WORTHING'S GARY SMITH SCOOPS COACH OF THE MONTH HONOURS

Worthing Thunder coach Gary Smith has been named the Molten Coach of the Month for October.

It follows an unbeaten start to the Championship season, where Worthing have posted a 3-0 record, winning by an average of 16 points, scoring 91 points a contest and dropping just 74 points in the Championship.

It didn’t start strongly for Smith and the Thunder, narrowly losing in the quarter-finals of the BCB Trophy away to the Yorkshire Dragons 112-108 in a high-scoring affair.

Thunder though bounced emphatically with a 95-76 win over the Bristol Flyers II, followed by an impressive 90-70 success over the Yorkshire Dragons, and an 89-78 victory at the Bristol Hurricanes to round off the month.

As a result, Worthing ended the month joint top of the standings alongside the Reading Rockets. A welcome return to where they feel they should be, after finishing bottom of NBL1 last season.