Solent Stars Basketball Club - The Complete History

Solent Stars - Book Now Available Again

2011-03-23T14:22:00.002Z

After a successful print run in 2007, the book detailing the history of the Solent Stars Basketball Club is now available again in a new format.

The book is available in print format and as a digital download and can be ordered directly from lulu.com. Please follow this link for the details:

http://www.lulu.com/product/14969874

More than 900 games are featured in this book about the Solent Stars senior men's basketball team. With 383 pages, the book is filled with 140 photos of teams and players over the past 27 seasons plus results of all the matches played.

Every first team player is listed and there are team photographs from most seasons plus coaching statistics and programme covers. This book is the definitive record of the club's history and was welcomed by players and team followers alike.

Author, Jim Rumsey, has been involved with the team since its inception and has used his experiences to record the various ups and downs of the club over its 27 year existence.

Solent Stars - The History

2008-11-10T10:07:00.005Z

Basketball is one of the world's major sports and, yet, in England the game only has minority status. As such, the public's awareness of the basketball teams, coaches, players and administrators is limited.

This website is a small step taken to redress the balance for the thousands of spectators, players, coaches and officials who have contributed to the account of the Solent Stars Basketball club.

Our story starts with the vision of one man, Harry Smith. He had earlier funded a Solent women's team to play on the national scene before assembling a men's team to join Division Two of the National League in the 1980-81 season.

From then on the story of the club is one of a rollercoaster ride from national champions and European contenders to falling from Division One to regional Division Four in 1990. Subsequently, Solent Stars rose again to become Division One league winners at the end of the 1998-99 season. Along the way there have been many dramas, personalities and incidents. In the following web pages you will find accounts of all of these events including descriptions of over 900 games played during that period.

I dedicate this website to all those who have been involved - in whatever capacity - with Solent Stars Basketball Club.

Jim Rumsey

The website contains the following sections.

Seasons - Detailed accounts of each season, containing photographs when available. This is a comprehensive review of approximately 120,000 words.

Players - A list of all the players that are known to have played for the Senior Men's First Team and a list of the Player of the Year Awards

Coaches - A list of all the coaches with win / loss records

Statistics - Player statistics for a number of seasons

League Tables - A full set of league tables which show at which level Solent were competing each season

Trophies - All major trophies won by the club

Images - Programme covers and some programme articles. A selection of team photos. Some action photos.

Articles - Articles about or by members of the Solent Stars club

Support - Information regarding the Supporters Club, mascot and fans

Women - a brief overview of the women's team

Youth - a brief overview of the early days of the youth programme

Book - details of the book written by Jim Rumsey in 2007

Solent Stars 2006/07 Season

2008-11-05T15:02:00.007Z

Following several seasons without on-court success, owner Bob Paulley widened his net in his search for a new coach once Steve Chant had announced his resignation both as a coach and a club director.

Inevitably there were protracted long-distance negotiations before, late in the summer, the club announced the appointment of Kerry Kirby from Alabama, USA. His job also would encompass a role at Southampton Solent University in an effort to demonstrate Solent Stars commitment to building its Academy credentials.

Nationally a new policy concerning club franchises was relaxed - despite the protestations by several club owners - with the result that two new clubs within a short radius of Fleming Park entered the national league. One of the teams, playing in Division Four, eventually comprised most of the English players from the recent teams of Solent Stars plus the previous season's Assistant Coach, Sylvain Donneaud.

Coach Kerry Kirby, fresh from a successful USA representative team tour of China, thus found he had to build virtually a new team in a very short time with most of the experienced local talent - including Solent's Academy players - not available.

Kerry Kirby (coach)

The first fixture was an away National Trophy game at West Herts Warriors. Kirby had only arrived in the country four days before the game and it had been Mick Byrne who had had the job of finding and training the new English players. The coach brought with him Earl Moore who had played in the team that had visited China. Moore made an immediate impact in this game. With youngster Craig Teesdale and also Liam Wyatt having to play a lot of court time, Solent were always going to be hard-pressed against a more experienced and bigger Herts team. The result was close, Solent losing by just eight points, 84 - 92 (Moore 44).

A friendly was arranged for a fortnight later at Fleming Park, to allow all the Academy players to be seen. Solent Stars won 93 - 64. This was one of only four occasions that Solent had a home game before Christmas in an example of poor programming by the national body.

A further lack of imagination by England Basketball sent Solent back to West Herts for the first league game. The game followed a similar pattern to the first with Solent losing 97 - 104 (Moore 45) despite a late comeback. For Solent, Sebastian Zwolak made an impressive debut.

Earl Moore

A trip to Cardiff Celts followed for a National Cup game. The match went to overtime when Cardiff scored a three pointer - one of their 14 in the game - on the final buzzer. Solent exited the National Cup with a 101 - 107 loss (Moore 37, Milner 28, Zwolak 20).

Mick Byrne, aided by injured player Ryan Payne, took over the coaching role for the visit to London Leopards. This was because of a viral illness to coach Kirby. John Wilkins worked hard at both ends for Solent but could not prevent another league loss, 78 - 92 (Moore 26, Zwolak 21).

With Kirby fit again, amazingly Solent Stars were programmed for two away games on consecutive days, in the following weekend. A long trip to Sheffield Arrows came first. With Milner carrying an injury and Moore under the weather with a cold, it was left to youngsters Rob Bawden, Liam Mitchell and Darren Mason to help the more experienced players. The result was no surprise, Solent losing 73 - 109 (Moore 28).

A comparatively short trip to London Capitals followed the next day. The result, a 58 - 82 loss (Moore 28) was not expected after such a hectic weekend.

Clayton Milner

At last, on November 11th, a home game had been arranged by the league. With clubs sometime dependent on gate receipts, there seemed little support for Solent from the league management in denying any possibility until this date. For the home fans it also provided the first victory for Solent in the league, although they were denied an opportunity to ever see Zwolak who had left to return to Poland. Solent led after the first quarter with Ryan Payne returning from injury and won 73 - 66 (Moore 29, Milner 20).

Away next to Coventry Crusaders in the league, Solent saw the debut of Antonio Bright, a second American brought in by coach Kirby. Solent led at half time and at the three-quarter mark, but fell away at the end despite late scoring by Ben Stanley and Liam Mitchell to lose narrowly 96 - 101 (Bright 33, Moore 25).

Ryan Payne

Solent paid heavily for lack of big men and Bright's fouling out with 8 minutes left in their second home league game against Worthing Thunder. A comprehensive defeat 85 - 112 (Moore 38, Bright 21) was the outcome.

A visit to league leaders Reading Rockets was never going to be easy. In the game both Payne and Moore were injured, effectively ending any challenge as Solent lost 76 - 111 (Bright 21, Moore 20).

Coach Kirby missed the home game against Manchester Magic with another illness bout. With Moore still injured and no Payne, Mick Byrne was left to take a very inexperienced team to a National Trophy crushing defeat 78 - 126 (Bright 33).

Back in league action on the road to Kings Lynn Fury, Solent missed club captain Ryan Payne who strangely chose to coach the Solent Under 18 team for the second consecutive week. When Darren Mason fouled out early in the second half, Solent had no big men left to counter the Kings Lynn attacks and lost 99 - 112 (Moore 41, Bright 25, Milner 23).

Antonio Bright

Two National Trophy games began the new year. Solent put up a good performance at Worthing before losing 95 - 106 (Bright 33, Moore 20). Paul Young made an impressive debut as Solent's new centre.

More height and aggression was added to the Solent squad as Nick O'Harabe returned to the team. His and Young's presence were instrumental in restricting Coventry to 60 points in this home game played at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. Solent's very rare National Trophy win, 87 - 60 (Moore 28, Bright 24) meant that they did not occupy the final place in the pool.

It was Solent's turn to feel the effect of good defence in the next league match, home to West Herts Warriors. As with Coventry in the previous game, Solent could only manage 60 points as they stumbled to a 60 - 75 loss.

A daunting trip to Manchester Magic saw Solent put up a good fight in an entertaining game that they lost 80 - 106 (Bright 26, Moore 21).

The next home game, against London Leopards, proved the most exciting of the season. Only one point separated the teams at the end of each quarter. O'Harabe's cool shooting of two final free throws gave Solent the victory, although with one second to go they contrived to throw the ball away and give London a last chance. Solent's win 89 - 87 (Moore 26, Bright 23) was only their second of the league season.

This total was doubled over the next weekend with consecutive home games on Saturday and Sunday. First up were Sheffield Arrows who would have been expected to win. Solent's confidence had been boosted by their last win and despite falling behind for the majority of the game, a last quarter in which they outscored Sheffield 38 - 19 gave Solent a famous victory, 112 - 107 (Bright 43, Moore 30, O'Harabe 22).

A first ever visit by Northampton Neptunes saw Solent complete a double victory weekend by the score 98 - 90 (O'Harabe 30, Bright 27).

With Bright not available for the next game, Solent were unable to match the scoring of London Capitals at home and lost 75 - 113 (Moore 21).

Bright was back for the trip to Teesside Mohawks in a game that marked the first away win for the Solent team - as well as a double over the Teesside club. Solent led throughout much of the game but needed to keep their composure at the end before edging the game 87 - 80 (Moore 26, Bright 25).

Coventry Crusaders were Solent's next visitors - ironically once again at the Mountbatten Centre. Solent had travelled back from Teesside the night before and it may have affected their game. With the scores close throughout, it was Coventry that nailed the final points to give Solent a narrow loss, 87 - 90 (Bright 25).

Needing at least two wins from their remaining five matches, Solent could expect no favours from the visit of Manchester Magic. Despite their best performance against their opponents, Solent's missed free throws would have helped narrow the 85 - 96 gap (Bright 28).

Nick O'Harabe

League contenders Reading Rockets were also in no mood to help Solent in their play-off quest when they came to Fleming Park and Solent fell to their superior power 65 - 88 (Bright 29).

It was yet another game at the Mountbatten Centre for the vital fixture against Kings Lynn Fury. Solent did not disappoint the few fans that made the trip. A stirring display saw them run out winners in a high scoring game, 118 - 111 (Moore 36, Bright 28).

The next game - away to Northampton Neptunes - was equally vital for Solent who blotted their copybook by arriving late for the game, which began 35 minutes late. Northampton led for most of the match until Solent levelled at the start of the final quarter. Northampton did not help their cause by losing several players who were fouled out, which left them just five players for the final six minutes. Solent finished stronger to record a second away win, 100 - 94 (Moore 29, O'Harabe 21, Bright 20). This victory assured Solent of eighth place in the league and therefore a play-off spot.

The final league game was away to the league champions Worthing Thunder with the knowledge that the two teams would meet again the following week on the same court. The final league game went to form eventually, but Worthing were shocked when Solent led at the first quarter 26 - 21 after Worthing had taken a long time to get into their stride. With the scores level at half time (55 all) an amazing 50 points by Worthing in the third quarter deflated the visitors and Solent eventually lost 108 - 129 (Moore 44, Bright 29).

One week later, the teams met again. The league champions had only lost one game in the season and Solent's effort in the play-off game was a tribute to the fighting spirit of the whole squad. Although the American duo of Earl Moore and Antonio Bright had taken the scoring plaudits, they were backed by a group of fairly inexperienced players who had been thrust into League Division One action. The play-off game performance was typical of the squad who had given their all throughout the season and although Solent lost 102 - 115 (Moore 36, Bright 27) they won much respect from basketball fans.

Little did those travelling Solent fans realise that they were watching the end of an era as Solent Stars began a summer of unrest that would mean that for the first time since 1980 no Solent Stars name would be seen in the fixture list.

	2006/07 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Worthing Thunder	22	21	1	2267	1850	+417	42
2	Reading Rockets	22	19	3	2013	1623	+390	38
3	Manchester Magic	22	17	5	2138	1868	+270	34
4	London Leopards	22	13	9	1991	1929	+62	26
5	PAWS London Capitals	22	13	9	2019	1825	+194	26
6	UH West Herts Warriors	22	11	11	1954	1902	+52	22
7	Sheffield Arrows	22	11	11	1914	1914	+0	22
8	Solent Stars	22	7	15	1899	2151	-252	14
9	Coventry Crusaders	22	6	16	1667	1927	-260	12
10	Kings Lynn Fury	22	5	17	1936	2231	-295	10
11	Tees Valley Mohawks	22	5	17	1686	1888	-202	10
12	Northampton Neptunes	22	4	18	1831	2207	-376	8

Solent Stars 2005/06 Season

2008-11-05T15:01:00.005Z

Back row (left to right): Will Zoppellini, Imran Shafiq, David Butterworth, Clayton Milner, Graham Hunter, Mark Steutel, Chris Sheldrick, Steve Chant
Front row: Anthony Rutter, Ryan Payne, Mark Jackson, Ollie Marsh, Marcus Ch'ng

A new coach, Steve Chant, and a clutch of new players formed the basis of the team that travelled to Worcester Wolves on September 17th, 2005 to play in the first of four National Trophy games. Three players from the successful Solent second team of the previous season had stepped up - Ryan Payne, Clayton Milner and Mike Peel. Chris Sheldrick had returned to the club along with David Butterworth. Mark Jackson and Ollie Marsh were the only two who had played in the corresponding fixture from the previous season. Marc Steutel (pronounced Stootel) and Will Zoppellini had come from the East Durham club to study at Southampton Solent University. Marcus Ch'ng had been recruited on video and statistical evidence from Australia. Solent could only score 45 points in the game, continuing Solent's poor National Trophy record as they lost 45 - 72 (Milner 17).

Another away game followed at Coventry in which Solent played much better but lost 91 - 100 (Jackson 20). The next day the team travelled again, this time to Eastside Eagles for a National Cup game which they won 83 - 55 (Milner 21). The team included Anthony Rutter for his first game.

It was back to National Trophy action for two home games next. A close defeat by Coventry Crusaders 69 - 75 (Butterworth 24) - Imran Shafiq's first game - was followed by a more convincing loss to Worcester 55 - 78 (Butterworth 31) with Solent finding it hard to score again. This left Solent bottom of its National Trophy Pool - and an unenviable record of only having won one of their last 22 National Trophy games.

Marcus Ch'ng

The league Division One season started with an away visit to London Capitals. Marcus Ch'ng was out with injury, but the team pulled off a famous victory coming from behind in the last five minutes to win 75 - 69 (Butterworth 27).

More success - again without Ch'ng - followed the next day on a visit to Taunton Tigers for a National Cup match. This tricky fixture was won 95 - 79 (Butterworth 24, Marsh 23) by outscoring the home team 34 - 16 in the final quarter. Ollie Marsh was in good shooting form for this game.

Teesside Mohawks provided Solent with their third consecutive win 76 - 65 (Butterworth 25) and gave an opportunity for 6' 8" Paul Davis to play his first home game for the club. He was injured in that game and could not take part in the next day's cup quarter final at Essex and Herts Leopards. Solent had a fantastic first quarter and led 27 - 17 before losing momentum and the game 75 - 101. Essex went on to win the National cup beating Reading Rockets in the final.

Marc Steutel

By chance, Reading were Solent's next visitors. They were the first of four teams to play Solent having been unbeaten in the league. Reading won 107 - 80 (Payne 23).

Worcester at Worcester proved too strong again for Solent (93 - 76) in a game that marked Ch'ng's return.

London United were too strong for Solent at Fleming Park. The home team lost 71 - 121 (Butterworth 25).

Solent gave Worthing Thunder a fright after trailing by 27 points when they pulled level later in the game only to lose it in the last minute 82 - 88 (Jackson 24).

Coventry Crusaders won at Solent 84 - 88 (Butterworth 21) to make it a five game losing streak for Solent and leave them in ninth position in the league with nearly a third of the league season gone and just two wins to their credit.

The final home match of the year, against Manchester Magic, was yet another defeat for Solent 85 - 106 (Butterworth 25). It will be remembered for a fired-up display from Ollie Marsh who - at one point - scored seven consecutive points, including a free throw and a three pointer, after picking up a technical foul. Marsh's passion demonstrated the whole-hearted approach of all the team to the games they played.

David Butterworth continued to be Solent's main points scorer right up to the last away game of 2005. Solent went to high-riding Sheffield Arrows but could make little impression on a team boasting several ex-BBL players. The year ended with an 84 - 117 (Butterworth 33) defeat.

The new calendar year started with the heartening news that a sponsor in the form of Kuti Miah had come to the club's aid. With his help, the club had brought in 24-year-old, 6' 8" American player, John Smith. Problems with a Clearance Certificate meant that he could not play against Essex and Herts Leopards to whom Solent lost the first home game of the new year 72 - 94.

The next 'home' game was played at River Park, Winchester and proved a low point as Solent went down to basement club, Nottingham Knights 97 - 104 (Butterworth 28). Bizarre circumstances brought about by a malfunctioning scoreboard saw club owner, Bob Paulley, brought into action with a flipchart as a visible timing feature. Smith scored 20 points on his debut.

He was near that total again when Solent visited Kingston Wildcats. A close game was lost 87 - 91 (Butterworth 22) because of a poor first quarter performance that allowed the home team to build a 14 point lead.

Reading Rockets came as league leaders to Fleming Park and demonstrated the gulf between a higher and lower placed team with a ruthless display that saw them win 63 - 92. Leading scorer Butterworth - having passed the 400-point mark for the season - could make little impression in the game, picking up four early fouls and only scoring five points.

