Third placed Reading Rockets (19-7) will take on sixth placed Essex Leopards (16-10) in the play-off quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon at the Rivermead Leisure Complex in Reading (5pm tip-off). Rockets narrowly missed out on the runners-up spot in NBL Division One despite recording impressive wins over Derby Trailblazers by 85 points to 76 and champions Manchester Magic with a 89-83 away win. The Berkshire club needed to beat the Trailblazers by 16 points or more to leapfrog their rivals into second place with both teams finishing on identical records, but the nine point win for the Reading outfit meant the Derby team held firm for the runners-up position.
With Rockets winning their final two games of the regular season, it set up a tie with the sixth placed team which eventually was Essex Leopards who were involved in a four way tie for positions five to eight in the table. Rockets and their erstwhile rivals Leopards have had titanic battles this season with all three previous games being extremely tight affairs. The Reading team picked up an overtime win back in early October as they secured a 90-82 away win. But it was the Essex outfit that took both league victories in dramatic style during the regular season. The Leopards came from 15 points down in the game at Harlow Sports Zone in January scoring a lay up with 1 second remaining to take a 74-72 victory. History then repeated itself a few weeks ago with the Rockets having the ball with 20 seconds left and the game being tied, only for the home team to turn the ball over as the Leopards ran in another lay up on the buzzer to win the game 76-74 at the John Madejski Academy.
Rockets Head Coach Manuel Peña Garcés was pleased to see his team put in two very good performances last weekend and hopes this puts them in good stead for the winner takes all game against Essex Leopards with the Spanish play-caller relishing the challenge. He said,
“We played very well in both second halves this weekend and secured two great wins with two very good performances so I am really pleased about that especially ahead of the post season. We tried hard to get the runner-up place but we couldn’t quite overturn our loss at Derby so we are happy to finish third in what has been a pulsating season.”
“The work does not stop for us now. We must build on last weekend and fully focus all our energies on the game against the Leopards. This week will be about continuing to work on sharpening our tools, preparing for our opposition, and learning, learning, learning from our previous two games!”
“Essex has been a hard team to play against and I expect nothing different this time around. To lose the two league games against them in the same way was painful and it is something we can’t let happen again. We need to put ourselves in a better position in the game, nullify their threats early, and believe in our potential through preparation and discipline. Coach Steve (Ogunjimi) will have them fired up and ready to play and they will be full of confidence after the last two meetings so it should be a great quarter final but one we will be doing everything we can to win.”
Rockets go into Sunday’s do or die game with no new injury concerns. Captain Danny Carter made it through his first double header weekend since his back injury and should be fully fit for the visit of Essex. American point guard Antonio Robinson sustained an eye injury during Saturday’s home win over Derby however was still able to play the following day against Manchester after treatment at A&E and should be fine for the quarter-final match up. Manuel Peña Garcés should have a full team to choose from as the Rockets go in search of a semi-final place against either Derby Trailblazers or Lancashire Spinners as the 2015/2016 season reaches its climax.
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