Sheffield Saints vs Northants Phoenix Nets

Weavers LC, Wellingborough
Saturday 17th December 3.30 tip

Saints 15 15 22 13 65
Nets 18 25 11 18 72

Having written reports for this team for 5 years one rule has been not to comment on the officials. They’re part of the game and you have to take what you get. However sometime rules have to be broken and in this game some of the decision making was totally unbelievable and affected the credibility of this game. (All are opinions of the report writer and not of the Club).

As Tyler, Marcus, Daniel, Connor and Kenneth got the game off to a start the Nets broke away and scored from the tip. Marcus evened the scores but it was obvious that the spot for second place was going to be a close fought affair. Tyler bagged a basket and another emerging trend was that a lot of fouls were going to be called. Josh with a one from two and ConnorD with an “and one” put the Saints up 8-7 after 5 minutes.. Marcus converted one from the free throw line and George came onto the court and helped the cause. Josh was still scoring from free throws as George then got the last score for the Saints making it 15-16. A chance to take the lead from the free throw line was missed and Nets took a late basket to end the quarter 18-15. A close match.

Nets came out fast in quarter 2 to extend the lead before the game became farcical. Virtually as soon as a Saints player got near the ball some kind of violation or foul was called. ConnorD got one from two and Marcus had a five point rally, Josh got a basket and at 24-28 behind Saints were still in the game. The 15-6 score in favour of the Nets was mainly due to the calls of the officials. The six points came from Marcus, Eddy and Marko but there was a complete air of disbelief about what was going on. The 13 point deficit was simply not fair?

The response from the Saints was as expected in quarter three. Not only did they reduce the deficit but the officials now called everything against the Nets. The home fans were now finding it hard to comprehend. Unfortunately two wrongs do not make a right but it showed how a game can be changed because of this. The Saints took the quarter 22-11 with Montell, David and Daniel now getting court time. It was Josh and Marcus that lead the charge bagging most of the points with Marcus spending a lot of time at the charity line. The supporting cast were Eddy, Tyler, ConnorD and Marko scoring wise but it showed the true class of the Saints and at the end of the Q it was a 2 point game.

The Saints continued this passage of good play into quarter 4 and Josh, Marko and ConnorD finally put the Saints into the lead after 5 minutes 60-57. Then it all went pear shaped again. In a game of this level and intensity to have 4(?) baskets disallowed in the last 5 minutes of a game beggars belief. OK we saw the interfering but how do you travel tipping in a rebound. Again whatever the Saints did, including scoring, the whistle went. Eddy, Tyler and Marko did their best but there are some things you can’t play against. Unfortunately at the end the heads went and a little rally from the Nets gave them a 7 point victory.

It wasn’t the officials that lost the Saints the match it was the time when their defensive play was all over the shop and those lay ups that should have went in. However the contribution of the officials meant that emotions (that were already high) were more so and it turned what should have been a showcase of junior basketball into a pantomime, well it is the season?

We’d like to thank our hosts as we like to make friends on the road and a public apology if any supporters’ emotions got the better of them. We would like to play basketball in March so until then...

Team and scorers

Marcus Welsh (19), Josh Edwards (14), Connor Dixon (10), Marko Backovic (8), Eddy Brownell (6), Tyler Gayle(4), George Naylor (4), David Frost, Kenneth Nwose, Daniel Jenkinson, Montell Gordon, Sam Thompson-DNP