Height played a big factor in Solent's next defeat at Teesside Mohawks. 7' 6" Fingleton did a lot of early scoring for the home team and the Solent players were unable to raise their game at all, losing 70 - 106 (Smith 26).

Imran Shafiq

Seven games faced Solent in the four February weekends. First up were PAWS London Capitals - or they should have been. Whilst the home team and crowd waited, various messages were received about the location and situation of the visiting team. Eventually they arrived, but too late to begin the game until after 9.00pm. This meant that Solent were awarded the win by default.

The next day found Solent in Brentwood to face Essex and Herts Leopards. A crushing 64 - 107 loss ensued (Smith 24). On the way home Solent suffered a similar fate to PAWS the previous evening, and spent part of it waiting for a puncture repair on the M25. All of this may have proved too much for Butterworth who signalled, through a telephone call to Steve Chant, his intention to quit for reasons of 'non-enjoyment'. Marc Steutel, by chance, also left the club in the week, but this was for personal reasons which necessitated a move to the north of England.

It was with some trepidation that the squad awaited their next visitors, league leading Worcester Wolves. Having kept in the game at 18 - 21, the game was lost as Worcester scored the next 26 points without reply. The eventual score was 77 - 103 (Smith 24) as Solent went down again.

Graham Hunter

Without the two starting five players who had left the club, Solent went - the next day - to face Kings Lynn Fury in a must-win bottom of the league struggle. And win Solent did thanks to a fine all-round performance in which Rutter excelled with 21 points. It was close throughout, but Solent held on 87 - 81 (Jackson 21).

Away to London United, the team came up against three-point accuracy which left them chasing the game. Milner along with Jackson top-scored with 22 points each in the 91 - 126 (Smith 21) defeat.

The following afternoon saw vociferous visiting Worthing Thunder fans enjoying a win (89 - 108) by their team against a tired Solent squad. Smith's 32 points was the highlight for the home supporters.

The busy month was ended with a visit to Coventry Crusaders to receive yet another masterclass in three point shooting by an opposing team. Solent could only manage 2 three-point successes in the final quarter against 14 by Coventry in the game. Solent were defeated on the road trip 61 - 86.

Just five matches remained for Solent and first up were first time visitors to Fleming Park, Kings Lynn Fury. Solent squandered a twelve point last quarter lead and when Milner missed a final free throw at the end of the game, overtime was needed with the scores at 84 all. Kings Lynn were stronger at the end and won 90 - 95 (Smith 31) although that meant Solent's earlier six point win at Kings Lynn would be important if league points were level at the season's end.

The next day a depleted Solent squad travelled north to play Manchester Magic. Despite an encouraging start which gave Solent an early lead and meant that they were still in the game at half time (37 - 45), Solent eventually fell away to lose 68 - 106 (Smith 30).

Steve Chant (coach)

Sheffield Arrows were Solent's next visitors. In an ill-tempered game - that saw Sheffield's Danny Richards ejected for two 'unsportsmanlike' fouls - Solent could not match the consistent scoring of the visitors and lost 84 - 96 (Smith 24).

Basement club Nottingham Knights were already relegated when Solent came to play them. Solent led for three quarters of the game. However, coach Steve Chant's decision to give all his players a run on court backfired when Will Zoppellini gave the ball away twice under pressure to give Nottingham hope. They built on this and Solent fell away in the final quarter to be defeated yet again by the bottom team, 78 - 85 (Smith 23).

Sylvain Donneaud (assistant coach)

In the final home game of the season, visitors Kingston Wildcats demonstrated the value of successful three point shooting. Their six scores in the third quarter was the difference between the teams as Solent slumped to a final defeat in the season, 83 - 106 (Smith 30).

Clayton Milner

Club director, Jim Rumsey, made the end-of-season awards to Player of the Year Clayton Milner and Players' Player, Mark Jackson.

	2005/06 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Worthing Thunder	26	23	3	2741	2349	+392	46
2	Reading Rockets	26	22	4	2392	2004	+388	44
3	City of Sheffield Arrows	26	20	6	2453	2179	+274	40
4	Manchester Magic	26	19	7	2275	1981	+294	38
5	Worcester Wolves	26	17	9	2348	2152	+196	34
6	Essex & Herts Leopards	26	17	9	2283	2098	+185	34
7	London United	26	14	12	2407	2156	+251	28
8	Coventry Crusaders	26	14	12	2377	2318	+59	28
9	Kingston Wildcats	26	11	15	2294	2370	-76	22
10	Teesside Mohawks	26	8	18	2124	2261	-137	16
11	London Capitals	26	6	20	1973	2227	-254	12
12	Solent Stars	26	4	22	1994	2440	-446	8
13	Kings Lynn Fury	26	4	22	1846	2374	-528	8
14	Nottingham Knights	26	3	23	1840	2438	-598	6

Solent Stars 2004/05 Season

2008-11-05T15:01:00.004Z

Back row: Larry Parker, Mike Akemon, Alan Cunningham, Steve Chant, Phil Long, Marlin Capers
Front row: Mike McGregor, Paul Silcox, Mark Jackson, Ollie Marsh, Chris St. Omer, Mike Peel

After several seasons of limited success and the last season only supplying four league wins, the directors decided to dispense with the services of coach, Mark Scott. Overtures were made to several basketball coaches, including flying in a Spanish candidate over the summer months.

Meanwhile the club's strong basketball programme was acknowledged by England Basketball, the parent body, with the granting of a Four Star status and ClubMark accreditation. This success was further augmented when a Basketball Academy title was conferred on the club through its connection with Southampton Institute (soon to become Southampton Solent University).

Recognising that many of the Solent Stars youth programme was creating a pool of local talented players, the club decided - for the first time in its history - to run a second men's team. The appointed coach was Mick Byrne, who was returning to the club for yet another period. The team gained admission to Division Three (East) of the National League.

After a summer of searching, the club coaching set-up was confirmed with Alan Cunningham taking the chief coach role, to be assisted by Steve Chant, who had moved up from coaching in the youth programme. In turn, Cunningham also brought in a second assistant (Mike Akemon) to help out with practice drills.

This coaching team was present as Solent opened their season with the home leg of the Southern Invitation Challenge Trophy game against Reading Rockets. Of the players on display, Marlin Capers had only recently arrived from America to begin his second stint with Solent. Nick O'Harabe was back and he and Capers were Solent's only scorers in the first half! Newcomers Phil Long, Melvin Ojadi, Paul Silcox and Karl Mroch could only muster nine points between them. With older hands Mark Jackson, Chris St. Omer and Ollie Marsh also unable to make much of a scoring impression, it was no surprise that Solent lost 60 - 82 (Capers 25, O'Harabe 20).

The newcomers were able to make more of an impact in the season's second home game, a friendly against USAF Mildenhall. It took two quick three pointers from Ollie Marsh just before halftime, as he came off the bench, to level the scores at 38 all at halftime. Three more of the same from Mark Jackson at the start of the second half sealed the visitors' fate, which might have been more accentuated had Solent not missed nineteen free throws in their 83 - 68 victory.

Ryan Payne, having come through the youth programme, made a first team debut for the return away leg of the Southern Invitation Challenge at Reading. The Rockets were a strongly fancied team for the upcoming season and must have had their pride dented as Solent romped to a ten point win 82 - 72 (O'Harabe 23, Jackson 20). Reading, by way of their earlier 22-point win at Solent, lifted the trophy.

Solent Stars had played 14 National Trophy matches over the recent seasons without a win. The first visitors for this season's tournament were Coventry Crusaders. At halftime it looked as if the losing streak would continue as Solent failed to make any impression against the bigger Coventry team in a dour struggle. Early Chris St. Omer points had given Solent a bright start and an eight point uninterrupted flow in the second half made it look as if Solent might pull away, but with 90 seconds remaining Solent led by just one point (71 - 70). The cool head of Mark Jackson added two more points just as the 24 second buzzer was sounding and resolute defence took Solent to a 76 - 70 victory (Capers 25).

A National Cup game against Taunton Tigers followed. The home Solent fans were dismayed by the slow start made by Solent as three consecutive 24-second plays were used. Third Division Taunton took an early 2 - 9 lead as Solent struggled to make any impact. However, once Marlin Capers had found his scoring touch, Solent moved quickly ahead and ten players got on the scoring chart in their 95 - 57 (Capers 29) win. Encouragingly for coach Alan Cunningham, newcomers John Salmon and Dave McKay both figured in the scoring.

Solent then travelled to Worcester Wolves for another National Trophy fixture. Coach Cunningham arrived as the match began and watched in horror as his players gave away the ball on repeated occasions to a grateful Worcester team. The result was that by halftime Solent trailed by seventeen points! The halftime talk proved valuable as Solent won the third quarter 31 - 16 with a dazzling display of attacking basketball combined with effective defence. In the end, Worcester just held out to snatch a 78 - 84 win (Capers 27) potentially setting up an exciting prospect for the return leg.

To start their 25th league season, Solent had to travel to Teesside Mohawks to play their 557th league game. The team left at its usual time for the Sunday afternoon game (4pm) at Teesside. Unfortunately an accident closed the M1 and the journey, normally five and a half hours, took seven hours, with the team only arriving five minutes before tip-off! Second team players Andy Aung and Ryan Payne stepped into the team to replace Nick O'Harabe (injured) and Chris St. Omer (work). Solent played some good early defence to restrict the home team to just 14 first quarter points, but they found scoring themselves difficult, with only Paul Silcox having any early success. Phil Long picked up his fourth foul quite early, which left debutante Aung with much to do trying to hold the middle of defence. In the end, Solent lost 71 - 84 (Capers 29).

Two new players were on display for the Solent Stars in their next home game, a National League game against Coventry Crusaders. Both players came through Solent's link with the Academy partner, Southampton Solent University. Graham Hunter had previous experience in playing for his country, Scotland, at junior level, whilst fellow countryman, Mike McGregor, also made his debut. Having played their opponents a couple of weeks before, Solent were hoping to make it a double triumph in short time. A lack of physical presence meant that Coventry were able to dominate the boards at both ends and that proved the difference between the teams as Coventry denied Solent second chance opportunities whilst picking up several themselves. Mark Jackson stepped up the level of Solent's game to bring them within three points with just 90 seconds remaining (57 - 60) but poor shooting meant that they were unable to add any more points and finally lost 57 - 64 (Capers 24).

A day later, Solent took the home court for a second time, this time a National Cup game against Reading Rockets. Once again Solent's new players were on show. However, neither player could prevent Solent from a second round exit, despite Hunter's last minute three point shot in the first half that gave them a 34 - 32 lead at the interval. Six minutes without scoring in the third quarter proved Solent's undoing, along with no player other than Marlin Capers able to reach double figures in scoring. Solent's cup interest ended with their 64 - 73 defeat (Capers 26) to complete a miserable home weekend.

A two week break followed and by the time the team took the court again, for a home league game with Kingston Wildcats, they had another American player in the form of 6' 4" Chris Bevin. Bevin had been playing in the Irish league prior to his arrival at Solent. Birthday boy Marlin Capers - who with 166 points was Solent's leading scorer, followed by Mark Jackson on 79 points - again led the way with early points. Bevin became the 17th player to be tried by coach Alan Cunningham. He made a quiet start, scoring just two points. With Nick O'Harabe again in the points, Solent opened up an eleven point first half lead. Anxious not to disappoint the home fans again, Solent kept up the momentum and eventually ran out winners, 77 - 62 (O'Harabe 27, Capers 24).

The next visitors were Essex and Herts Leopards. After previous existence in the Basketball League, the Essex team were in a rebuilding phase and had begun the season with five defeats and were propping up the league. Whether it was complacency or lack of confidence, the Stars soon found themselves trailing the numerically small Essex team. Mike McGregor briefly put Solent ahead at the start of the second quarter, but Solent were then left chasing the game as a series of three point successes for the visitors took the wind out of Solent's sails. After an encouraging home debut against Kingston, Chris Bevin's performance fell far short of what Solent expected from an overseas player. Solent lost 65 - 88 (Capers 24).

Having faced a team without a win, Solent's next game was a visit to an unbeaten London United. Paul Silcox joined the starting five for the first time for this game and rewarded his coach with a couple of well-taken baskets early on. However, once London had launched a successful series of three point shots, their extra height meant that Solent had little possession of the ball. The final quarter saw Solent shaded 32 - 33 in an extremely high scoring affair as both teams forsook defence. Solent were outplayed by the league leaders and went down 88 - 110 (Capers 27, Jackson 26).

Visitors PAWS London Capitals found the home supporters in strong voice as Solent opened with Phil Long and Nick O'Harabe playing enterprising basketball to overcome the fact that leading scorers Marlin Capers and Mark Jackson were unable to hit the mark in the first quarter. Despite leading throughout most of the game, Solent suddenly stopped playing and allowed London to get back in. "We had London where we wanted them," said coach Cunningham, "they'd had to play to our game for the whole match, until then." 'Mind-melt' was how Cunningham described Solent's loss of a healthy nine-point lead nearing the end. Solent's turnovers proved costly as London won 72 - 82 (Capers 24).

The defeat proved too much for Nick O'Harabe whose subsequent outburst in the changing room resulted in coach Alan Cunningham suspending him indefinitely.

Ironically, O'Harabe's departure came just before a match against one of his former clubs, Worthing Thunder. This south coast derby game played at the Worthing Leisure Centre was from Solent's point of view, 'a game of two halves'. Solent produced a tremendous second half performance, but it wasn't quite enough to avoid a fourth successive league defeat. That's because the first half was as bad as it gets as Solent were overwhelmed as errors, mistakes and poor play left them trailing by as many as 31 - 57. After being out rebounded on first, second and sometimes third occasions, Solent badly needed to step up their game, and to their credit, they did. Solent closed to within four points as the match entered its final minute. Despite a huge effort to try and set up a basket, Solent were unable to score again as Worthing held on to inflict a 94 - 100 (Capers 37, Silcox 26) defeat on Solent.

With a third of the season gone and Solent lying in eleventh (out of twelve) place in the league, the club moved to bring in a second American to play alongside Marlin Capers. Discussions with ex-Solent Star and England international, Karl Tatham, resulted in the signing of 6' 7" Larry Parker.

Larry Parker

Parker, however, only arrived on the morning of Solent's next home game - against third-placed Manchester Magic. Unsurprisingly, Parker was not able to make much impact in his opening game, despite showing some deft touches early on. He scored twelve points in the game. Solent kept in close touch with the Magic team but when the visitors outscored Solent 12 - 23 in the third quarter the game was as good as over. Solent eventually lost 69 - 85 (Capers 27). Coach Alan Cunningham expressed concern at the lack of fitness of his team members against a team that trained four times a week.

Having played against the third-placed team in the league, Larry Parker then travelled to Sheffield Arrows, who were heading the league table. After a week practising with his new team-mates, and not suffering from jet lag, Parker was able to make a full contribution to the game. Marlin Capers, travelling separately from the team, arrived with minutes to spare and never seemed to gain any composure. Solent were further hampered in the first half when Mark Jackson was forced out of the game with a pulled calf muscle. Despite these setbacks, a three pointer from Ollie Marsh helped Solent draw level at 57 all in the third quarter. Unfortunately, Stars couldn't sustain the level of scoring needed against an experienced Sheffield team and lost 76 - 85 (Parker 27).

A double header weekend of National Trophy action followed for Solent who would need to win both of their games if they wanted to progress in the tournament. First up was a trip to Coventry Crusaders. Solent were without the team captain, Mark Jackson, who was still recovering from a pulled muscle injury. After scoring from the first move of the game, Solent quickly surrendered a lead that they were never to retake. Three point shots from Larry Parker and Ollie Marsh in the third quarter brought Solent to within a point, but then three consecutive turnovers allowed Coventry to increase their lead. Coach Alan Cunningham was so incensed with his team that he substituted all five players immediately. Later, Marlin Capers picked up his fifth foul, but by then the game was already lost and Solent's cup progress ended with a 72 - 99 (Capers 20) defeat.

Fleming Park's unavailability meant that the following day's game against Worcester Wolves took place at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. Solent started off in sparkling form, despite their previous night's humiliation. This was thanks to some good shooting from Paul Silcox and Marlin Capers and successful rebounding by Phil Long and Larry Parker. Solent led 29 - 17 at the end of the first quarter. Occasional lapses in defence allowed Worcester some easy scoring opportunities to stay in touch with Solent. Foul trouble for Long and Parker reduced their impact on court and Worcester came through to take a three-point lead with eight seconds remaining and Solent to put the ball in. Coach Alan Cunningham may have regretted leaving the on-court responsibility to inexperienced Mike Peel - playing more court time because of Jackson's injury. Peel fumbled the inbound ball and possession was lost to Worcester who played out the remaining time by keeping possession to win 91 - 94 (Capers 31, Parker 21, Silcox 21).

Having exited the National Trophy in the last weekend before Christmas, coach Alan Cunningham opened the Christmas edition of the Hampshire Chronicle to see he had been quoted in an article entitled 'Come on Chaps….Say What you Really Mean'. In Cunningham's case the quote used was said to be 'after watching his team fall to their umpteenth defeat' - "This was possibly our best team performance of the season so far".

