NO CUP GLORY AS FIRSTS COME SECOND BY ONE – WESTWOOD THROUGH!

February 23, 2023

They were so near, yet finished so far – Trojans 1 went out of the Warwickshire Basketball Handicap Cup at the quarter-final stage, despite an heroic effort which saw them fall one short after conceding a 5-60 point handicap to Westwood Rhinos who edged it 94-93 in a thriller at The XCEL Centre.

With Scott Owen, Mark Larner and Enoch Kolawole all missing through a training demand for their National League side, Richard Onions still out, nursing a groin strain and Bhuwan Limbu away on business, Coach Trevor Robinson, who himself was cup-tied, having played in the competition for Trojans 3 was left with the barest of members in his squad as they faced the daunting task of pulling back those 55 points.

“The opening quarter was poor” lamented Robinson, “as we failed with our man-to-man marking, but once we switched to a 3-2 zone, we stopped them from scoring and began to hit the target ourselves.” Trojans lost that first period 18-17, but, with Chris Janes and Ash Dickson excelling, they took the second 28-12 and began to look as if they could do it as Rhinos were becalmed.

But if that was a problem for the home side, the third quarter proved to be a disaster as Trojans ran riot, slamming home a 32-2 electric spell as the gap narrowed and with the final ten minutes beckoning, a place in the semi-finals did also with the score by now standing at 77-90.

But things changed as the clock ticked down and Rhinos charged once more to stay thirteen up and only five minutes left.

“For some reason,” fumed Robinson ” we started throwing up threes, which is great if they go in – but they didn’t and all we managed was to give them the ball back, whereas we could have won it had we continued to get inside.”

The angry Trojans Coach was inconsolable afterwards as desperation had reared its ugly head and, despite a valiant effort, his six-man squad fell one short and the chance to face arch-rivals Arden Griffins in the final had gone.

Scorers: Rhinos – Cheetham 0, Pan 6, Ford 12, Castle 0, Petit 9, D Kearsley 5, Bevis 0, G Kearsley 0, Todd 2.

Trojans – Jones 4, Janes 29, Roberts 7, Dickson 30, Gorgol 13, Murray 5.