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8 October 2026  4 min read

Elite Academy Leagues recap (7 Oct 2026)

Defending WEABL champs City of London Academy - Southwark are up and running in their title defence, but there were some rough outings for the league's new sides after some lopsided results.

Itchen installed themselves as contenders in the EABL South after their win over CoLA, whilst Derby and HHS did the same in the EABL Central.

Wednesday 7 October

WEABL North

4:15pm - Manchester Mystics 86-51 The Sheffield College - LIVE STATS

WEABL South

1:30pm - Itchen College 43-75 City of London Academy - Southwark - LIVE STATS

3:45pm - The Canterbury Academy 22-94 Barking Abbey - LIVE STATS

4pm - New City College 33-94 Oaklands Wolves - LIVE STATS

EABL Central

2pm - HHS Reading Rockets 85-77 SGS College - LIVE STATS

4:30pm - Derby Trailblazers 89-81 BMet City of Birmingham Rockets - LIVE STATS

EABL South

2pm - New City College 57-69 Oaklands Wolves - LIVE STATS

2:15pm - The Canterbury 67-73 Barking Abbey (After 1OT) - LIVE STATS

3:30pm - Itchen College 97-58 City of London Academy - Southwark - LIVE STATS

View all the week's Results

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Barking Abbey Basketball (@abbeynation)

Standout performances

HHS and Derby both started well in the EABL Central, with the Rockets seeing off SGS College 85-77 and the Trailblazers getting the better of BMet 89-81 thanks to a 27-15 final quarter.

Itchen provided plenty of hope for a bright season as they eased past CoLA 97-58, and new outfits The Canterbury Academy and New City College both showed they deserve to be at this level with competitive debuts.

Canterbury led for two-and-a-half quarters before fending off a Barking fightback to take the game to OT, eventually falling just short 73-67, and NCC fought hard after a 17-7 opening frame but went down 69-57 against Oaklands.

In the WEABL it was a more one-sided affair, with easy wins for Barking (94-22 vs Canterbury), Oaklands (94-33 vs NCC) and Manchester (86-51 vs The Sheffield College).

Reigning champs CoLA grabbed a win of their own, using a 29-12 first quarter to run out as comfortable 75-43 winners against Itchen College.

What does it mean for the standings? 

Little can be drawn after just one game for most sides, but CoLA will no doubt be pleased to be up and running in their WEABL title defence.

The new teams across both leagues will have had a first-hand view of the talent on show and the level of play needed this season.

View the League Standings

Player-of-the-week candidates 

Twelve points, 10 boards and five steals from Ashton Billingham couldn't stop SGS from falling to Caleb Alozie (12pts, 8reb) and HHS.

Dylan Gladstone (16pts, 11reb) was back to his usual double-double ways for Oaklands alongside Gavin Mitchell (28pts, 12reb), and Odalo Akhigbe (15pts, 11reb) nearly helped Canterbury to an upset win against Barking.

Kailyn Panchal-Bedward (21pts, 9reb, 4ast, 3stl) enjoyed a fantastic debut for Itchen, with Derby's former MVP winner Casey Burr (34pts, 10reb, 4ast) also in top form alongside team mate Logan Ormshaw (23pts, 4reb, 3ast).

Layjuan Farrell (25pts, 5reb) played well in defeat for BMet.

In the WEABL, Sharliyah Sutherland dropped 21 points in Barking's big win over Canterbury, and Oaklands' own runaway victory led to great outings for Holly Welch (25pts, 11reb, 4ast, 5stl) and Summer Wilson (23pts, 6ast, 3stl).

Anya Williams (18pts, 7reb, 6ast, 7stl) and Sally Robinson (15pts, 5reb, 4ast) combined for Manchester to down The Sheffield College, and Monife Abidekun (26pts, 9reb, 4stl) was the standout for CoLA in their season opener.

Watch out for the winner on our social channels, with the announcement going live on Friday at 12pm for the EABL, and 12:30pm for the WEABL.

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Main image credit - Barking Abbey