Worcester Wolves were, by chance, Solent's first opponents for a league game in 2005, this time at Fleming Park. Solent were boosted by the return of Mark Jackson for this game. As if to justify their coach's comments, which had been picked up by the Hampshire Chronicle, Solent destroyed the opposition in the first quarter to take a 34 - 19 lead. Notable contributions came from Paul Silcox (rebounding), Marlin Capers (fast break scoring) and Ollie Marsh (steals). Worcester, having twice beaten Solent, had the confidence to fight back and the last minute began with Solent leading by just two points courtesy of a naïve Larry Parker foul that had gifted three free throws to the visitors. Parker then missed two free throws of his own, but all was forgiven when he gained a vital rebound and scored the final two points himself. Worcester were unable to overcome the deficit and Solent started the calendar year with a second league victory, 103 - 101 (Parker 35, Silcox 23).

Teesside Mohawks were the next visitors to Fleming Park. This was proving a transitional season for the Mohawks who had carried all before them in the previous seasons. Frequent substitutions by the Teesside coach, Tony Hanson, kept relentless pressure on the in-form Solent team, so much so that with two minutes remaining of the first half, Solent found themselves 16 points adrift (33 - 49). Last minute points from Marlin Capers (29 in the first half) and Larry Parker helped Solent reduce the deficit to eight points by the interval. A stormy third quarter followed with unsportsmanlike fouls by both teams, but Solent eventually drew level at 61 all. Teesside pulled away to an eight-point lead in the final quarter, but Solent clawed the points back and a Larry Parker score saw them take the lead for the first time with five minutes remaining. A crucial three point shot took Solent ahead 16 seconds from time. The tension was too much for the Teesside coach who was charged with a technical foul. A further foul on Mark Jackson gave Solent two more free throws just three seconds from time and the home team celebrated a second consecutive league win, 86 - 81 (Capers 39, Parker 27).

An away trip to Coventry Crusaders was the next fixture for Solent. Coventry were lying in eleventh place in the table, just below Solent. The confident American pair of Solent players, having scored a combined total of 66 points in the previous game, were responsible for all the first quarter Solent points (21) as they took a four point lead into the first interval. Chris St. Omer broke the American monopoly of scoring, but it was a good team performance in the quarter that allowed Solent to increase their lead by halftime (53 - 39). Coach Alan Cunningham gave some of his bench players extended playing time in the final quarter. When Coventry went on a 14 - 2 run, however, the re-introduction of the senior players brought back parity in the scoring to allow Solent to record a third league win in succession, 98 - 89 (Capers 45, Parker 29).

With three straight wins and having moved into the play-off group for the first time, confidence was high for the home game against fifth-placed Reading Rockets. Reading, equally, were full of confidence having just won the National Cup for the first time. After a poor start, Solent recovered with a 14 - 2 spell to level the scores at halftime at 36 all. But in that period coach Alan Cunningham had picked up a technical foul after expressing discontent at the refereeing. The fact that Reading picked up only one foul, at that late in the half, before halftime had been the root cause of Cunningham's discontent. Things came to a head when Solent disappointingly gave the ball away too often at the end of the third quarter to allow Reading to take command in the game. Finally, a second technical foul was called on Cunningham, who therefore was not present to see his team go down 70 - 89 (Parker 32, Capers 29).

The Solent Stars arranged a friendly match, prior to their next important league game, in aid of the Tsunami Appeal. The visitors were USAF Mildenhall. Alan Cunningham - having just passed his 50th birthday - turned out for the home team and also gave playing time to the squad members who had less court time experience than the starting five. In the event, Solent lost 63 - 66 but the main cause of the evening was to raise funds.

The next day, Solent travelled to Essex and Herts Leopards to try and get back to their winning ways. Chris Bevin had suddenly left the club. Despite being an American player, he had an Irish passport, which allowed him to play alongside Marlin Capers and Larry Parker. Bevin had only contributed 20 points in his thirteen matches for the club, and had been a huge disappointment to coach Cunningham who had signed him. Having also axed Nick O'Harabe for disciplinary reasons, it meant the team was short of players for the run-in of the season. This became apparent in the game at Essex. Larry Parker was unable to score in the first quarter having been given close attention by the home defence. It took a late rally in the quarter by Paul Silcox, Phil Long and Marlin Capers to bring Solent back into the game. The second quarter was all Solent as they outscored the home team 30 - 17 with Parker in full flow. Solent entered the final quarter three points ahead (54 - 51) but once they lost Long, who had an outstanding game, the lack of a replacement was instrumental in Solent's final close defeat, 74 - 77 (Parker 28).

A visit to bottom of the table Kingston Wildcats was the next test for Solent. A convincing first quarter display saw Solent establish a 25 - 17 lead. The visitors then increased their lead by two points in the second quarter. Inexplicably the points from the American players in Solent's squad then dried up as they managed only six between them in the third quarter. When Chris St. Omer fouled out, Solent were actually behind. Ollie Marsh responded with a vital three pointer and steal to help Solent to a five-point advantage at the beginning of the final quarter. Kingston rallied but the trio of Marsh, Paul Silcox and Mark Jackson worked tirelessly to give Solent a 92 - 83 (Parker 25) win.

Alan Cunningham was forced to sit out the next game as punishment for his earlier outburst in the home Reading Rockets match. This gave assistant coach, Steve Chant, his first start as a coach in senior men's basketball. Ironically, the opponents were Reading Rockets! The game was played on a Thursday night at the Rivermead Leisure Centre. Reading had moved to third in the table. In the game, it was only a poor fourth period, when Solent had Marlin Capers and Paul Silcox fouled out and committed a series of elementary errors, that denied them an upset win. At one point in the second quarter Solent had led by 16 points as they tore into the opposition. Mike McGregor played an instrumental part in helping the Solent players find good shooting positions. Reading came back in the second half to reduce the lead to three points before another run of ten points by Solent (five of them from Mark Jackson) took them into another seemingly comfortable lead. Capers, who had been rested for most of the third quarter on four fouls, only lasted a couple of minutes on his return at the start of the final session. Paul Silcox quickly followed and Solent turned the ball over four times in succession to see the game conceded to the opponents, 83 - 87 (Capers 28, Parker 24).

High-riding London United were the next visitors for Solent. This was Solent's third game in a week and the strain showed as the team failed to come to terms with the polished London team. Larry Parker was strangely kept on the bench for most of the second half by coach Alan Cunningham, but he did pass the 300-point mark for the season during the game which Solent lost 93 - 124 (Capers 28, Parker 24).

The new London City Academy was the venue for Solent's next trip to play PAWS London Capitals. With both teams in contention for a play-off place, Solent needed to win by at least ten points if they were to keep their hopes alive. In the event, the fact that it took eight minutes before either of Solent's American players could register a point meant that they were always chasing the game. With just under four minutes remaining, Graham Hunter sank a three pointer that brought Solent to within nine points. Then calamity struck as, in a scramble for possession under the London basket, Marlin Capers fell and hit his head on the ground, which necessitated a visit to the local hospital. Forced to foul to gain possession, Solent were further punished as London scored from all ten visits to the line in the last few minutes. Solent lost this vital game, 82 - 95 (Parker 29).

Just four hours after the Solent Stars Under-18 team beat Doncaster in the national Sureshot Cup Final, the senior men stepped out on the same court at Manchester, to play Manchester Magic. A disastrous opening five minutes, when Solent failed to score, meant that when Paul Silcox scored with his free throw, Solent were already trailing 0 - 17. Coach Alan Cunningham said, "It was a game of two halves. First half we failed to turn up, but when I brought on Graham Hunter, we briefly looked like a team capable of coming back." Solent equalled the Manchester tally of point scoring in the third quarter, but the game had already got away from them and they lost 71 - 95.

With the play-offs almost out of the question for Solent, the next visitors were Sheffield Arrows. Because of a result earlier in the day, when Worthing Thunder beat London United by one point, Sheffield knew that they were league champions as they came on to the court at Fleming Park. Any hope that this may have diverted some of their purpose for the game in hand was quickly dispelled. In the first half they took a 30-point lead, this despite that Solent had led 11 - 2 early on through Paul Silcox netting quick points. Whilst Solent went to the changing room at halftime for an earnest talk, Sheffield remained on court practising their shooting. Solent were unable to make any headway against the league champions who ran out easy winners, 82 - 106 (Parker 31, Capers 27).

Now the headlines had changed from the possibility of reaching the play-offs (finishing in the top eight of the twelve team league) to the possibility of relegation. Kingston Wildcats were the only team that could overhaul Solent. That would not have been possible if Solent could win either of their two final games. The first was a visit to Worcester Wolves. Illness had forced coach for the game, Steve Chant, to reshuffle the team. Luckily Phil Long was on form on the evening as Solent set about their difficult task. Solent took a slender halftime lead, but the third quarter saw them only score nine points (their lowest quarter score of the season). Apart from a couple of Graham Hunter three point successes, Solent could do nothing but look down the barrel of a gun as they slipped to a 74 - 94 (Parker 20) loss.

Solent Stars, however, were reprieved from the indignity of relegation in their twenty-fifth season thanks to a huge win by champions, Sheffield Arrows, at Kingston.

This led the way clear to a more relaxed approach to the season's final game at home to Worthing Thunder. The relaxation seemed to affect Larry Parker more than the rest as he struggled to make any impression in the game. With Solent having relied heavily all season on scoring performances from Parker and Marlin Capers, if one was not on-song, no one seemed capable of taking up the task. Although there were notable performances from Chris St. Omer, Ollie Marsh and Phil Long, the whole did not add up to too much. Trailing 36 - 54 at halftime, Solent's whole-hearted approach began to pay dividends in the second half and with four minutes left they trailed by eight points. They were not able to press home their advantage, however, and eventually went down 81 - 91 (Capers 28) to end a miserable playing season.

Mark Jackson with owner Bob Paulley

Marlin Capers

After the game Marlin Capers received the Player of the Year award and for the third successive season Mark Jackson picked up the Players' Player Award. Paul Silcox was presented with the Most Improved Player award.

	2004/05 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Sheffield Arrows	22	21	1	2076	1637	+439	42
2	London United	22	18	4	2030	1747	+283	36
3	Reading Rockets	22	16	6	1943	1770	+173	32
4	Worcester Wolves	22	13	9	1904	1766	+138	26
5	Worthing Thunder	22	13	9	2123	2070	+53	26
6	Manchester Magic	22	12	10	1810	1743	+67	24
7	Teesside Mohawks	22	10	12	1746	1821	-75	20
8	Essex & Herts Leopards	22	9	13	1689	1787	-98	18
9	London Capitals	22	7	15	1685	1806	-121	14
10	Solent Stars	22	5	17	1758	1972	-214	10
11	Kingston Wildcats	22	5	17	1721	2045	-324	10
12	Coventry Crusaders	22	3	19	1600	1921	-321	6

Solent Stars 2003/04 Season

2008-11-05T15:00:00.003Z

Following the disappointment of the previous season, the Solent Stars directors met with the coaching staff over the summer and determined that two American players were required and should be present for the pre-season training. Neither coach, Mark Scott nor his assistant, Steve Fitzsimons, had any particular players under review and it was left to the club to negotiate with an American agent regarding players.

Matt Story, a 6' 4" forward, was the first signing. He came from Florida and was eventually joined by another player fresh from Florida, 6' 10" Matt Crawford. Crawford had not been the first choice of the agent, and it was nearly a month after Story's arrival before Crawford set foot in England.

Meanwhile, the Conference League had changed its name to English League Division One. Gone from the previous season were Oxford Devils and relegated clubs, Hackney White Heat and Coventry Crusaders. In their place came London United, Team Bath Romans and Sheffield Arrows.

Paul Mundy-Castle

Another feature for Solent for the coming season was the resurgence of a women's team for the first time since the 1998/99 season.

On the men's playing front, David Butterworth had moved along the coast to Worthing Thunder, whilst Jon Neale had returned to Nottingham University for a further course. Steve Davison was returning from a year in France. Also trying out for Solent was Nick O'Harabe who had spent the previous season with Worthing Thunder.

A pre-season friendly was arranged against the full Royal Navy team who were having a training weekend at Portsmouth. All twelve of the Solent trial players had their name on the scoresheet by halftime in a game where Solent demonstrated that they were far too good for their opponents. American Matt Story immediately made an impact with a series of long three pointers. Solent won 140 - 61 (Story 25, Jackson 23, O'Harabe 23).

A Southern Challenge Cup was inaugurated for back-to-back games against Reading Rockets. The home game was noticeable for the fact that only Mark Jackson could find the basket in the first three minutes for Solent to take a 2 - 0 lead! Solent led at the end of the first quarter, thanks to some good work on the boards by Nick O'Harabe. The game turned Reading's way in the second quarter as they began to score with some regularity. Matt Story only found his first points at the end of the half, but he also picked up a back injury in the process. Five successive turnovers by Solent in the second half effectively gave the game to Reading as Solent trailed in 93 - 103 (Jackson 24, O'Harabe 22).

Without Matt Story for the return leg, the following day, Solent were hard pressed to find any scoring rhythm. Duane Laight hit several three pointers, but Solent were disappointingly out-gunned 54 - 85 to lose the Cup on aggregate (147 - 188).

Solent's first National Trophy game was away to Worthing Thunder. Joining the Solent team after the pre-season games were Tom Parker (an Army player) and Rob De'Ath (from the local league). Also present was Matt Crawford, who had only trained once with the team. It was Laight who stole the early honours with a couple of steals and three pointers. Worthing recovered to lead 26 - 31 at the quarter but by halftime Solent had taken a 52 - 40 lead aided by Crawford's rebounding and shot blocking. Man marking by Worthing upset the Solent play and the visitors lost their discipline before coach Mark Scott called a timeout. Worthing's new American player scored with a three pointer eight seconds from the end of the final quarter that had begun all-square at 65 all. The teams had traded baskets until the final three pointer which gave Worthing a win, 79 - 82 (Story 31).

Matt Story

The following week the two teams met again at Fleming Park. Worthing had decided to man mark Matt Story and it was left to Matt Crawford, making his home debut, to score Solent's opening five points. Although the game was even in the scoring for the first half, Solent were soon in foul trouble. Crawford had to be used sparingly having picked up his third foul in the first quarter. When he and Nick O'Harabe fouled out in the third quarter, Solent had no height to counter the Worthing attack and fell away to lose 84 - 105 (Story 28).

Less than 24 hours later, Stars were eliminated from the National Trophy competition when they lost to London United, in London. Matt Story gave Solent an early lead, but a series of three pointers edged the first quarter for London (19 - 22). A leg injury forced Mark Jackson out of the game in the second quarter and although Solent closed to 35 - 37 at one point, London still held a ten-point advantage at halftime. Looking a good deal more animated than usual, coach Mark Scott urged his side forward and 18 points from American duo Story and Crawford helped Stars shade the third quarter. Four minutes from time, the scores were level (87 - 87). London scored the next seven points to force Solent to play catch-up. Defeat was confirmed when Solent gave the ball away from their own put-in to gift London two more easy points. The final score was another loss for Solent, 95 - 100 (Story 38, Crawford 28).

With a National Cup match approaching, followed by the start of the league season, Solent Stars moved to strengthen their squad by signing ex-Solent player, Paul Mundy-Castle. He was included in the team for Solent's visit to Loughborough Students for the first round game in the National Cup.

Loughborough, two divisions below Solent, started well in their home game, scoring an early three pointer. Solent could find no rhythm and had to look to Matt Crawford's inside game to keep up a steady rate of scoring. A Solent timeout with the score at 19 all immediately made a difference when afterwards all five on-court players scored for Solent to take a 32 - 22 lead at the end of the first quarter. Mundy-Castle joined the fray at the beginning of the second quarter, but found it difficult to keep up with the pace after nearly a year out of the game. Nick O'Harabe fouled out at the start of the final quarter, but Solent finished the game in showboat style with Crawford dunking the ball nine times overall in the game. Solent moved to the second round with a 102 - 73 (Crawford 34, Story 24) win.

For their final home National Trophy game, Solent started with their best six minutes of the season when the starting five - Matt Story, Matt Crawford, Nick O'Harabe, Duane Laight and Mark Jackson - quickly went into a 20 - 2 lead against visitors London United. However, as the game progressed, Solent seemed to lose confidence and a series of unforced errors and fouls allowed London to take a 57 - 60 lead by midway in the third quarter. From there it was nip and tuck, but Solent ended a second winless season in the National Trophy competition by going down 92 - 96 (Crawford 32, Story 27).

Nick O'Harabe

Kingston Wildcats were the visitors for the second round of the National Cup competition. Solent began the final quarter 76 - 85 behind with Paul Mundy-Castle, on his home debut, already fouled out and both Matt Crawford and Duane Laight on four fouls. Mark Jackson chased and harried the Kingston players and forced errors and his seven successive points brought Solent to 88 - 91 with three minutes remaining. Matt Story stole the ball and scored to take Solent to a 94 - 93 lead. In six minutes of high pressure, Solent had outscored Kingston 18 - 2 and deservedly won 101 - 98 (Story 28, Jackson 26, Crawford 24).

