Valachovice Decin beat Polabi 84:75 in the First League on Thursday evening. The result keeps the hosts in second place after eighteen matches, while the visitors remain fourth. Both sides have played the same number of games and earned zero bonus points so far.
The home side have kept three clean sheets on the spin — not in basketball terms, but you get the drift. They have won thirteen of eighteen and lost five, so the margin is tight but the direction is clear. Polabi sit a point behind in the table with ten wins and eight defeats.
Recent form tells the story. Decin lost two away games to Zlin in April, then bounced back with two wins over Pardubice 2 before dropping a close one at Nový Jičín. Polabi have been mixed: heavy defeats to Opava 2 and Brno U23 women, but solid wins against Svitavy and their own U23 opponents.
We had called for a home win with sixty per cent confidence and it came in. The hosts were not chasing a runaway scoreline so much as steadying themselves after that April stumble. Things came to a head in the closing moments when Polabi pushed hard but could not find the extra five points needed.
The gap between second and fourth remains one point. Decin will be looking to close that distance in the next round, while Polabi know a win would put them level on points with the home side.