Manchester Magic will be aiming to keep Division One's only perfect record alive when they host Coventry Crusaders on Saturday.

 

Last week's thrilling 69-68 victory against previously unbeaten Derby Trailblazers saw Jeff Jones' side chalk up their tenth straight victory to take an outright lead at the top of the table.

 

In contrast, Crusaders are bottom of the table with an 0-4 record and are still searching for their first victory in any competition after nine games this season.

 

The game is the first of a weekend double-header for Magic, with a National Cup quarter-final at Durham Wildcats the following day.

 

Coach Jeff Jones knows that his side have to take one game at a time:

 

"The weekend throws up a different kind of challenge," he said 

 

"We have to make sure we don't overlook our league game with Coventry on the Saturday after our hard fought win last week at Derby. We need to consolidate our league position and that for me is winning all our home games. Coventry have always given trouble and we have to make sure we are ready for a tough physical battle."

 

Magic defeated the Crusaders in both their National Trophy meetings last season and also hammered them 83-59 at the Amaechi Centre when the teams met in league action in December 2008.

 

Manchester completed a clean sweep against Scott Neely's side in March with a comfortable 95-63 away victory.

 

 

Newly-promoted pair Leeds Carnegie and Leicester Warriors meet in Division One action for the first time on Saturday afternoon.

 

The two clubs have made a good start to their debut seasons in the top flight and are currently in a three-way tie for second place in the table having won three of their opening four fixtures. Both teams had good home wins last weekend, with Leeds defeating Taunton Tigers and Warriors winning against London Leopards.

 

The American imports at both clubs have proved to be good acquisitions, with Leeds' Adrian Fenyn currently fifth in the scoring charts with 22.25 points per game while teammate Mike Medved is one of the leading shooters - converting 60 percent of his field goal attempts. Meanwhile Warriors' Tyler Kathan is the fourth leading rebounder with 9.6 boards per game.

 

Matt Newby's Carnegie won two of their three meetings with Warriors last season on their way to a Division Two league and Patron's Cup double. The first meeting saw Chris Roquette pour in 22 points for Leeds as they recovered from a poor start to win 74-60 in the Cup.

 

In the league, a tight game at Braunstone Leisure Centre saw Leeds score the final five points of the game to take a 68-63 victory, but in the final game of the season for Carnegie, Warriors shocked the home side with a 76-55 win after a strong second period.

 

 

London Mets and Bristol Academy Flyers meet for the first time ever on Saturday as both look to build on victories last weekend. While Flyers were recording a comfortable win against Sheffield Arrows, six-man Mets returned from Middlesbrough with an 86-77 victory.

 

Those results left Flyers as one of three clubs tied in joint second place with a 3-1 record, while the Mets are joint fifth with three wins from five games.

 

Mets will be hoping that they have a deeper squad this weekend, with coach Solomon Ayinla set to return after a one game ban following his ejection in the National Cup defeat against Brixton Topcats.

 

The Obanye brothers should both be back along with Jean Wakanena, after all three missed the trip to the north east due to other commitments, while Dave Ajumobi was sick last week. However, Courtney Van Beest, who lost three teeth in a BUCS match against Middlesex (and has his jaw wired) along with Deng Deng, who also lost teeth in practice, are likely to miss out.

 

After four league games and ten in all competitions, Flyers coach Andreas Kapoulas is happy with how the season is going:

 

"In terms of results we've had a really good start to the season doing well in all three competitions," he said.

 

"We are through to the cup quarter-finals and trophy quarter-finals and we had our best start in the three years that we have been in the league with 3 wins and 1 loss. So in that respect we are more than pleased."