The league season commenced with a visit from newly promoted Team Bath Romans, who included Panji Grainger in their squad. Accurate shooting from Mark Jackson had helped Solent to a 32 - 22 first quarter lead. With Paul Mundy-Castle missing through being stranded on a broken down train from London, Solent had no penetrating defender to vary their attack. Slowly Bath came back into the game, taking 25 second half rebounds to Solent's 2, and with 30 seconds remaining led by one point. With everyone expecting Solent's final shot to come from Matt Story, the ball fell into the hands of Alan McDonald whose unopposed shot had no conviction and rebounded off the ring to leave Solent defeated in their first league game, 88 - 89 (Story 27, O'Harabe 23).

A third round National Cup home tie against Reading Rockets followed. Reading had already beaten Solent twice in pre-season games and had also visited Bath to win by 25 points two weeks earlier. The visitors found plenty of holes in the Solent defence to build up a 6 - 19 lead after six minutes. Reading were then hit when their leading scorer, Jermaine Williams, took no further part in the game after twisting his ankle on a drive for the basket. Ted Smith, Reading's other American player, then took control and Reading increased their lead to 27 - 42 before Solent hit back to trail 40 - 53 at halftime. After the third quarter Solent still trailed by 12 points. In a remarkable start to the final quarter, Solent scored 13 unanswered points to take the lead for the first time. With Solent leading 96 - 92, thanks in part to technical foul against the Reading bench, the influential Ted Smith fouled out, although the Reading team protested that it was only his fourth foul. Solent held on to win 106 - 95 (Story 39, Crawford 23).

A depleted squad travelled north to play Sheffield Arrows. Without Chris Glover and Anthony Rutter (injured) and Duane Laight and Ollie Marsh (work) Solent only had seven players on the bench, one of whom - Paul Mundy-Castle - had a heavily strapped ankle! Although Solent made the early running, with two three pointers from Matt Story, by the third minute of the second half the team trailed by 19 points (49 - 68). Urged on by coaches Mark Scott and Steve Fitzsimons, Solent then staged a magnificent rally to reduce the deficit to just one point by the ninth minute of the third quarter (72 - 73). However, Solent then ran out of steam as the final quarter proved an anticlimax as they slipped to an 83 - 105 (Story 34) defeat.

Duane Laight

The unavailability of Fleming Park meant that Solent's next home fixture - against Ware Rebels - was played at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. With 36 seconds remaining of what had been a close match throughout, Ware levelled the scores at 97 all. Fifteen seconds later Matt Crawford moved along the baseline to add two more points to the Solent score. Then Ware's 44 point Mike Williamson, despite close marking, put up a three point attempt that hit the ring and Matt Story rebounded the ball. As he was close to stepping out of court as he rebounded the ball, Story instinctively scooped the ball back into play. To the horror of the Solent fans he provided the perfect pass for Williamson to have another three point attempt. Once again the ball hit the ring and this time Story rebounded the ball and held on. A foul on him with two seconds remaining gave a chance to add to the score and Solent won 100 - 97 (Story 36, Jackson 21).

The next day Solent travelled to London United for what proved yet another close game. Nick O'Harabe fouled out after only 12 seconds of the second half. With his defensive strength gone, Solent looked a beaten team as they trailed 56 - 67 at the start of the final quarter. Once again Solent staged a thrilling fight back that saw points from Matt Story, Matt Crawford, Paul Mundy-Castle and Mark Jackson to take an 81 - 75 lead with two minutes left. Mark Jackson then fouled out as London hit back with nine unanswered points. Despite having possession twice at the end of the game, Solent could not score and lost 84 - 86 (Story 32).

For the fifth time in six matches, the result of Solent's next home game was by a margin of four points or less. This time the visitors were Sutton Pumas. Solent led 92 - 85 entering the last five minutes, but then Matt Crawford racked up two quick fouls to join Nick O'Harabe on the bench, having suffered the same fate earlier. This weakened the Solent defence and Sutton took full advantage and despite two late big three pointers from Mark Jackson, Solent lost 103 - 104 (Jackson 29, Story 29).

On the following day, Solent travelled over 300 miles north to play Teesside Mohawks in the semi-final of the National Cup. As might have been expected, Teesside started the fresher but five points from the free scoring Matt Story meant Solent were only 18 - 21 behind at the end of the first quarter, and when Alan McDonald levelled moments later, hopes were raised. But a quiet spell enabled Teesside to build again and Solent were left to rue missed opportunities as they trailed 38 - 49 at halftime. A disjointed game included 48 fouls and Solent were to lose Matt Crawford and Nick O'Harabe in the third minute of the last quarter. Four three pointers from Mark Jackson briefly closed the gap but Solent couldn't get any closer as they suffered their first ever National Cup semi-final defeat, 87 - 102 (Story 32).

Tom Parker

Solent's last home game of the calendar year was against Worthing Thunder. In front of a crowd of over 400, both teams played at a flat-out pace. The result was a game full of incidents and mistakes. Matt Crawford scored his first three pointer of the season, whilst valuable assists from Paul Mundy-Castle gave scoring opportunities to his colleagues when it looked as if Worthing were gaining the upper hand. After the lead changing hands ten times in the first five minutes of the third quarter, Worthing did forge ahead by 11 points (74 - 85) at the start of the final quarter. Inspirational captain, Mark Jackson, brought Solent right back into the game with eight consecutive points to leave Solent trailing by three points with two minutes remaining. Ex-Solent Star David Butterworth then added a three pointer to Worthing's total, which was cancelled out by another Jackson three pointer. Matt Crawford added two more points. Solent were given a controversial out-of-bounds possession with nine seconds remaining, but in that time they could not get off a shot and lost 93 - 94 (Crawford 26, Jackson 23, Story 22).

A trip to Teesside Mohawks followed. Solent led throughout most of the game, only going behind when turnovers at the start of the third quarter allowed Teesside to briefly take advantage. Eventually the game hinged on a controversial referees' decision at the beginning of the final minute of the game. One referee called a jump ball situation (which with the alternate possession rule would have given Solent possession), but he was overruled by the second official who called a foul on Paul Mundy-Castle. This gave Teesside two free throws to level the scores. Solent then committed hara-kiri by turning the ball over in the last minute to allow Teesside to score two more points to win 88 - 90 (Story 30, Crawford 24).

After so many close games against table-topping teams, the final game of the year at Manchester Magic proved an anti-climax. Matt Crawford was too ill to travel and the onus of defence fell on Tom Parker. Parker was disadvantaged in having forgotten to pack his basketball boots and having to play in trainers! He was then given a baptism of fire as Manchester blitzed 33 points in the first quarter. Matt Story gamely kept on scoring to help Solent put up a respectable fight. However, their cause was not helped when Nick O'Harabe picked up three fouls in one incident for him to leave the game with five fouls. Solent were no match for Manchester on the night and lost 99 - 117 (Story 47).

Over the Christmas break, Solent secured the signing of ex-England international and Solent player, Drew Sewell. The numerically weak Solent squad had suffered another blow when Anthony Rutter decided to concentrate on his studies and left the team.

Matt Crawford

Next up for Solent was a visit from Plymouth Raiders who had only one defeat to their name. Solent started badly and Plymouth went 3 - 10 up early on. Drew Sewell showed some nice touches, but it was a spell by Matt Story just after halftime that brought Solent back into the game at 66 all, having outscored their opponents 13 - 0 in two minutes. However, Duane Laight and Drew Sewell found the pace hard to sustain and Solent's limited resources could not prevent Plymouth from recording a 98 - 106 (Story 37, Jackson 22, Crawford 20) win.

Solent travelled to Kingston Wildcats with a much reduced squad. Out were Alan McDonald (ill), Duane Laight and Drew Sewell (work) and Matt Crawford played with a heavy cold. Chris Glover left the game early on with a bloodied nose, but it had been Solent that made the early impact, leading 29 - 24 at the first quarter. Nick O'Harabe was called for a technical foul in the first minute of the second half after he missed an easy lay-up and fouled a three point shooter to increase his frustration. As he left the court he kicked a chair. The referee charged a further foul against the team coach, which O'Harabe thought had been directed at him, making him reach five fouls. Without a word he left the arena, despite the fact that he was on four fouls. This whole incident helped Kingston back into the game. A second more disputed technical foul was charged against the coach when he protested that an out-of-bounds call had been wrongly awarded against Matt Story with seconds remaining and the scores level. Kingston scored the two free throws and took possession of the ball to sink a final basket and condemn Solent to a 100 - 105 (Story 37, Crawford 32) defeat.

Solent were now at the foot of the league table, halfway through the season yet - ironically - were the league's top scorers. They also had the worst defensive record, conceding 150 points more than any other team!

Sheffield Arrows were the next visitors to Fleming Park. Matt Story left the game toward halftime with a severely bruised finger. In an error strewn game with neither side able to dominate or score regularly, the action came down to the last few seconds. In that time Solent turned the ball over three times, forcing them to foul the opposition to try to regain possession. Sheffield scored regularly from the free throw line and despite Solent having the final put-in with nine seconds to go and trailing by two points, the home team managed to turn the ball over one more time to allow Sheffield the opportunity to run the clock down and win 69 - 71 (Crawford 23, Jackson 20).

Reading Rockets - a top four team - were Solent's next home opponents. A close game ensued with fit-again Matt Story playing his full part. With the sides level at 99 all in the last minute, Story fouled out. With him gone and once again a weak Solent bench numerically, Solent were unable to add to their total whilst Reading benefited from two Solent turnovers to add two more scores and leave Solent stranded 99 - 105 (Crawford 26, Story 26).

A third consecutive home game for Solent, this time against Kingston Wildcats, proved to be an exhilarating one for the home fans. Matt Crawford scored several early inside baskets and was complemented by Matt Story's outside shooting. With Crawford also taking the honours on the defensive rebounds - aided by Nick O'Harabe - Solent had amassed 64 points by halftime to the visitor's 50. For once there was no last minute drama for Solent as they romped away with the game, 134 - 116 (Story 42, Crawford 37, Jackson 23, O'Harabe 22).

Back on the road, Solent survived a nightmare journey to Team Bath Romans. After arriving late, the team took a little while to adjust to the pace of the game. Bath were playing a successful inside game that forced coach for the night, Steve Fitzsimons, to call a timeout to change the Solent tactics. So involved was Fitzsimons with the action that, unusually, he picked up a third quarter technical foul. Bath could not take advantage of that and Solent ended the third quarter two points ahead (75 - 73). The final quarter belonged to Matt Story who scored 11 of Solent's opening 15 points. Despite Matt Crawford sitting out most of the last quarter Solent were good enough to hold on to their lead and win 110 - 96 (Story 52, Jackson 22).

Solent's next visitors were London United, who Solent had lost to three times already in the season by margins of five, four and two points respectively. This game was to be as close as any of the others with neither side able to establish any superiority over the other. Solent looked as if they had worn down their opponents when they snatched a 71 - 64 lead in the final quarter. However, at full time the scores were level at 77 all - Solent ruing their 15 missed free throws! In overtime, Solent summoned up a fine team effort to deny London scoring opportunities whilst scoring themselves to finally run out winners, 89 - 83 (Story 34).

Mark Jackson

The fixture list offered Solent few favours as on the next day they travelled to second-placed Reading Rockets. The effort expended in overcoming London the previous evening was evident from the start. They began to lose touch in the second quarter and trailed 33 - 56 at one stage. Ollie Marsh and Tom Parker scored some early baskets after halftime, but Stars could never make up the difference and fell to an 82 - 107 (Story 33) defeat.

It was a similar story when Solent travelled to table-topping Plymouth the following week, in this case without injured players Alan McDonald and Nick O'Harabe. Solent were leading 24 - 23 and the end of the first quarter and only trailed by 41 - 46 at halftime. Once Plymouth started applying the pressure, however, Solent were unable to match them and fell away badly to lose 79 - 110 (Jackson 22, Story 20).

Another road trip, this time to face Ware Rebels at the University of Hertfordshire, followed. Solent needed to win to stand any chance of making the Play-Offs. Ware man-marked Solent's Matt Story so successfully that it was the ninth minute before Story scored, to take his total past 800 points for the season. The first half only brought forth a miserable performance from Solent in an atmosphere-less venue as they reached halftime 26 - 40 in arrears. Story and Matt Crawford did their best at the start of the third quarter to get Solent back into the game. A run of Solent points brought them to within 7 points of Ware. This proved to be Solent's final effort as, when they could only muster two points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, defeat was inevitable. The final score of 67 - 96 (Story 24) virtually ended Solent's Play-Off aspirations.

An exhibition game the following day at Fleming Park against USAF Lakenheath Eagles gave coach Mark Scott an opportunity to prepare his team for one last push to move up the league table. Solent won 99 - 80 (Story 36, Jackson 22) in what was hoped to be a morale boosting game.

For a while at Sutton Pumas, it looked as if Solent had gained from the Lakenheath experience, as they went into a 17 - 6 early lead, during which Mark Jackson scored the first of his three pointers in the quarter. Sutton scored seven points in the last two minutes of the second quarter to come to within two points of Solent at halftime (42 - 40). It was ex-Solent Star, Marlin Capers, who proved their undoing as the game went on. With 21 personal points in the third quarter, he was instrumental in sealing Solent's fate as they sank to another defeat, 77 - 90 (Jackson 24).

Solent travelled to the Worthing Leisure Centre without Matt Crawford and Alan McDonald who were both nursing injuries. Crawford's height was missed as Worthing attacked the Solent board and picked up the majority of rebounds leading to several second chance baskets. Forced to play a lone central role, Nick O'Harabe rose to the occasion against his club of the previous season. At the end of the first quarter Solent trailed 21 - 28. Worthing continued to pile on the pressure and Solent, because of their lack of strength in depth, were never able to get into the game and lost 91 - 115 (O'Harabe 34, Story 22, Jackson 21).

Teesside Mohawks were Solent's penultimate visitors. Solent, for only the seventh time in the league season, were able to field a full bench for the game. The home team started brightly and led 30 - 21 at the end of the first period thanks in part to Matt Crawford tipping in several offensive rebounds. Solent's defence came under huge pressure in the second quarter and the visitors were able to go in at halftime leading by just one point (51 - 52). Worse still, another ankle injury to Crawford meant that Solent had to play the whole of the second half without him. This proved an obstacle too great and despite briefly taking the lead after halftime, Solent fell away to an 88 - 99 (Jackson 23, Story 22) defeat.

Solent Stars' final game in their twenty-fourth season in the National League, marking over 550 league matches in all, was at home to Manchester Magic. A win would ensure that they would not finish in the bottom two and face the prospect of relegation. Without Matt Crawford, Solent were always going to be struggling against a much bigger Manchester squad that included John Amaechi fresh from his 294 games in the NBA. So overawed were Solent by his presence that in no time at all they trailed 2 - 20. A brief flurry of points from Matt Story, Ollie Marsh, Nick O'Harabe and then Alan McDonald trimmed the Manchester lead to 11 - 20, but that was as close as Solent got. Mark Jackson, a victim of over-fussy refereeing, left the game in the third minute of the second half. With O'Harabe, Marsh and Story all on four fouls for the latter part of the game, Solent were no match for their rivals and lost their last home fixture 86 - 113 (Story 31). Other results on the night meant that Solent finished in tenth position in the league, above Kingston Wildcats and Team Bath Romans.

The Player of the Year Awards for the season were presented by John Amaechi after the final league game. Mark Jackson won both the Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year. Runner up in the fans' vote for Player of the Year was Matt Story. A new award, donated by club director Peter Axon, saw Ollie Marsh carry off the Newcomer of the Year award.

	2003/04 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Plymouth Raiders	22	20	2	1989	1547	+442	40
2	Reading Rockets	22	17	5	2054	1745	+309	34
3	Teesside Mohawks	22	16	6	1924	1763	+161	32
4	Manchester Magic	22	16	6	1934	1783	+151	32
5	Worthing Thunder	22	15	7	2066	1866	+200	30
6	London United	22	11	11	1858	1780	+78	22
7	Sheffield Arrows	22	10	12	1709	1745	-36	20
8	Ware Rebels	22	9	13	1882	2002	-120	18
9	Sutton Pumas	22	7	15	1736	1945	-209	14
10	Solent Stars	22	4	18	1999	2193	-194	8
11	Kingston Wildcats	22	4	18	1866	2278	-412	8
12	Team Bath Romans	22	3	19	1675	2045	-370	6

Solent Stars 2002/03 Season

2008-11-05T14:59:00.003Z

Back row: Steve Fitzsimons, Howard Jackson, Mark Vingoe, Dominique Jones, Adam Willis, Chris Sheldrick, Mark Scott, Mark Jackson
Front row: Alan McDonald, David Butterworth, Ollie Marsh, Anthony Rutter, Chris Glover, Trevor Donaldson

Wholesale changes of playing personnel meant that Solent Stars were about to launch a new season with mainly inexperienced players. Gone were Americans John Bynum and Marlin Capers who Solent could no longer afford given the competition from European clubs. Alan Cunningham had also finally stepped down. Steve Davison and Dimitry LaCroix had also departed. Nick O'Harabe had signed for Worthing Thunder. In their places, Solent had turned to several players from the youth development programme - these included Anthony Rutter, Rob McDonald, Adam Willis, Ollie Marsh and Mike Peel. They joined Alan McDonald, Trevor Donaldson and Chris St. Omer. Solent also signed Chris Glover who was living in the area after a spell at university. Jon Neale, who had returned from Nottingham University and who previously had come through the junior programme also signed for Solent.

