The Caledonian Gladiators rocked up at the Essex Sports Arena for a Trophy semi-final match on Monday afternoon, with the unusual tip off time of 4pm.
Oh.
It was hardly the high thrills of a Rebs Saturday night GAME NIGHT. I was half expecting to be amongst a very selective crowd of ahem dedicated Rebs fans.
I needn’t have worried. The Rebs had done a half decent job in marketing the match to the after school crowd. There was enough of us in there to make a right old racket.
As for Caledonian?
That’s an awfully long way to come down to cheer on your team; it’s also an awfully long way down to travel back for the players if they didn’t get the result they were hoping for.
The away team wasted no time in going about their business. They racked up nine points on the scoreboard before the Rebels could even get going.
A quick turn around in play, and soon it was 10-10, in what was shaping up to be a very physical encounter. Both teams would do well to finish with a full bench.
The scores were tied at 19-19 at the end of the first. Little ground was made up in the second quarter. A very tight game was swaying back and forth, with Caledonian leading 37-24 at the break.
The physical contest continued into the third. Elbows were flying everywhere. The main tactic from the Rebs seemed to be to entice the Caledonian BRUISER of a player to foul herself out of the game.
Job well done, Claire Paxton. Extra points for celebrating the achievement on court.
Neither team could pull away. This one’s going all the way down to the wrire, right?
It was a thrilling game, with the scoreboard showing the Rebs leading 64-63 going into the final quarter.
Any result was possible - a home win, an away win or even OT.
The Rebs seemed on top with one minute remaining. But then Caledonian played a smart game, sinking their shots, and managing the stop clock.
A 95-93 home court defeat for the Rebs was a tough one.
Hey hoe.
At least I only had a short bicycle ride back to base.
