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 Streetball.co.uk repeated as champions at the Bradford 3 v 3. After walking the heat games, Kenny, Frenchy, Tayo and Gareth defeated Snoop Burton's Croydon team in an exact rematch of last year's final to win £500. Last year's Bradford 3 v 3 was a bit of a farce. Not through any fault of the organisers', but because the weather was atrocious. It chucked it down for most of the day and we came so, so close to going home. However, after playing the knockout games in the drizzle, the clouds cleared for the finals and we celebrated in the sunshine after winning the event (and the £500 prize). This year, it was a different story altogether. The sun was blazing for most of the day...forcing our guys to don some ridiculous headwear....and leaving G-Laws looking like a lobster by the end of the day! However, the outcome of the tournament was the same as last summer.  Our first three heat games were an absolute walkover. In fact, it was a bit of a joke really as two of the teams we played looked as if they should have been in the Under 16 category. According to the official score sheet we won these games 20-4, 24-0, 28-6. In the second game, one yout thought he'd get a bit of shine by bopping it off Gareth's head (or nose, as it turned out). But as soon as he did, Tayo swatted his shit into the crowd...and two plays later, Gareth took him to the hole and crammed it on him.  Kids out there, please listen...head bopping someone requires no skill, and just makes you look silly when you lose 24-0. There was actually a "no dunking" rule (just like last year) but the refs let that shit slide in the games...and Tayo took full advantage!  In the quarter finals, Tayo was M.I.A. (the cheeky sod had gone off sunbathing and didn't hear the call for our game). The guys we faced were young but actually gave us a tougher game than we expect and most definitely deserve props. In the semis we faced a strong Sheffield team (who we beat just a few weeks ago in the finals of the Leeds 5 v 5). But we suffered a major setback when Gareth picked up an ankle injury early on. This was a real tough game, and the same guy who hurt us in Leeds came out strong here. However, we switched the defense up and Frenchy managed to shut him down a bit and we took the game by 4 points.  That left us facing a rematch of last year's final - Streetball.co.uk against Croydon (featuring south Londoners Mark "Snoop" Burton, Damien Harris and Steve). This was a really intense affair that saw us go down 5 - 0 at the start. However, Prodigal Son scored 4 points in a hurry and we were back in it.  As time wound down, we had a slim lead but Frenchy committed a 5th foul and had to leave the game. Gareth came in and despite the injury managed to score an and1 layup and sink the foul shot to give us the victory! The ankle obviously wasn't that bad, son! Our six victories at this event meant we extended our unbeaten record for Summer 2005 to 16. Blap! Blap!  On a side note, you lot have got to see the clip (when I do it) and check out this one dude in the crowd who completely stole the limelight from the cheerleaders during their dance routines. Flipping nutter.  Respect to the organisers, the Croydon and Sheffield teams (and the guys we met in the quarters). What's up to all the Northern Streetball.co.uk fam (Ian, Broughy, Luke T and his crew etc), all the kids begging us for T-shirts at the end (message to K1x....your shit is HOT!) and everyone else.  Next year, it's all about the three-peat.  |