But it was David Butterworth, previously a Thames Valley Tigers player who caught the eye at Solent's annual pre-season game against newly promoted Oxford Devils in a pre-season friendly. He scored 15 points in a match where coach Mark Scott was determined to give all thirteen triallists a run out. Inevitably the disruption caused Solent to lose their way and eventually the game, 67 - 94. A strong second half performance by Mark Jackson, returning from Basketball League duty with Brighton Bears was another highlight for coach Scott.

Solent visited Sutton Pumas for their first game in the National Trophy. Sutton were bigger and stronger than Solent but it was the Solent team who picked up the early fouls, which helped make the first quarter stretch to thirty minutes as Sutton paid many visits to the free throw line. Points from Ollie Marsh, Anthony Rutter and Mark Jackson took Solent to a 21 - 20 lead, but as the game went on, Sutton were able to impose themselves against the eight-man squad of Solent. When David Butterworth picked up his fifth foul in the second minute of the half, the writing was on the wall for Solent who succumbed to an 82 - 100 loss.

Alan McDonald

Whereas coach Mark Scott was upbeat about the team's performance at Sutton, he could find no words of encouragement after his squad fell to a dismal defeat at the hands of London United, at Fleming Park. "If tonight is an indication of how my team are going to progress, then it will be a long old season", he declared after the game. He had just witnessed a lack-lustre performance that had seen Solent trail throughout to a team one division below them. The final score was 79 - 98.

A visit to Westminster Warriors followed. Like Solent, Westminster were in a re-building phase. From the corresponding match eleven months previously, Solent had three same names on the scoresheet and Westminster just two. But it was the Westminster youngsters (five Under-20's) that tore into the Solent defence at the start of the game to open up a 9 - 16 lead by the fifth minute. A couple of steals from Mark Jackson gave Solent hope as they raised their game to trail by just one point at the quarter (25 - 26). A seven-point advantage in the second quarter for Solent was nullified when they failed to score for six minutes, save for a Chris St. Omer drive. With Solent in foul trouble, the home side took full advantage to win 83 - 104 (Butterworth 22).

The following day Solent were at home to Sutton Pumas. Briefly, it looked as if Solent could finally turn the tables on an opponent as they established a 29 - 25 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks largely to David Butterworth's 16 points. However, in a repetition of the previous game's performance, Solent then went six minutes without scoring and watched Sutton pull away to record another win, 77 - 116 (Butterworth 26). Ex-Solent Star, Paul Mundy-Castle scored 44 points for the visitors.

Trevor Donaldson

Westminster Warriors were the next visitors to Fleming Park. Both teams exhibited nervousness early on and mistakes were commonplace. Mark Jackson combined well with David Butterworth to give Solent an early 14 - 5 lead. Westminster kept plugging away and once again Solent seemed to have no one on court who could rally the team. Once Westminster had established a lead, Solent were unable to make any inroads and went down 66 - 86.

NW London were Solent's next opponents in the National Trophy. The home team had things nearly all their own way as atrocious ball handling and errors galore by the Solent players made things easy for them. Trailing by just eight points as halftime approached, Solent had a three on one break which ended with Chris St. Omer passing the ball out-of-bounds as he attempted to give it to David Butterworth. NW London scored from the possession they had gained and added one more point as Solent needlessly fouled the shooter. Although Mark Scott berated his squad at halftime for their lack of intensity and discipline in attacking plays, he could not prevent yet another defeat (65 - 86).

Having finished third in the league last season, Solent Stars were automatically entered in the National Cup competition that included the Basketball League teams. Solent were drawn at home to Brighton Bears in a match to be played less than 24 hours after the visit to NW London. Having virtually nine Americans in their squad, Brighton took charge of the game from the start. However, with Mark Jackson rising to the occasion against his ex-team members, the Solent squad kept plugging away and took a lot of credit for their performance, despite the 60 - 99 defeat.

Mark Jackson

Back to National Trophy action, Solent visited Worthing Thunder. A tremendous performance by David Butterworth, ably assisted by the other team members of the squad saw Solent show their best form of the season. Worthing were forced to call a timeout as Solent built up an early 24 - 12 lead. Although Worthing came back, late three pointers from Mark Jackson and Butterworth aided by two points from Adam Willis gave Solent a 48 - 44 lead at halftime. The game continued to be close throughout and Solent fell foul of a referee's decision - overruled by the commissioner - that denied them possession at a critical phase. Trevor Donaldson scored a three pointer to bring Solent within reach but efforts from Butterworth and Jon Neale (who stole the ball and attempted a long shot to take the game into overtime) failed. Solent lost 84 - 87 (Butterworth 29).

A visit to London United saw Solent demonstrate their Jekyll and Hyde nature as the previous good performance against Worthing was replaced with a poor showing in London. The game was lost in the first quarter when Solent fell behind 12 - 29. Thereafter Solent almost kept in touch, but eventually went down 67 - 98.

Solent's all-English player policy was rescinded as a result of coach Mark Scott's pleas to the club directors to bring in more experience. As a result, Solent approached the agent who had previously supplied John Bynum and Marlin Capers. His recommendation was Dominique Jones, a 6' 6" forward/centre from Toledo.

Dominique Jones

Jones arrived in the country in time to play in the penultimate National Trophy game against NW London at Fleming Park. Solent led from the start to build up a healthy 21 - 10 lead by the sixth minute. They still held a ten-point lead with about a third of the game remaining, but then Solent ran into foul trouble, losing Dominique Jones in the process. Alan McDonald was forced out with a migraine whilst Trevor Donaldson was having a nightmare shooting performance. Assistant coach Steve Fitzsimons could only tear his hair out as Solent lamely conceded the game to NW London, 88 - 101 (Butterworth 24).

The next day Solent played their final National Trophy game against Worthing Thunder, at home. For the faithful fans this proved to be as disappointing as the day before when Solent again ran into foul trouble (26 fouls as opposed to 14 from Worthing). Often these fouls allowed the visitors to add points at critical stages to keep ahead of any Solent comeback. Solent were kept in the game by a series of successful three pointers by Dominique Jones (3), Trevor Donaldson (2) and Mark Jackson, but it was not enough as Solent lost 82 - 92 (Jackson 22).

Having lost all their National Trophy matches, Solent looked forward with apprehension to the start of the 22-match league season.

The first game was at home to Manchester Magic. The first two quarters were even affairs. Solent opened a six-point gap at one stage, but last minute man-to-man pressure from Manchester saw Solent completely unable to handle the pressure as Manchester closed the half at 51 all. The visitors took an early six point lead in the second half but once David Butterworth and Mark Jackson had scored for Solent it was nip and tuck throughout the rest of the game until a late scoring spree by Butterworth (2), Jackson (4) and Dominique Jones (2) saw Solent home for their first win of the season, 100 - 93 (Butterworth 36, Jackson 30).

Another home game followed, against Oxford Devils. Solent seemed to be in control of this game in the first half, gaining a 51 - 40 lead with four minutes of the first half remaining. They then failed to score for four minutes to allow Oxford back to 51 - 48 at halftime. Mark Jackson sprained his ankle early in the third quarter and his loss had an immediate effect on the home team. Nine match turnovers so far were augmented by 13 in the third quarter alone as Solent conceded possession of the ball and fell behind. Solent were outscored 14 - 37 in the quarter and when Jackson returned, heavily strapped, for the final quarter the task was too big for Solent who lost 89 - 111 (Butterworth 22).

Injured David Butterworth, along with Trevor Donaldson, missed Solent's next home game against Hackney White Heat. Despite a 30 minute delay for the late arrival of Hackney, Solent were still able to catch the visitors cold as they ran up a 25 - 4 lead by the sixth minute. Hackney pulled back the difference to just nine points shortly after halftime, before a timely Mark Jackson three pointer steadied the Solent ship. Despite a further late rally by Hackney, Solent were able to keep them at bay to win 82 - 74 (Jackson 20).

Ollie Marsh

With no David Butterworth, Solent's next task - a visit to league champions Teesside Mohawks - looked formidable. Poor defensive play allowed Teesside almost free access to the Solent basket and forced coach Mark Scott to call an early timeout. Only four points separated the teams at the end of the first quarter but a barren spell between the fifth and ninth minutes of the second quarter let Teesside open up a commanding lead (31 - 57) before points from Mark Jackson helped Solent narrow the gap by halftime. Solent's fighting spirit was demonstrated when they shaded the final quarter (36 - 30) and even included a last second three pointer from the half way line by Ollie Marsh! Solent lost 107 - 123 (Jackson 35).

Sutton Pumas were the next visitors to Solent. David Butterworth returned to the side after injury, but it was the performance of the captain, Mark Jackson, that was the feature of the game. Solent held the edge over Sutton throughout but never by more than a handful of points. With five minutes remaining the lead was just one point (85 - 84) and Solent were under the cosh, but brave defensive play saw Solent deny Sutton any points for four minutes. In that time free throws from Butterworth and Anthony Rutter put the game out of Sutton's reach. Solent Stars won 99 - 89 (Butterworth 34).

A woeful first half performance cost Solent the game when they visited Kingston Wildcats. Having fallen behind by nineteen points midway through the third quarter, Solent suffered the departure of David Butterworth with a twisted ankle. Without their top scorer, Solent redoubled their efforts and came to within one point (81 - 82) in the last minute. After Kingston scored four more points there remained thirty seconds of the game. In that time Anthony Rutter scored one from two at the free throw line, whilst Mark Jackson missed both his chances. Solent went down 82 - 86.

The missing David Butterworth (injury) could only watch helplessly from the bleachers as Solent opened up their home game against Reading Rockets by missing two easy lay-ups and turning the ball over twice in the opening few minutes. Solent's hapless form continued throughout the game which culminated in their largest league defeat of the season (72 - 105).

With just one game remaining before the mid-season break, Solent Stars owner, Bob Paulley, felt the need to strengthen the squad. Two candidates were sought. One was Mark Vingoe, a 6' 5" student at Chichester College, who had playing experience with Worthing Thunder. The other was 6' 4", 250lbs, University of Colorado player, Howard Jackson. He had previously been playing in Ireland.

Within 24 hours of arriving in the country - and after just one training session with the squad - Howard Jackson was on the bench for the start to the home match against Worthing Thunder. It was seven minutes before he came on court, by which time Solent were trailing 11 - 23. The shaven headed American bagged a swift two pointer and then weighed in with a spectacular slam dunk from Mark Jackson's pass. With the other newcomer, Mark Vingoe, adding to Solent's defensive abilities the home team were able to claw their way back into the game. With 90 seconds remaining Vingoe provided Howard Jackson with a perfect pass to allow Solent to take the lead for the first time (86 - 85). Soon after, Worthing needed a three pointer to take the game into overtime. They missed with their final attempt. Solent gained the rebound and Alan McDonald wrapped up the 92 - 87 (H. Jackson 28) victory for Solent with an easy lay-up.

Howard Jackson

The Christmas break was not long enough for the recovering David Butterworth who was declared unfit to travel to Sutton Pumas. Also missing was Jon Neale who probably would miss the rest of the season because of glandular fever. Neale had been ever-present so far in the season, often to be found in the starting five. Also missing was Trevor Donaldson (holiday). Solent started the game slowly, but by halftime they held a slender one-point lead (42 - 41). A high foul count (14 - 5) in the first half, limited Solent's defensive capabilities. When Howard Jackson fouled out - and with no obvious replacement - Solent ran out of ideas and points and fell to a 74 - 96 defeat.

With no home game in January for the fans, Solent arranged a home game with USAF Lakenheath Eagles. The match gave David Butterworth an opportunity to try out his injured ankle. It also provided Howard Jackson with the chance to demonstrate a variety of slam dunks as he enjoyed playing against fellow Americans. Solent won 91 - 71 (H. Jackson 26, M. Jackson 20).

Thirteen away matches and almost a year had passed since Solent Stars had won a game on the road. That had been at Coventry Crusaders, who provided the next opposition for Solent at the Coventry Sports Centre. As a mark of how things had changed, not one of the current Solent squad had played in that fixture of a year ago. Both Alan McDonald and Trevor Donaldson, the only survivors, were absent for this match. Last season it was John Bynum and Marlin Capers who had done the damage at Coventry. This time it was the American pairing of Dominique Jones and Howard Jackson who scored nearly half of Solent's points in the 103 - 73 (Jones 28, H. Jackson 23) win over lowly placed Coventry.

Prior to their visit to Plymouth Raiders, Solent were once again victims of a training night injury. This time it was David Butterfield who dislocated a finger. Nonetheless he travelled with the team and played with two fingers strapped together. Solent took the early honours in front of the 1,000 plus spectators and still held a slender lead just after halftime. However, what followed was a phenomenal ten minutes of basketball that saw Solent score 22 points - a not unusual quarter tally of points - whilst Plymouth racked up 45 points of their own! No matter what Solent did - timeout, tactic changes - Plymouth just kept on scoring to take an 87 - 68 lead into the final quarter. Two minutes into the final quarter Butterworth fouled out to be followed shortly by a disappointing Dominique Jones. Solent battled on gamely with Howard Jackson prominent as Solent closed the gap to a respectable 100 - 109 (H. Jackson 33, M. Jackson 23) defeat.

David Butterworth

The next away game was at Oxford Devils. Solent led throughout most of the game and only trailed twice by one point. Unfortunately for them the second time was at the end of the game! A combination of too many turnovers and too many fouls proved their undoing. With 41 seconds remaining Chris Sheldrick fouled to allow Oxford to close the gap to 87 - 84. Twenty seconds later he fouled again and Oxford closed the gap to 87 - 86. Solent turned the ball over in the remaining 21 seconds and Howard Jackson was then called for a foul. Neil Baker calmly sank both shots to send Solent to an 87 - 88 (M. Jackson 27, H. Jackson 21) defeat.

After six weeks without a home fixture, a double-header home weekend followed for Solent. First up were Ware Rebels. Howard Jackson stole the honours in the game with a series of spectacular baskets. He combined well with namesake Mark, who provided a series of telling passes. Solent had trailed 21 - 29 at the end of the first quarter, but a thrilling second period had taken them to a halftime lead of seven points. Despite a couple of frights, Solent did not surrender the lead in the second half and ran out winners, 100 - 89 (H. Jackson 34, M. Jackson 22, Butterworth 20).

Teesside Mohawks - unbeaten in league and cup - were the visitors on the following day. Solent wasted no time in building up an early lead thanks to three pointers from Mark Jackson (3) and Alan McDonald whilst Howard Jackson worked tirelessly for his first quarter 13 points. Solent's initial 13-point advantage turned to an eight point deficit in the second quarter as the league champions piled on the pressure. David Butterworth raised the home fans' hopes with a quick burst of scoring. Then the Solent coaches were charged with a technical foul for protesting that Teesside's Ralph Bucci was being given too much protection by the referees. Despite a late rally, Solent were beaten 105 - 117 (H. Jackson 29, Butterworth 26, M. Jackson 21).

Injury-hit Solent travelled to Worthing Thunder with only eight fit players. Things did not get any better when Howard Jackson twisted an ankle early in the game that forced him to sit out most of the rest of the match. Even so, Solent were able to hold their own until a series of turnovers gave the advantage to Worthing. Mark Jackson reached his fourth foul in the third quarter and coach Mark Scott was forced to take him to the bench. However, with neither Jackson on court, Solent were unable to contain Worthing and Mark Jackson was put back into the game where he soon picked up his fifth foul. It was left to Dominique Jones, Mark Vingoe and David Butterworth to provide the points for Solent. This they did but the six-man Solent squad was unable to prevent a Worthing win, 85 - 101 (Vingoe 20).

Plymouth Raiders were the next visitors to Solent, who were without Howard Jackson. Plymouth led 10 - 19 in the first quarter before three pointers from Dominique Jones and Mark Jackson closed the gap. The second quarter belonged to Solent who outscored second placed Plymouth 38 - 28. Trevor Donaldson scored three of Solent's nine first half three pointers to help Solent to a 58 - 50 halftime lead. However, the Solent gremlins struck in the third quarter and they were only able to manage 13 points, whilst Plymouth were able to score at will. A determined last quarter rally by Solent thrilled their largest crowd of the season but Solent lost 101 - 114 (M. Jackson 28, Butterworth 23).

Anthony Rutter

More injury worries plagued Solent as they travelled to Manchester Magic. Howard Jackson, Mark Vingoe and Chris Sheldrick were all unavailable for this game. Alan McDonald only managed 12 minutes in the game before he had to leave with the effects of a heavy cold. The remaining seven players, with the exception of Mark Jackson, had a nightmare game. Coach Mark Scott berated the team for 12 of the 15 halftime minutes with the result that Manchester scored the first ten points of the second half! Solent were outplayed to the tune of an 89 - 112 (M. Jackson 36) defeat.

Having slipped to ninth place in the league, Solent needed victories in their remaining games. The first of these was an away fixture at Reading Rockets. Once again, Solent could only raise eight fit players for the game. By the fourth minute of the final quarter, Solent were trailing by 31 points. With one player already fouled out, another (Adam Willis) not able to play for a period because of a cut near his eye, it was a disaster when Dominique Jones and Mark Jackson clashed heads whilst going for a loose ball. The game was halted for five minutes whilst the players were given attention. Jackson was able to continue and it said much for the Solent spirit that the remaining players on-court (Anthony Rutter, Adam Willis, Alan McDonald and Trevor Donaldson) restricted Reading to just six more points whilst scoring 21 themselves. Solent lost the game 95 - 109 (M. Jackson 20).

