To the Essex Sports Arena! …on Saturday evening. This was the first double header of the season for the Rebels, with the recently reformed men’s Division 3 team on court first, followed by a men’s Division 1 game.
Football commitments kept us away from the Div 3 men. We rocked up and took up our seats at the arena to see the final couple of minutes in the 4th quarter.
At first I thought the scoreboard was borked. It said the Rebs were leading 117 to 34. Hang on, that can’t be right.
A few friendly conversations with some Rebs folk then confirmed that this had been an absolute walkover. The visitors from Bedford had come with only 5 players. There was absolutely no one on the bench.
The atmosphere in the arena was flat but a win is a win. Some within the organisation were a little concerned that the sizeable crowd might not hang around for the main attraction, given what they had just witnessed.
It’s a little awkward for the men’s Div 3 team. They’ve had to drop down a year after taking a sabbatical last season. It looks like the season ahead might be something of a stroll for them, with few competitive matches.
Any concerns about the arena being half empty once again for the Div 1 men were soon put aside. Even with England international football on the telly, there was still a half-decent crowd.
Once again coaching for the Rebels was Ashley Jordan. He has stepped up to the role in an impressive manner as the organisation still looks to recruit a full-time coach.
The early exchanges didn’t look good for the Rebs against a really strong Reading Rockets team. The visitors outmuscled the Rebs on their home court in the early exchanges.
We also had our own little tussle with some kids sitting in front of us. They had a right bloody annoying mouth reed-type instrument thingy. One of the young fellows kept on squeaking away in a most annoying fashion.
The Rebels were impressive in the first quarter. They moved the ball around the court at some pace. It would always be a challenge to keep up this level of commitment.
It was a great team effort as they took an 18-14 lead going into the start of the second quarter. They had to work for it, with Reading pushing them all the way.
Reading came out strong in the second. This was a key game as both teams looked to progress in the Trophy. It was pretty much winner takes all to see who would come out on top for the next stage of the knockout competition.
The Rebels' strategy of relying on sharpshooter Kyran Martin to hit his three-pointers won’t win you a game. This isn’t a one-man sport. Martin did remarkably well with most of his shots but not everything is going to sink.
Some great coaching though did take place from Ashley Jordan. With 3 seconds left in the second quarter, he brought on two subs and set up a move which got the three-pointers needed. This left the Rebels trailing 40-42 at the buzzer.
The game got back underway in the third but the scoreboard started to slow down. This then became a low-scoring ball game as Reading started to get away. The shots just wouldn’t sink for the Rebels.
The comeback never really seemed on. They were always chasing the game. The home team rallied in the final couple of minutes but the gap was already too big. Reading left Our House with a well-deserved 88-76 road win.
