WORCESTER Wolves' hopes of a quarter-final place in the National Basketball Trophy were dealt a blow with defeats at Manchester and Teeside at the weekend.

Victory in either of the matches would have practically cemented a place in the last eight of the competition but the gruelling demands of two matches in two days proved too much for the Faithful City side.

Wolves started brightly against Manchester and at half time had an 18 point lead.

Rhys Hocking and Ben Livingston were in exceptional form and the Manchester team struggled to cope with their attacking forays.

But the Conference side improved in the second half and slowly clawed their way back into the game. For Worcester Colin Chiverton was somewhere near back to his normal self with some powerful attacking play while player/coach Rick Solvason was as reliable as ever and shot well throughout the game from long range.

The game closed with Manchester finishing stronger and the home side ran out 117-103 winners.

Managing Director Roger Clarke, who travelled with his team, said: "We have shown once again that we can live with the big city teams. A good learning experience."

But Wolves then trekked north for a return with the Conference champions, Teeside Mohawks who had played so well at Worcester last week.

French ace Mick Vinsonneau had an improved game and shot well throughout the game, while the influential Livingston once again created many chances and proved he is more than able to play at this senior level.

The majority of the points came from Solvanson, Vinsonnea and Chiverton, enabling Wolves to stay with their opponent for the first three quarters of the match before the Mohawks pulled away for a 110-82 victory.

At the end of the weekend Solvanson praised the character of the team and was excited at how well the Worcester team have adjusted to the top level.

"We are really excited about the Division One Challenge that starts soon," he said.

The Wolves play Hull at home in the final Trophy game next Saturday at 7 p.m. at VCW.

League action starts the following week at Mansfield.