Solent needed to win the home game against Kingston Wildcats to hold out any hope of reaching the play-offs. Although Howard Jackson returned for the game, it was clear that he was nowhere near his previous form, being restricted in his movements. Solent's other American, Dominique Jones was sidelined for the first time since joining the club with a head injury sustained at Reading. Solent led 23 - 18 at the end of the first quarter and 45 - 44 by halftime. Kingston had the edge in a low scoring third quarter and led 63 - 68. They then opened up a 14-point lead through 40 point Wayne Henry and it was left to a late spirited rally by Solent to bring them within three points, but also to another defeat, 90 - 93 (H. Jackson 26, M. Jackson 23).

Chris Sheldrick

A visit to Hackney White Heat had all the trappings of an end-of-season affair. One referee forgot his whistle (Mark Vingoe came to his rescue) but once obtained, the referees called Solent for fouls that put them in team foul trouble by the 3rd minute of the first, second and fourth periods. This situation allowed Hackney to add points from the free throw line. Solent were being out-hustled and lost possession on many occasions. Most critically Anthony Rutter turned the ball over twice at the start of the final period which allowed Hackney to wipe out Solent's four point lead. Both American players fouled out in the fourth minute of the final quarter. Despite this setback, a couple of three pointers from Alan McDonald allowed Solent to take the lead (78 - 77) before more turnovers gave the game to Hackney, 85 - 92 (H. Jackson 24).

Coventry Crusaders were the final visitors to Solent for the season. Although they started well, the visitors ran out of steam in the second half and were no match for a rampant Solent and especially three point shooting David Butterworth. Solent won 102 - 60 (Butterworth 34, H. Jackson 20) with all ten Solent players getting on the scoresheet.

After the game Mark Jackson received the Player of the Year award, exactly nine years after he had done so originally. He was also the winner of the Players' Player of the Year trophy.

The final game of the season was away to Ware Rebels. Solent were without Howard Jackson, who had returned to America, and Adam Willis (hamstring). The first three quarters were even affairs, with Solent holding a seven-point advantage at one stage. However, the game hinged on the first two minutes of the final quarter when Solent were outscored 2 - 11. Disappointingly, Solent could not pull back against a team that had only previously won three games in the season and lost 76 - 87 (Butterworth 22, Jones 20).

	2002/03 (NBL Conference)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Teesside Mohawks	22	21	1	2238	1801	+437	42
2	Plymouth Raiders	22	18	4	2062	1776	+286	36
3	Reading Rockets	22	16	6	2092	1876	+216	32
4	Worthing Thunder	22	15	7	2045	1868	+177	30
5	Manchester Magic	22	12	10	1979	1866	+113	24
6	Kingston Wildcats	22	11	11	1698	1797	-99	22
7	Sutton Pumas	22	11	11	2011	1949	+62	22
8	Oxford Devils	22	11	11	1889	1890	-1	22
9	Solent Stars	22	7	15	1995	2108	-113	14
10	Ware Rebels	22	4	18	1696	1959	-263	8
11	Hackney White Heat	22	3	19	1652	1941	-289	6
12	Coventry Crusaders	22	3	19	1525	2051	-526	6

Solent Stars 2001/02 Season

2008-11-05T14:57:00.005Z

Steve Fitzsimons, an assistant coach under both Tom Wisman and Jim Kelly in Solent's formative years, re-joined the coaching staff over the summer to help Mark Scott. On the playing front, Chris Harper left to join Coventry Crusaders whilst Toby Tripalin had returned to America. Tripalin was still an option for the Stars for the forthcoming season, but negotiations were proving lengthy.

So it was that for the first game of the season, a friendly against newly promoted Oxford Devils, the coaches were to call on mainly local talent plus a few triallists. Among those triallists were Americans Vernon Marshall and Ryan Nolan, and two English players with national league experience, Mark Jackson and Nick O'Harabe plus Alan McDonald, returning after a year in America.

Chris St. Omer

It was the local players who were on court at the beginning of the game as Solent slipped behind 5 - 22 by the fifth minute. The introduction of the more experienced players brought Solent back into the game with Jackson scoring two early three pointers. The game was effectively lost in the second quarter when coach Mark Scott gave the youngsters extended court time and watched Solent fall behind 22 - 40 at the halftime interval. The experienced players once again took the court at the beginning of the second half and a three pointer from Trevor Donaldson briefly put Solent 58 - 56 ahead. In the end Solent lost 76 - 83 (Jackson 23) demonstrating that much work was to be done with the home squad, although the result was considerably better than the previous year when Solent had lost by 49 points!

Solent Stars were hit by a world event just after they had signed an American player, Eric Cheers. Cheers, a New Yorker, was left stranded in New York after the September 11th tragedy at the World Trade Center. This meant that Solent had an all-English team (bar locally based Dimitry LaCroix) for their first weekend of matches, two National Trophy games. To add to their woes, Chris St. Omer was also stranded in America because of the flying restrictions imposed after the terrorist activities.

On Saturday, Solent travelled to Worthing Thunder for their opening game. Solent lacked experience and height and were quickly punished when Worthing went into an early lead, but three pointers from Duane Laight and Alan McDonald levelled the scores at 21 all. The inexperience of the team - containing three Under-20 players - caused the foul count to add up and Worthing's eight free throws in the last two minutes helped them pull away. The same pattern continued throughout the game before Solent finally conceded defeat (86 - 109).

Eric Cheers

In London on the following day, against North London Lords, Solent's plight was even more dire as the previous evening's top scorer, Duane Laight (17points), was unfit to play. Chris Sheldrick led by example for Solent as they battled away against older and bigger opponents. Dave McKay, another temporary signing before going off to college, also gave a brave performance as Solent were out powered 72 - 107.

Solent's first home game coincided with the arrival of Eric Cheers. Westminster Warriors, from Division Two, were the opponents. They set the early pace as Solent looked sluggish and were not playing as a team. It was no surprise that after six minutes of the first quarter, Solent trailed 10 - 20. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. But the man in this case was not the new American player, but an older version in the shape of Alan Cunningham. As co-owner of the club, Cunningham had latterly agreed to be available for home matches, if required. He straightaway scored an audacious three pointer, followed it with a drive through the defence for a lay-up and then swatted away a Westminster goal attempt. By halftime Solent were level at 47 all. The team's confidence grew with Cunningham's influence on the game and the second half saw them draw away to a 97 - 83 (Cunningham 27) win.

Solent announced the signing of a second American player, having failed to agree terms with Toby Tripalin. The new player was 22-year-old, 6' 4", John Bynum from California. His debut would be at Ealing Tornados (sic) the following weekend.

Nick O'Harabe

For the away Ealing Tornados game, Solent were without Trevor Donaldson (ill) but had newcomers Nick O'Harabe and John Bynum in the squad. Solent established a 38 - 26 point lead towards the end of the second quarter with a host of three pointers from Duane Laight and John Bynum. A late surge by Ealing brought them to within three points at halftime (42 - 39). Despite a timeout called by Mark Scott after the team had been outscored 3 - 9 at the beginning of the third quarter, Solent still conceded a further eight points before scoring themselves. Eric Cheers added a couple of baskets to the Solent total at the beginning of the final quarter, but Solent lost Bynum (knee) and Alan McDonald (ankle) before the end of the game. A disappointing defeat, 80 - 87 (Bynum 24, Laight 20) meant Solent had won just one of their opening four National Trophy games and were about to face unbeaten Worthing Thunder in the next game.

Worthing were hot favourites to complete the double over Solent on their visit to Fleming Park. However, they had not reckoned with the accurate shooting of Duane Laight and John Bynum who were mainly responsible for Solent's 35 - 25 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, by the time Laight fouled out with eleven minutes remaining, Solent trailed 68 - 76. Baskets from Alan Cunningham and Chris Sheldrick brought the home team back into the game, before they too fouled out with the score at 99 all. Up stepped Bynum, who earlier had thrilled the crowd with a spectacular first minute dunk. He weaved his way through the Worthing defence to add two more points, and then popped in two from the free throw line. Solent held on to win 105 - 101 (Bynum 35, Cheers 21).

Next at Fleming Park were InterBasket, London, who had an identical playing record to Solent in the National Trophy. By the end of the third quarter, Solent were leading 94 - 74 and Joe White, the visiting coach, was heard to say to his team, "Where's the passion? Don't you want to play? Have you given up?" This had the desired effect and InterBasket harried the Solent team into many errors and nearly took the game, especially when Bynum picked up a knee injury, necessitating a trip to hospital. Solent won 110 - 106 (Bynum 35, Cunningham 24, Cheers 22) but coach Mark Scott held his team in the changing room for a long while after the end of the game.

John Nottley

John Bynum was still nursing his knee injury for the visit of North London Lords the following week. His presence was missed, as in a scrappy first half Solent trailed 40 - 46 at halftime. After the interval, two quick baskets from Dimitry LaCroix set Solent on their way and with regular scoring from Alan Cunningham and Eric Cheers, Solent did enough to take the game 91 - 86 (Cunningham 25, Cheers 25).

Alan Cunningham decided to travel with the Solent team to play the rock-bottom team, Westminster Warriors. Solent looked comfortable at the start of the game, leading 25 - 11 at the end of the first quarter. Coach Mark Scott had persisted with just five players in that time. However, when he rang the changes, Solent's soft underbelly was exposed. The English players in the team had in Scott's words been 'under performing' throughout the opening part of the season. The comments seemed justified as Solent surrendered the lead to Westminster in the third quarter. Solent had some justification in feeling hard done by when, in a game when Westminster were constantly harrying and playing catch up, they went the first fifteen minutes of the second half without a foul call against them. Westminster went ahead 67 - 68 in the fifth minute of the final quarter, but two baskets from Eric Cheers put Solent back into the lead which they never surrendered, winning 83 - 71 (Bynum 35).

By the next weekend, Eric Cheers had been released. Co-owner Alan Cunningham said, "Eric's physique doesn't allow him to play the role we need in the team. This was particularly noticeable last weekend when he was outmuscled at Westminster and lost the ball on several occasions". The replacement for Cheers was 6' 6" Marlin Capers, from Georgia, who flew in on Friday morning, survived a car accident in Bob Paulley's car on the way from the airport, and was about to play in a double-header weekend!

Marlin Capers

It proved to be a baptism of fire for Marlin Capers as Solent faced Ealing Tornados at home. In a rough and tumble match, in which Solent always held the upper hand, Trevor Donaldson was disqualified for retaliation after being fouled and pushed in the back. Capers, who had by this time been receiving treatment for cramp, encroached on the court in an attempt to calm things down and was also disqualified for that action. Five minutes were spent by the officials sorting the situation out, but that did not detract from the earlier Solent salvo of points from John Bynum, Capers and Alan Cunningham that had put Solent in the driving seat, leading to their 121 - 101 (Bynum 29, Capers 21, Cunningham 21) victory.

The next day found Solent in London to play InterBasket, London. Having already qualified for the quarter-final, the pressure was off for the Solent team. The American duo of John Bynum and Marlin Capers scored 61 of Solent's 100 points in the game as Solent steamed to a 100 - 85 (Bynum 35, Capers 26) win.

The first league game was away to Reading Rockets in their first season in top-flight basketball and under the ex-England coach, David Titmuss. Solent drew first blood with four points from Duane Laight to lead 8 - 4. Reading pressure then resulted in Solent only adding six more points in the quarter whilst at one stage the home team scored 18 unanswered points. The second quarter belonged to Solent's two Americans with Marlin Capers scoring 17 consecutive points as Solent pulled back to trail by just one point at the interval. Capers then picked up several fouls, forcing coach Mark Scott to keep him on the bench for most of the even scoring third quarter. It was Bynum's 15 points in the final quarter that proved the difference between the teams as Solent ran out winners, 80 - 76 (Capers 32, Bynum 30).

John Bynum

A visit to reigning league champions, Plymouth Raiders, followed. The Solent team surprised the locals by going in to an early lead before Plymouth were able to pull back to a two-point advantage (22 - 24) at the first interval. However, Solent upped the ante again and by halftime held an 11-point advantage. With Alan Cunningham off court receiving treatment for a hamstring strain, Marlin Capers picked up his fourth foul and restricted Mark Scott's choice of players. Capers fouled out with eight minutes remaining. A great rearguard action by the English players on the team, including a vital three pointer from Trevor Donaldson that drew the scores level with seconds remaining, kept Solent in the game. Unfortunately, Donaldson turned from hero to villain when seconds after scoring his basket, he fouled a Plymouth player. The resultant two points were the margin of victory that Plymouth achieved just three seconds later. The final score was 86 - 88 (Bynum 36, Cunningham 20).

Just one week later Solent were back in the same venue for the semi-final of the National Trophy competition. The game followed a similar pattern to the previous one, with Solent being even more successful in the first half and leading 51 - 35. One down side was the Solent foul tally which included four on John Bynum. Plymouth exploited Solent's limitations in defence, because of the foul count, and reduced their deficit to eight points going into the final quarter. Solent then made several unforced errors - Alan McDonald's easily intercepted pass, a mix-up between Dimitry LaCroix and Trevor Donaldson, and a put-in from out of bounds by Marlin Capers that went straight out of play. Each time Plymouth were able to score and finally edged home 94 - 99 (Capers 26, Bynum 25, Cunningham 22).

After four consecutive away matches Solent returned home for the league match against Teesside Mohawks. Teesside brought with them a side fancied for the league championship. Solent did not seem intimidated in the early proceedings and led 47 - 43 at halftime. In a disastrous third quarter for Solent they were outscored 15 - 32 and the game seemed to have slipped away from them. To their credit Solent battled back to within one point of the visitors in the closing stages. However, a series of fouls gave Teesside several visits to the free throw line to edge the game 93 - 97 (Bynum 31, Capers 28).

Steve Davison

The next visitors to Fleming Park were Sutton Pumas. After three games against top-class opposition, Solent were hoping for an easier ride against Sutton. So it proved with Solent in control throughout, even building a 30-point advantage at one stage. John Bynum was in his element with several spectacular dunks. Although Solent eased up - to coach Mark Scott's frustration - Solent were convincing winners 92 - 74 (Capers 32, Bynum 27).

The final match of the calendar year was a visit to InterBasket London, a team that Solent had already beaten twice in National Trophy matches. But it was a depleted team that Solent could muster on the night. Missing, for a variety of reasons, were Alan Cunningham, Chris St. Omer and Dimitry LaCroix. In addition, Trevor Donaldson was playing whilst under the influence of a heavy cold. Marlin Capers could only manage one scoring shot in a first half that saw Solent trail by 39 - 47 points. An opening burst in the second half saw John Bynum, Nick O'Harabe and Capers reduce the deficit to one point and a timely three pointer by Alan McDonald took Solent into the lead. A dogged defensive performance by Solent, despite O'Harabe's fifth foul dismissal with five minutes remaining, then kept the home team at bay but it was only in the dying seconds that Solent clinched a 95 - 93 (Bynum 35) win.

The first game of the new year was a visit to Worthing Thunder. It marked the return on court of coach Mark Scott, who had surgery to his Achilles tendon over the previous summer and was not expected to play at all in the season. In part his return was as a result of other players' injuries that left Solent with only one guard. A strong first half performance saw Solent lead by eleven points at halftime (50 - 39). Worthing fought back to take the third quarter honours and went one point into the lead at the end of the period. With five minutes remaining and Solent just two points behind, Alan Cunningham was forced to leave the game with a bleeding scalp after he and Paul Mundy-Castle clashed whilst vying for a loose ball. With the top scorer gone, things looked bleak for Solent. However, a three pointer from Steve Davison followed by four points from Cunningham's replacement, Chris St. Omer gave Solent a vital cushion and, in the end, a famous victory, 94 - 86 (Cunningham 26, Capers 23).

With Duane Laight having broken his finger and Alan McDonald his jaw, Solent were hard pressed again to manage numbers for their home game against Kingston Wildcats. Alan Cunningham was still nursing his scalp injury and Mark Scott had suffered after-effects from his first run out after his operation. Nonetheless, despite a poor second half performance, Solent were good enough to beat Kingston 98 - 79 (Capers 33, Bynum 30).

Duane Laight

Nick O'Harabe had his best game of the season against the next visitors, Manchester Magic. Apart from scoring 18 points, O'Harabe pulled down quite a few rebounds to help Solent keep possession of the ball. The teams scored at will in the first quarter (32 - 32) but in the second quarter only managed 29 points between them as both sides concentrated on defence. Solent led 55 - 38 at halftime and were in no mood to concede their winning position, finally coming through 92 - 77 (Bynum 29).

Mark Scott was furious with his team's first half performance on their visit to Coventry Crusaders. Having initially led, he saw some poor defensive play give the advantage to the home team. As Chris St. Omer was having difficulty containing Coventry's experienced Derrick Pope, Scott brought himself into the game. This action, plus a halftime verbal salvo to the team, had the desired effect as Solent pulled back and won the third quarter by 13 points and the match 104 - 90 (Bynum 38, Capers 20).

InterBasket London were the next visitors to Fleming Park. Solent struggled from the start. Mark Scott had said to his team that they must not rely solely on the American duo to get them out of trouble, but the words were not heeded. Although John Bynum and Marlin Capers were in the action throughout, they were poorly supported by the rest of the team. InterBasket, on the other hand, played a very competent team game and, in the end, gained a deserved victory, 80 - 83 (Bynum 29, Capers 20).

