Sheffield Elite U18 Premier team knew they would be in for a tough test against league leaders Charnwood College Riders who sat atop of the Northern Premier, 7-1. A good week of practice and the team we feeling confident going into the game knowing what they had to execute to come away with a win. 

The game started very cagey with both teams wanting to limit mistakes and gain a foothold in the game. Sheffield Elite's athletic big man, Kelvin Talbot would get the scoring underway for the away side but lead guard Miklos Zalavari would rack up the points for Sheffield scoring 12 points in the 1st quarter. Scores from Luke Baldwin and O'Daniel Creary off the bench saw Sheffield Elite end the 1st quarter up by 6, 12-18. 

Miklos continued to be a problem for the Loughborough based college extending his 1st half tally to 20 points with some acrobatic finishes around the rim and a solid performance from the free throw line. O'Daniel and Luke also chipped in again and Vermon Mabou showed his strength finishing inside. Addison Meredith, Michael Aleksandrov and Dylan McCormack would provide some protection inside and rebounding meaning Sheffield would go into the locker room up 8, 34-26. 

Head Coach Aidan Appleyard warned his side about the danger that Charnwood poses and was weary of the fightback that they would surely mount at the start of the 3rd. Charnwood did exactly that going on a quick run to start the quarter and get themselves right back into the game. First year big man, Micahel Aleksandrov, showed how dominant he can be inside with some dtrong finishes as well as scores from George Andrews and Miklos. Charnwood looked to switch things up defensively and Sheffield struggled to break this down. Sharp shooter Harry Butler was called upon to unlock this, coming in a making a huge 3 from the corner. 

The 4th quarter would start with the bench continuing to impact the game in a positive way with O'Daniel finishing in the paint and Harry adding a further 2 3's, as well showing what he can do defensively to come up with a steal and fast break lay up. For a spell Elite had stretched the lead out to over 15 but lapses in concentration towards the end of the quarter meant the score was much closer than what the team felt it should have been. Sheffield Elite would take this one, 76-79, and would move to 6-1 and 3rd in the league. 

Miklos Zalavari led the scoring for Sheffield with 30 points, with Harry Butler and Kelvin Talbot both contributing 12 points. 

The team will now take a break from National League action as they fly out to Portugal for Stage 1 of European Youth Basketball League.