Worthing Thunder want to make their coach and his new wife a very happy couple.

They hope to welcome Gary Smith back to England with news his team are heading for the EBL title.

Barkers (Tarring) Thunder host nearest rivals Worcester Wolves in division one's game of the day, and arguably the game of the season, tonight (8pm).

A win will keep Thunder on course for their first regular season title.

And it would give them some great news to tell Smith and his long-time partner Emma, who were married in Jamaica on Thursday.

Smith, popularly known as Chicken, misses tonight's game as well as next week's clash with London United.

But his stand-ins Chris Mayes and Alan Sweetman-Hicks reckon they have the know how at their disposal to keep Thunder in winning form.

Sweetman-Hicks said: "Without Chicken it will be tough but Chris and I have coached games at this level before and, although we have a very young squad, there is a lot of experience there so we will work things out.

"Defensively, the keys for us are to look after their power forward Ty Shaw and to keep their back court quiet.

"Shaw is a high quality player and they look to do most of their action through him.

"He is averaging 17.7 points and 12.3 rebounds a game and works hard at both ends.

"And their back court of Matt Collins and Andy Harper are averaging 34 points a game between them."

Thunder were in cruise control in last weekend's wins over Teesside and Solent.

Sweetman-Hicks admitted they played some good stuff at times but took their foot off the gas at others.

With the Wolves in town, Worrthing will need to establish themselves close to the basket, where Pat Bates and Jon Woods have key roles.

And they must keep the tempo high without committing too many turnovers in the process.

Sweetman-Hicks said: "We prefer an up-tempo game, which is why generally the scores are so high in our games but Worcester like to play a more controlled game.

"Worcester are a good defensive side and we don't want to keep giving them the ball back.

"Pat needs to stay out of foul trouble and dominate the paint at both ends and Jon needs to be active and draw defenders out to him so he can use his quick feet to go past them.

"What we really need though is the people of Sussex to come and support us.

"This is the biggest game of the season for us and it would be really great to have a good crowd."

The main resistance Thunder met at Solent Stars last Sunday was from a particularly persistent bunch of cheerleaders.

The Fleming Park set-up has hardly changed since Solent's dominant days when in the Eighties.

"Twenty-five Years Of Top Level Basketball" proclaims the message on the front of the photocopied match programme.

But it is the women's team keeping that legend alive these days as they compete in their top division.

The cheerleaders shouted themselves hoarse at free throws, imploring Thunder to "miss, miss, miss, miss."

Thunder duly went 17-of-18 from the line in the second half.

The game experience at Durrington tonight will include the chance for a lucky programme buyer to win a mountain bike provided by Thunder's sponsors Barkers (Tarring).

The happy Smith couple just hope to get home and find a W from the game along with the toasters, saucepan sets and other wedding gifts.

Former Worthing Thunder forward Nick Oharabe is being linked with a move to BBL outfit Guildford Heat.

But he was not in the line-up last night as Guildford lost 88-72 at Scottish Rocks , for whom Rob Yanders hit 24 points and Julius Joseph 18 brian.owen@theargus.co.uk