Jessop traded baskets with his opposite number from Bromley; the contest within a contest finished a drawn affair as both players shot six three pointers each. Saints finished worthy winners 77-60, with young Saint Sig Aldeen demonstrating the depth of young talent at the club with a credible cameo in the later stages.

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Folkestone Saints Basketball Team played out a battle of the heavyweights when they visited Greenwich Admirals at Kidbrooke. Folkestone kicked off the game as Medway League leaders, but ended the contest knocked out of contention for the elusive league title. Folkestone's only chance now of taking Kent's top basketball award is to hope that Greenwich lose some of their remaining games, but that scenario is most unlikely, given that Greenwich have not lost a contest in 18 months, not since Saints last beat them, in fact.

Despite Greenwich's impressive record, Folkestone came very close in both match-ups this season. In the early stages of this encounter it looked like the travelling team may pull off a surprise, winning the first quarter 18-20, and then extended their lead to 27-33 in the 18 th minute with a trademark Jessop three-pointer. Any other team would have been dead men walking but Greenwich rose to the challenge and posted a late rally to drag themselves back to 35-36 at the half way stage.

In the third quarter Greenwich stepped up the pressure, whilst Saints could not respond. For a few minutes it seemed that nothing would fall for Folkestone, and the hosts exploited the situation to rack up 9 points unopposed. It looked like the Admirals were going to sail away with the game, but Folkestone took a time out and then commenced their offensive, Jessop and May delicately picking off baskets one end and plugging up the other end until Folkestone were back in it. All the good work was soon undone though as another late surge saw the hosts move into a 59-50 third quarter lead.

The Admirals further extended their lead in the fourth quarter mixing up some perimeter sharp-shooting with a medley of strong inside post moves. With two minutes to go, Folkestone were doomed, down 70-58, but 5 more Saints scores made the deficit slightly more respectable as the contest ended 77-67 to Greenwich.

Team: Jessop 29, May 13, Harman 9, Kennedy 5, Redfearn 3, Thomas 3, Smith 2, Atkins 2, Hinton 1, Aldeen, Bushell

Saints A further consolidated their lead in East Kent Basketball Division One with a win on the road against Herne Bay. With two more games remaining, against Ashford and Romney Marsh, surely nothing can stop the Saints from marching to their second consecutive title.

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Reigning cup holders Saints A overcame a plucky Dover side in the quarter finals of the East Kent Cup. The Sharks put up a good fight but were quickly, hooked, lined and sunk by an organised Saints display, where every player contributed. Saints now meet arch-rivals Whistable in the final next month.

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