The most disappointing report I’ve had to send all season…

Admittedly, this is slightly later than usual. Part due to my other paid work getting in the way, part due to the disappointment I’ve felt more as a supporter with my team not getting through, and also thanks to the role players may have possibly played in inviting me out for final drinks in Chester…

It’s going to be different then in that sense that I’m not going to give a full blown report of the game, as the likelihood is that you already know the result and all the action of the two legs between Cheshire and Newcastle. Instead, I’m going to give you more of an insight into the feelings experienced from start to finish.

So the game against Worcester is over, the Jets win by 10 points and we look ahead to the daunting task of Newcastle. Triple champions this season so far; it would be foolish to think that it wasn’t going to be difficult.

The difficult task for me was actually getting to the first leg! I was scheduled to work, and it was the morning of last Thursday that I was able to organise time off to get there. One of the Jets supporters (Ian Farish) was very kind enough to drive me up as he had space in his car. Much appreciated Ian, as was the drive to Worcester the weekend previous.

We both knew that anything more than 10 points loss and we were going to have a very long drive back from the North East.

A quick pre-game drink with other Jets fans in the student union bar and we were set. It was my first trip to Sport Central and hopefully not my last as it was a fantastic arena for basketball and is something Cheshire Jets wouldn’t mind having half of I suspect.

Settled down and connected up to the wifi for updates and away we went.

I’d be lying if I said that the first half of basketball wasn’t like a dream. A lead at one point of 28, and Jets went into the locker rooms with a 23 point lead? I had to pinch myself a few times as shots just dropped from all over the court. There were a thousand things running through my head, but the stand out one was that Cheshire Jets COULD get to the play-off final. I wasn’t going to let myself run away with the idea, but my gosh it was definitely something that kept my mind ticking away in the queue for a hot dog.

The comeback was always going to be on. I doubt Fab was going to ever do anything but rally his players up and soon into the third stanza the deficit had been dramatically slashed down. The game slowly was hauled back by the BBL Championship, Trophy and Cup winners but Cheshire held their nerve and took back a 10 point lead to the Northgate.

Speaking with Darrin (OleDJ) post-game, he said that Cheshire were without doubt the best visiting side to have graced the Sport Central this season based on that performance.

Coach Lavery was delighted after the game to take any points back home, slightly disappointed to have let the score get away from them, but he was pleased with the confidence and the efforts put in by his team. However, he knew it was, in theory, half-time.

Safe to say, it was a rather more enjoyable trip back to Chester, despite a wrong turning near Warrington which sent us almost back towards Newcastle.

I’d been glad to switch my shifts in work the next day to 12pm instead of a 6am wake-up, nonetheless I was still on quite a high, but by the end of it all I was rightly knackered and slept like a baby that night (even missing a wedding I’d planned on going to for a good long time).

So Sunday rolled around and I was full of nerves and anticipation. Tweeting all day and making “Keep Calm And Play Basketball’ posters, half an eye on the Newcastle v City game (wanting only one Newcastle side to win that day) and then kitting myself for #operationblack.

Arriving early, as there were 100 travelling Eagles fans alongside probably the biggest home crowd of the season due to be in attendance, the tension was palpable amongst those already inside.

There had not been a bigger game than this in the Northgate for a number of years, but it could not have gotten off to a worse start in the first quarter. The ten point lead had gone to be replaced by a three point deficit; a fightback though was on the cards as the Jets the slightest of leads on aggregate by two going into the second quarter.

And what a quarter it was set to be, thanks to an all-round team effort, points from all players, predominantly from Matt and Kai towards the end of the quarter saw Cheshire take a four point lead on the night and a 14 point aggregate lead into the locker room. What seemed was lost was right back in the hands of the Jets and only 20 minutes to keep it in their grasp.

However, little did anyone expect two players to make such a difference, one in each quarter. They weren’t Jets either. They were Eagles. Two Eagles determined to fly their side to the highest heights. In the third, it was stalwart Charles Smith, whose shooting hauled his side back into the game and helped cut the Jets’ overall lead down to just six points going into the final quarter.

You don’t just get MVP of the year for nothing. And what was to be witnessed in the final ten minutes was sheer heartbreak for Cheshire Jets supporters (including myself), undoubted relief from Newcastle Eagles fans, and a masterclass in regards to performing under pressure just when it matters most by a Mr. Joe Chapman.

When seven points away from tying the game on aggregate, Chapman took to the stage. Three three-pointers in a row. I don’t need to say anything else but (imagine me raising my arms up open-palmed) “Waddayagonnado?”

It was in one fell swoop that an Eagle would stick himself into the engine of a Jets side, destroy the motor, and somehow come out the other side unscathed. That was all it took for Eagles to then hang on.

Admittedly, as the clock ran down, as happened throughout the game, nothing would care to drop in the fortunes of the Jets. Look at the stats for yourself and it was horrifying o say the least in the first quarter, but late on in the game the same luck was to strike. It soon turned into the chess-like stop/start routine as foul trouble came into play but for many of the Jets supporters they were leaving as they knew it was too late to regain control.

And so, the final whistle went and Eagles fans went wild at the prospect of capturing all four titles yet again, albeit having scrapped past the Jets by a mere five points. No doubt it would have been worse for all had the game gotten closer to a single point; however, it was abject disappointment for home fans considering the wild run Team Mohawk had recently been on, and sheer delight and relief for the journey home of the Eagles.

I won’t deny it. This year could have been a blow-out was it not for the late run. Nobody expected Cheshire to even qualify for the play-offs at one point, but it came together (my guess with the fantastic contribution from Kai Williams stepping in) and if it is possible for this group of players to come together once more then next season could be a completely different tale to be told.

Thank you to everyone who has followed my reports over the past year. I hope that next season from a Jets perspective I can get to more games and cover even more action. Until then have a fantastic summer, enjoy the Olympics and I hope everyone enjoys the final!