Having been beaten by lowly InterBasket, Solent must have felt apprehensive about their next visitors, league leaders Plymouth Raiders. If that was the case, they certainly did not show it as they raced into an early 15 - 2 lead. Solent included young 6' 9" John Nottley in the team for this game and he said he had been overwhelmed by the atmosphere at the game. This was in part because Solent eventually opened up a 30-point lead in the first half that had the 400 plus crowd cheering to the rafters. Plymouth trimmed back the lead to 59 - 40 by halftime. Nottley grabbed some important rebounds and Steve Davison did likewise whilst adding several important three pointers in Solent's 113 - 97 (Capers 34, Bynum 32) win.

Solent travelled to Sutton Pumas to find that the home team had made two late signings, Mark Quashie (from Ealing) and Marcus Knight (from the Basketball League's Milton Keynes). These two dominated the early stages of the game and Solent found themselves 17 - 33 in arrears at the first quarter's end. Mark Scott joined the fray and was able to stem the flow of Sutton's points and gradually Solent clawed their way back into the game and at the start of the final quarter led by three points (79 - 76). Sutton then had a final rally that took them to a seven-point advantage that they did not surrender. Solent lost 91 - 97 (Bynum 34, Capers 26).

Anxious to give the English players more court time, Solent arranged back-to-back matches against USAF Lakenheath Eagles. With neither American in the squad, Solent found it hard to score against the team that had recently won the European championship for the American Forces bases. Steve Davison stole the scoring honours for Solent with 22 points. John Nottley also did well with 14 points, matching those of Duane Laight for whom this was the first match after injury. Solent lost 94 - 96 (Davison 22).

The return match saw Solent at their strongest. The game was played at the River Park Leisure Centre, Winchester. The venue obviously appealed to the Solent American duo as they scored 79 points between them in Solent's 131 - 90 win (Capers 40, Bynum 39, Davison 21).

By way of a diversion, Solent staged the men's and women's All Star Games at Fleming Park. Over 600 fans turned out to see the cream of the English Basketball League. Solent contributed John Bynum, Marlin Capers and Alan Cunningham to the South squad. A poor third quarter contributed to the South losing 117 - 128 with John Bynum scoring 23 points.

All-Star Game team photo including Alan Cunningham (7), John Bynum (10) and Marlin Capers (11)

Solent's next home league fixture was against Reading Rockets. Unusually, all twenty players appeared on the scoresheet in this game, but it was John Bynum's 31 points that led the way. His scoring was matched by Ted Smith who landed a couple of late three pointers. However, Smith's efforts were in vain as Solent posted a 108 - 88 (Bynum 31) victory to guarantee them a place in the end of season play-offs.

Worthing Thunder were the next visitors to Fleming Park. They started brightly and opened up a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter. The opening of the second quarter saw Solent score 14 points without reply. Trevor Donaldson and Alan Cunningham both contributed a three pointer in this period. With John Bynum and Marlin Capers both on three fouls in the first half, coach Mark Scott was forced to rest them. Worthing came back to one point before Scott himself entered the game. Solent held a narrow three-point advantage at halftime (47 - 44). Fourteen points ahead with five minutes to play, Solent looked comfortable until Sean Hampton scored back-to-back three pointers. Marlin Capers then fouled out making Solent's lead look even more suspect. Fittingly, it was Alan Cunningham who had the final say including a last second three pointer to consolidate Solent's 100 - 91 (Bynum 34, Cunningham 23) win.

Solent travelled to Kingston Wildcats for their next game. Kingston, in fifth league place, were two places behind Solent. John Bynum suffered an injury to his toe early on which meant missing part of the first quarter. For the fourth time in the season, Solent held a double-figure lead over their opponents only to let it slip in the final quarter. Kingston had stayed in the game thanks to an unusually successful run of three pointers, mainly from player/coach Solomon Ayinla. In the end Solent could not make up the deficit despite a late rally. The 13-point advantage at the start of the fourth quarter turned into a demoralising 92 - 96 (Bynum 30, Capers 23) defeat.

Alan Cunningham

Teesside Mohawks had clinched the NBL Championship at Sutton Pumas the previous evening before playing host to Solent on the Sunday afternoon. Without Alan Cunningham and Duane Laight, Solent gave the new champions something to think about, once they had settled down. The game had begun with Teesside's Ralph Bucci scoring six quick points. Solent switched to zone defence, but six turnovers saw them trailing 17 - 26 at the end of the first quarter. By halftime, Solent had clawed back to trail by just four points (46 - 50). Trevor Donaldson scored early points in the third quarter and a big three pointer by Nick O'Harabe took Solent to their biggest lead in the game at 69 - 58. Loose play by Alan McDonald and Donaldson undid some of the good work and allowed Teesside to level the scores at the end of the third quarter. Teesside were stronger in the final section of the game and forged ahead to a 95 - 106 (Bynum 36, Capers 23) win.

After playing the league champions, Solent's next game was at home to rock-bottom Coventry Crusaders. The match will be remembered for Alan Cunningham's dismissal after a mere 83 seconds on court. The incident happened toward the end of the third quarter. Cunningham, anxious to protect an Achilles heel problem, had not entered the game until just over three minutes of the third quarter remaining. As he went to collect a rebound, he was pushed by Coventry's Matt Collins. In Cunningham's words, "He shoved me in the back and I flew out-of-bounds. The referee should have seen the incident. I jumped up, went over to the guy, and he took a dive. I stood over him and told him 'Don't be doing that stuff'." The referee, Trevor Funnell, considered that Cunningham's action warranted a dismissal - only the third in his career spanning over 30 years. Solent won the game, in part thanks to an improved performance by Nick O'Harabe, who had so far in the season not reached expectations. Marlin Capers was fouled out in the last minute, but had done enough in his contribution to Solent's 96 - 85 (O'Harabe 21, Capers 21) win. The victory confirmed Solent as third placed in the league.

Mark Scott

A visit to Manchester Magic was the final league game for Solent Stars. Once again a depleted squad took to the road. The game swung Manchester's way when Sergio Lara Berchal hit eight consecutive points in the third quarter to open up a 55 - 63 lead. Earlier John Bynum had sat out a good part of the first half after picking up a technical foul - to take him to three fouls in the game - for backchat to the referee. In the final minute, Bynum's three pointer took Solent to 85 - 88 and a free throw point from Marlin Capers cut the difference to just one shot. But a Steve Davison foul with nine seconds remaining allowed Manchester to sew up the game 86 - 90 (Capers 31, Bynum 24). This set up Solent to meet Worthing Thunder in the home and away legs of the league championship quarter-final.

The away leg of the quarter-final was described as 'edge of the seats' fare. The lead changed hands fifteen times and Solent were in foul trouble throughout the second half - finishing with four players on four fouls. Sean Hampton posted his 1,000th point of the season as Solent allowed him too much leeway at times. Nick O'Harabe once again had a commanding game and with veteran Alan Cunningham playing the whole game, Solent were able to accommodate the injury to Marlin Capers just before halftime when he twisted his knee. In the end just two points separated the teams as Solent went down 96 - 98 (Bynum 32).

With a place in the Final Four tournament at the Coventry Skydome at stake, Solent came roaring out of the starting block in the return leg against Worthing Thunder the following Saturday. Alan Cunningham led the charge with an early three pointer and a controlled team performance saw Solent into a first quarter lead, 28 - 12. A disjointed start to the second quarter gave Worthing a faint hope, but three pointers from Trevor Donaldson, Steve Davison and Alan McDonald helped Solent to their most commanding first half lead of 50 - 28 with just two minutes remaining. Nick O'Harabe stole the scoring honours in the third quarter, which included a three pointer a dunk and a free throw, as Solent denied Worthing a chance to get back into the game. Solent ran out winners on the night 99 - 79 (Cunningham 32, O'Harabe 20) to win 195 - 177 on aggregate.

Before the Finals weekend, Solent visited the Isle of Wight to stage a demonstration game before taking part in a Mayor's Charity Gala game at Fleming Park. The two teams were a pick of Solent Veterans v the present team (without Alan Cunningham). Two last second free throws by John Bynum gave an unusual result, a 117 - 117 tie! John Bynum received the Player of the Year Award, with Alan Cunningham as runner-up. Bynum also was the recipient of the Players' Player of the Year trophy.

The semi-final at the Skydome pitted Solent Stars against Plymouth Raiders. Cruelly, Nick O'Harabe had damaged a cartilage at a final training session before the weekend and could take no part. Solent once again roared into an early 25 - 10 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to an outstanding display from Alan Cunningham. Although - as in earlier games against Plymouth - Solent saw their lead cancelled out in the third quarter, Stars never let Plymouth get ahead of them and the match winning trio of John Bynum, Marlin Capers and Cunningham scored 29 points in the final quarter to record a 109 - 89 (Cunningham 30, Bynum 27, Capers 24) convincing win. The result set up a repeat of the final of two years previously against Teesside Mohawks.

With only eight fit players for the final, coach Mark Scott called on Jon Rumsey, who had signed earlier in the season, to join the team for the final. It was the current league, cup and championship squad from Teesside who dictated the early phases of the game and Solent faced a 14 - 37 deficit in the second quarter. With Marlin Capers playing like a man possessed, Solent clawed their way back into the game and by halftime the difference was just ten points (49 - 59). An anxious error-strewn third quarter saw Solent trim another seven points off the lead (70 - 73) to set up an amazing final quarter that saw fortunes wildly fluctuate one way and then the other. John Bynum - with two dunks - finally put Solent ahead for the first time, but an 89 - 86 lead soon turned to a 91 - 96 deficit with time running out. Hope was restored as Alan Cunningham scored a three pointer and then gave the pass to Bynum who skipped through the Teesside defence to level the scores (96 - 96) on the final buzzer. Solent went ahead three times in the last ninety seconds of overtime only for Teesside to draw back level each time. With seven seconds to go, Bynum received the ball from an out-of-bounds situation. Once again he eluded the Teesside defence and soared high to finish the season with a spectacular dunk. Unfortunately the ball rebounded off the ring, high into the air, to take the game into a second overtime period (109 - 109). Teesside gained an early lead in the second overtime period and when Bynum, Capers and Steve Davison all fouled out, Solent had little left to offer as they fell to a 117 - 127 (Bynum 35, Capers 35, Cunningham 29) defeat.

	2001/02 (NBL Conference)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Teesside Mohawks	18	17	1	1920	1564	+356	34
2	Plymouth Raiders	18	14	4	1680	1561	+119	28
3	Solent Stars	18	11	7	1695	1583	+112	22
4	Kingston Wildcats	18	10	8	1464	1542	-78	20
5	Manchester Magic	18	9	9	1637	1548	+89	18
6	Worthing Thunder	18	9	9	1718	1680	+38	18
7	Reading Rockets	18	7	11	1603	1590	+13	14
8	InterBasket London	18	5	13	1352	1592	-240	10
9	Coventry Crusaders	18	4	14	1483	1584	-101	8
10	Sutton Pumas	18	4	14	1465	1773	-308	8

Solent Stars 2000/01 Season

2008-11-05T14:56:00.004Z

With the retirement of existing coach, Alan Cunningham, and senior players Colin Irish and Panji Grainger, Solent Stars had the heart ripped out of their successful team of the past two seasons. The newly appointed coach, Mark Scott, was untested at this level of coaching and would need to recruit several new players.

For the first pre-season friendly, against Oxford Devils, Mark Scott had a mix of experience and newcomers. It was the experienced players that served him well early on in the game with Mike Griffiths scoring ten of Solent's first twelve points. However, once the newcomers were given a chance on court, the experienced Oxford team - a league below, but three years together as a squad - took over the game. Solent's 72 - 121 defeat demonstrated to Scott the enormity of his task.

Mark Scott

A second pre-season game gave Solent a first victory, over Reading Rockets (85 - 75). For this game Solent had a guest American triallist, John Randazzo. He scored 42 points in the game, but subsequently was snapped up by a French team. Other members of the squad on that occasion were Mike Griffiths, Mark Scott, Ben Peacock, and Chris Blunt, all of whom had played in the previous season. Newcomers for the game were Chris St. Omer (a local player), Joe Charles (from Bournemouth Blitz) and Nosa Obadigie (Solent Juniors). After a two year break from the game, Jon Rumsey also returned to the court for Solent Stars.

For the first home league game of the season, coach Mark Scott was without two key players - Chris Harper, who had flown to America to see his sick mother, and Mike Griffiths, who had injured his ankle in the Reading match. However, they were able to welcome back Toby Tripalin. Last minute negotiations by club owner, Bob Paulley, persuaded Alan Cunningham to help the club out for this opening fixture of the Conference League. The title for the new league had been proposed by Jim Rumsey as the result of an appeal by the national body who were told that their proposed titles - The Elite League or Superleague - could not be used. Only eight teams were in the league as a result of a tightening of standards and quality to make the Conference League a showcase for England Basketball. Teams would meet three times in the season.

Joe Charles

Sutton Pumas were the first visitors to Fleming Park in the first match where the games would be played in four ten minute quarters, with two minutes between the first/second and third/fourth quarters and just one timeout per quarter allowed, except for the final quarter when two could be used. Solent were shell-shocked at the end of the first quarter when they found themselves trailing 15 - 30. Enter Cunningham and Scott to help Solent win all the remaining three quarters, but still fall short at the end despite Jon Rumsey's three pointer on the buzzer. Solent's defeat (97 - 100) was in a game that they never led (Scott 24, Cunningham 23, Tripalin 21).

Recognising that 46-year-old Alan Cunningham could not be seen as Solent's big man throughout the season, Solent Stars were able to sign 6' 6" Chris Sheldrick who had just returned from a four year spell in America. Sheldrick had learned his basketball in the Solent Stars Junior programme prior to leaving for America. Coach Mark Scott also announced that Paul Philp would be brought on board to help out with training and, when possible, match coaching.

The opening game in the National Trophy took Solent to play at Cardiff Clippers. Once again, the team was plagued by injuries. Mike Griffiths was still unfit and Chris Harper - returning for this game - was carrying a niggling knee injury. When Mark Scott limped out of the game early on with a torn tendon, Solent were really up against it. Alex Byrne turned the ball over twice to gift Cardiff four early points and, after that, Solent were always chasing the game. Only able to score one three pointer through Jon Rumsey at the end of the game - against the eleven successful threes by Cardiff - Solent fell away to a 78 - 88 loss (Rumsey 20).

Eddie Owusu

A league visit to the current league champions, Teesside Mohawks, followed. Solent were once again beset by injuries with Mike Griffiths and Chris Harper both unavailable through injury. With Chris Blunt and Alex Byrne conceding too many turnovers to the vastly more experienced home players, Solent were never in the hunt. Jon Rumsey, one of only seven players to make the trip north, sat out the first quarter, having received a knock two days before in a scrimmage match against Brighton Cougars. His introduction helped Solent score a few more points, but with Mark Scott also hampered by injury, it was a process of damage limitation that Solent undertook. The final score, 73 - 110 (Scott 20, Rumsey 20) reflected the superiority of the home team just a few months after they had dashed Solent's hopes at Wembley.

Before the next game, a home National Trophy pool fixture against Plymouth Raiders, Solent re-signed Eddie Owusu from near neighbours Worthing Thunder. With Mike Griffiths available, Solent were pleased also to welcome the return of Chris Harper. However, despite initial promise when Solent led 22 - 16 in the first quarter, it was Plymouth who set the pace eventually. A second defeat in the National Trophy for Solent, 68 - 91 (Tripalin 22, Harper 21) meant that qualification was going to be difficult.

An even more daunting task faced Solent the next day when they had to travel to the Aston Villa Leisure centre to play Basketball League's Birmingham Bullets in the National Cup. In the competition on the strength of the previous season's results, the present Solent squad was always going to be struggling. This proved to be the case as Birmingham rode all over the visitors to record a 61 - 109 victory.

Chris St Omer

A return to home National Trophy action followed. Solent had to beat Cardiff Clippers by at least eleven points to stand a chance of qualification from the pool, as runners up. Until the disastrous final quarter, Solent were well on their way to achieving their goal. From a position of 65 - 48 authority they completely lost their way. Coach Mark Scott blamed himself. He sat out the entire third quarter and only rejoined the action when Solent were sinking fast in the final quarter. By the time he reappeared Solent led by just four points (75 - 71) and he was unable to pick up the scoring rate he had achieved in the first half. In the end, Solent won their first game of the season, but by only six points, 78 - 72 (Tripalin 26).

Yet another signing for Solent took place before the next game. Chris Harper had recommended Welshman Gareth Keene, a 6' 8" centre from his previous club in Cardiff. Keane made his debut in Solent's home game against Worthing Thunder. Also playing in the game was Paul Mundy-Castle who had transferred to Worthing over the summer. In this season of injuries, Solent were without American Toby Tripalin who had turned an ankle. A high-scoring first quarter saw Solent trailing 21 - 36. A better second quarter saw them reduce the deficit at halftime to just ten points. However, in the end Solent had no answer to Mundy-Castle (42 points) who was ably supported by Worthing's American Vandale Thomas who also scored 42 points. Solent lost yet another league fixture, 85 - 120 (Harper 21, Owusu 21) with only Eddie Owusu's performance giving them some hope for the future.

Dave McKay

Solent's National Trophy interests ended with a 65 - 88 away defeat at the hands of Plymouth Raiders. For Solent, two encouraging performances were put in by Junior players, Dave McKay and Alan McDonald. Gareth Keene took some important rebounds and added eleven points to the Solent total, but the senior players put in disappointing performances.

Fixture vagaries meant that Solent had five weeks without a league fixture and so arranged an exhibition game against USAF Lakenheath, an American air force team that had a good pedigree in European American base competitions. It gave Dave McKay a chance to further demonstrate that he was ready to step up from the Solent Juniors. McKay top-scored with eighteen points for Solent in their 81 - 79 win.

Next up at Fleming Park were current league leaders, Plymouth Raiders. Form did not favour the home team who had lost by 23 points both home and away to Plymouth in cup competition. Mark Scott used the game to further blood his younger players and he was not let down by Clayton Milner, Dave McKay and Alan McDonald, especially in the early part of the game when Solent matched Plymouth basket for basket. Gareth Keene continued to improve and man-of-the match Chris Harper helped Solent be competitive right until the final quarter. Solent's eventual defeat, 86 - 97 (Harper 31) was no disgrace against the table-topping team.

Chris Sheldrick

An incident unrelated to basketball involving Eddie Owusu meant that Solent would have to do without him for the rest of the season, which was yet another blow to rookie coach, Mark Scott. Owusu was just one of the experienced players missing when Solent travelled to Coventry Crusaders. Despite some fine individual touches at times by Chris Harper, Toby Tripalin and Gareth Keene, Solent could not prevent themselves from yet another defeat 71 - 86 (Tripalin 27).

Desperate to plug the gap left by Owusu, Solent Stars swooped to sign Duane Laight from Thames Valley Tigers. A Southampton lad, Laight had been in America on a scholarship prior to returning and joining the Tigers. His first game was a home fixture against fellow strugglers in the Conference League, InterBasket London. It was to be no dream debut as - although he scored 18 points - Laight could not prevent the home team from going down 81 - 87 (Tripalin 24, Harper 24) after a poor third period.

The final game of the year was at Sutton Pumas. Still the only team in the league without a league win, Solent Stars never suggested that they were about to cash in that record as they struggled to make any impression. Ten points behind after three dreadful minutes, Solent never really recovered as the team was given the run-around. Chris Harper only arrived as the match was getting underway, and the wrong turning he took on the way to Sutton mirrored the blind alleys Solent drove down all too often. Solent lost 77 - 102 (Tripalin 27).

Alex Byrne

A visit to high-riding Manchester Magic at the Manchester Velodrome was not what Solent wanted next. However, they got off to a flying 7 - 0 start with points from Toby Tripalin and Mark Scott. When, in the second period, shots started to miss, the Solent heads went down and the Manchester team that had won by 30 points on the previous evening gained in confidence. Soon Solent were trailing by 30 points of their own (40 - 70) and could not do anything about it as they sank 65 - 100 (Harper 26).

With average home attendances now 200-300 compared with the 800 plus regular turnout for the previous successful seasons, Solent were in need of success. An abortive attempt was made to sign a third American player, Dwayne Lewis, a friend of Toby Tripalin. This player could rotate with Tripalin and Chris Harper, who had a niggling knee injury that was hampering him. However, the authorities would not sanction a work permit for Lewis since he had not been playing in a bona-fide competition in America that would be able to supply suitable statistics. They were more fortunate with another import, Frenchman Dimitry LaCroix, who had come to work in the area.

LaCroix made his debut in Solent's home fixture against Worthing Thunder. Although his appearance was restricted to one minute, he did manage to score as well as pick up a foul! The fact that Worthing's top four scorers all scored more than the Solent main scorer, Toby Tripalin, indicates the gulf that existed in the game between the teams. Solent's loss to the second placed league table team was 86 - 120 (Tripalin 21).

Toby Tripalin

Only two weeks after returning from a 35 point hammering at Manchester the Solent team was in opposition to Manchester again at Fleming Park. One difference, however, this time was Solent's inclusion of Alan Cunningham. The ex-coach and club co-owner had been persuaded to play once again. Ahead throughout most of the match, Solent were eleven points clear approaching the end of the third quarter. That was the biggest lead they had enjoyed all season - yet somehow they managed to give this up in barely a couple of minutes. Even so, they were in there fighting and with Cunningham limping with a badly bruised ankle and Scott having to go to hospital to have stitches after a clash of heads, no one could doubt their commitment. Solent eventually lost 103 - 109 (Harper 24, Tripalin 22).

Still without a win halfway through the season, a visit of the current league leaders did not present Solent with the easiest of ways to relieve the gloom. The teams had already met three times in cup and league fixtures with Plymouth Raiders winning them all and having a 57-point aggregate advantage also. But bottom-of-the-league Solent nearly supplied the surprise of the season when they went into a fifteen-point halftime lead. However, an all-too-familiar second half saw Solent only manage 16 points in the third quarter and 11 in the final one. This was not enough to protect their earlier hard won lead and they lost 74 - 84 (Harper 24, Tripalin 22).

Chris Harper

Just before the final signing deadline, Solent swooped for Trevor Donaldson, a forward who had played with Southampton Trailblazers, and local player 6' 4" Mike Bryan, a left-hander, who had played for Portsmouth Pirates.

Both new players made their debut in the next home game, against Coventry Crusaders, who were fourth in the league. With Chris Harper and Toby Tripalin in fine shooting form, Solent opened up an early advantage to take a 28 - 17 lead at the end of the first quarter. By restricting the visitors to just six points in the second quarter Solent found themselves, as in the last game, comfortably ahead (47 - 23) at halftime. This time there was to be no easing off, and despite a late rally by the visitors, Solent won their first game of the season 85 - 72 (Tripalin 26). One outcome from the result was that coach Mark Scott could now have a haircut, having earlier vowed not to cut his hair until the first victory!

A visit from fellow strugglers InterBasket, London followed. Solent's confidence was high and new boy Trevor Donaldson's in particular. Donaldson fired in five three pointers in the game to complement the shooting of Chris Harper. The effect was to give Solent a good lead early on. This, however, they squandered and with two minutes remaining the scores were tied at 78 all. Mark Scott then fired in a three pointer, Harper added two more but InterBasket fought back to 83 - 81 before Harper made the game safe for Solent from the free throw line. The win was 85 - 83 (Harper 31, Donaldson 21).

Mike Griffiths

The following day Solent travelled north to Manchester, without Alan Cunningham, Mark Scott or Trevor Donaldson. Chris Harper took charge of the side and he used just six of the seven Solent players for the whole game. Apart from the first quarter, when they fell 18 - 27 behind, the team performed admirably and only lost by seven points, 69 - 76 (Tripalin 29) to high-riding Manchester Magic.

Coach Mark Scott, who had missed the Manchester trip to be at the birth of his daughter Omara, was back for the home fixture against Sutton Pumas. He was joined by the other two players who had also missed the trip north. It was encouraging to see Solent's refusal to back down against some rough treatment handed out by the visitors under the basket. For the most part they handled it well apart from one moment early in the second quarter when frustration with some bizarre refereeing decisions spilled over into an on-court brawl involving Duane Laight and Sutton's Roger Lloyd. Both were duly sent off. Solent were leading 21 - 18 at the time and quickly gathered their composure with Trevor Donaldson scoring a couple of three pointers. The fans' man of the match, Dimitry LaCroix, harried Sutton into many turnovers and Toby Tripalin barely missed a shot throughout the second half to lead Solent to a 94 - 78 win (Tripalin 32).

Chris Blunt

Five of Solent's six remaining fixtures were away from home, beginning with a trip to Teesside Mohawks. Unavailability of players - not uncommon for the Teesside trip over the years - meant that Solent only had seven players at the beginning of the game. A snow blizzard had started as Solent drove the last few miles north. The same blizzard kept Chris Harper - who had been staying even further north for the night before - from arriving before halftime, by which time Solent were trailing 25 - 48. Although Solent kept battling away, the league leaders were in a mean mood and Solent lost 66 - 92 (Tripalin 25).

The third league meeting between the teams took place just one week later at Fleming Park. It was Solent's last home league game of the season in which they played each team three times. It had not gone unnoticed that in the case of both Solent's furthest flung opponents, Teesside and Manchester, the Solent team had been given two away matches. For Teesside's first visit south, Solent were anxious to avoid another 26 point drubbing. Even so, coach Mark Scott left out Chris Harper because of his late arrival at last week's game. With Alan Cunningham and Toby Tripalin both firing on all cylinders, Solent once again - as in previous home games - built up an early lead. At one point they led by as many as 18 points and although they endured a few anxious moments in the closing stages - they led by one point with four seconds remaining when Cunningham was awarded two free throws - they came through to win 106 - 103 (Cunningham 26, Tripalin 25, Scott 22) against the league leaders.

The next match was away to InterBasket, London. Solent were slow out of the blocks and trailed 14 - 24 at one point in the first quarter. Stars continued to struggle in the second quarter until a Chris Harper three pointer started a run of twelve unanswered points for Solent to take them to a 32 - 31 lead. InterBasket stretched away again in the third quarter to lead 44 - 57, but Solent then outscored them 15 - 2 to level at 59 all. The game was nip and tuck after that and both teams ran into foul trouble as the clock wound down. Chris Harper missed two free throws with little time left and the score standing at 83 - 81. Alan Cunningham collected the rebound from the second shot and was immediately fouled. He stepped up to the free throw line to sink both shots and give Solent a 85 - 81 win (Cunningham 24, Harper 22, Scott 21). This first away win moved Solent off the bottom place in the league.

A friendly against USAF Lakenheath Eagles allowed coach Mark Scott to give court time to some of the bench players. Trevor Donaldson benefited from this and scored 30 points in Solent's 96 - 87 point win.

Duane Laight

Solent's next away game was at league leaders Plymouth Raiders in front of a sell-out 1,400 crowd. Solent were not overawed as they raced to a 9 - 0 opening lead. It took Plymouth four minutes to score from open play, by which time they trailed 15 - 1 to Solent. Gradually, Plymouth's twin American threats, Terrence Durham and Todd Cetnar pulled the home side back into the game. Chris Harper's scoring dried up at the beginning of the second half but Toby Tripalin, Duane Laight and Trevor Donaldson filled the bill to keep Solent in the game. Plymouth could not ease up even when they took the lead. Cunningham's absence was noted as Solent went down 85 - 100 (Harper 21).

An ill-tempered away game at Coventry Crusaders followed. Alan Cunningham was in the centre of the action again when he was called for a technical foul early on for disputing a call. It was soon Coventry's turn to incur the wrath of the officials as they too were charged with a technical foul. Having trailed by 16 points at one stage, Solent fought back to trail by just six points with two minutes remaining. Unfortunately, foul trouble caught up with Solent as Toby Tripalin bowed out, followed by Cunningham and Trevor Donaldson. Solent had nothing left in the tank and lost 105 - 113 (Harper 28, Scott 22, Tripalin 22).

Alan Cunningham

Just one match remained in the league, with Solent once again occupying the foot of the table position. The opponents were Worthing Thunder who had confirmed their second place in the final league table with a win the previous evening. Also, the two previous meetings between the teams had ended with 35 and 34 point wins for the Worthing team. A win was a necessity for Solent if they were to leave Sutton Pumas as wooden spoonists rather than themselves. To cap it all, the match was to be played at the Worthing venue. Worthing very quickly moved ahead in this game also as Solent found themselves under pressure with player/coach Mark Scott reaching three fouls in the first eight minutes. A successful shot from the halfway line by Toby Tripalin right on the first quarter buzzer brought Solent to 22 - 24. Another three pointer at the start of the second quarter saw Solent take the lead for the first time. When Alan Cunningham immediately added another three pointer, Solent's confidence rose as they went on to lead 47 - 39 at halftime. A 19-point streak in the third quarter for Solent started by Chris Sheldrick sealed the game despite a late rally by Worthing. Solent had risen to seventh in the table and rued the fact that just one more win in the season could have taken them to fifth position. Toby Tripalin's 34 points was the highest score by a Solent player in the season, whilst Solent's win 111 - 96 (Tripalin 34, Harper 22) posted their highest score also.

Exactly one week later Solent were back at Worthing Thunder for the one-off quarter-final game in the Championship Play-Offs. Solent were blown apart by a devastating first quarter that saw them trail 18 - 35. Worthing at one stage led by 28 points in a game which Mark Scott described as falling victim to "diabolical refereeing" as two Solent players fouled out whilst two others suffered physical injuries that went unpunished. Toby Tripalin was playing with an injured ankle and was unable to reproduce the form of the previous week as Solent went down 96 - 115 (Tripalin 22).

Jon Rumsey

Having had no home game since the beginning of March a couple of games were arranged at the end of the season The first was for the Mayor of Eastleigh's charity and consisted of Solent and other players who made up two teams, one coached by Paul Philp, the other by Colin Irish. At the end of the game, the season's awards were given out. Toby Tripalin won both Player of the Year and Players' Player trophies, with Chris Harper taking the Runner up Player of the Year award.

The final game of the season was against the victors of Division One, Oxford Devils. Oxford had beaten Solent convincingly at the beginning of the season and coach Mark Scott was hoping that the return game would give some evidence of Solent's progress in the season. In the end he was disappointed as a lacklustre Solent performance saw them lose by an almost identical score, 86 - 116 (Tripalin 31, Cunningham 23).

Solent point scorers:
Toby Tripalin 536, Chris Harper 473, Mark Scott 329, Alan Cunningham 172, Duane Laight 118, Trevor Donaldson 110, Chris St. Omer 106, Jon Rumsey 71, Chris Sheldrick 71, Eddie Owusu 59, Gareth Keene 38, Chris Blunt 32, Nosa Obadigie 23, Dimitry LaCroix 15, Alex Byrne 13, Mike Griffiths 12, Dave McKay 9, Joe Charles 7, Rob McDonald 5

	2000/01 (NBL Conference)	Played	Won	Lost	Points
1	Plymouth Raiders	21	19	2	38
2	Worthing Thunder	21	16	5	32
3	Teesside Mohawks	21	15	6	30
4	Manchester Magic	21	9	12	16
5	Coventry Crusaders	21	7	14	14
6	InterBasket London	21	7	14	13*
7	Solent Stars	21	6	15	12
8	Sutton Pumas	21	5	16	10

* One point deducted

Solent Stars 1999/2000 Season

2008-11-05T14:55:00.003Z

Solent's pre-season preparation to defend their league title - something that had only been done successfully by two teams in the past - were not as successful as coach Alan Cunningham would have wished. Only one pre-season game was played and this team consisted solely of young players trying out for the team. The trip to play Thames Valley B, although resulting in victory, did not sort out the lack of senior players available to Solent. Paul Mundy-Castle had left the club - a not unusual occurrence with players who won the Player of the Year award - as had Masai Ujiri. Colin Irish and Mark Scott had been unavailable for the pre-season game. Cunningham himself had had a knee operation over the summer but managed to stay on court for the whole of the pre-season game.

For the first away league game, at Coventry Crusaders, Colin Irish and Mark Scott were still not on call. Eddie Owusu signed in the week of the game, as did an ex-Solent Stars regular Mike Griffiths. They were joined by new signing Chris Blunt, a student at Southampton University, and Sasha Singaravaloo and Alan McDonald from the Junior ranks. Solent could only muster five senior players for the game and filled the bench with inexperienced players. Coventry, on the other hand, had played six pre-season games and had the look of a determined side. They quickly led with a series of three pointers, but were reined in when Cunningham replied in kind. Indeed, thanks to him and Panji Grainger, Solent held an unlikely 21 - 20 lead midway through the first half. By halftime Solent trailed 42 - 46 and were still in with a shout, but once the senior players tired there was little to counter the constant Coventry attacks. Eventually Solent lost their opening game 78 - 89 (Cunningham 28, Grainger 21).

Chris Blunt

Solent recruited heavily in the following week, starting with the arrival of American Toby Tripalin from Ohio. The 27-year-old 6' 4" forward came from Marycrest University, Iowa. He was joined in the squad by two local players, Sean Cameron and Kelvin Knight, a guard from the Worthing area.

Solent's first home opponents were another well-organised side, Plymouth Raiders. Inside the final quarter of the game, Solent were trailing by a huge margin, 45 - 74, as they tried to find a rhythm, with the players demonstrating a lack of practice together. Solent gradually got their act together and the final margin of 12 points (70 - 82) gave Alan Cunningham some cause for optimism. He had scored 21 points in the game.

Prior to the next match, Alan Cunningham was severely shaken in a car accident on the M27 and missed the practice sessions. However, he was present for the away game to Oxford Devils. Oxford led early on (9 - 17) before the Solent team began to hit the target and also prevent Oxford from firing off unguarded shots. A rare three pointer from Panji Grainger levelled the scores at 23 all. Trailing 40 - 43 at halftime, Solent hit back with eight unanswered points, six from Tripalin. They then stayed ahead for the whole of the second half to finally win 84 - 80 (Grainger 22) thanks in part to a good second half scoring display from Eddie Owusu.

Because Solent Stars had finished in the top three teams of the National League Division One they were automatically entered in two Basketball League competitions, the National Cup and the UniBall Trophy. Solent's first round National Cup opponents at Fleming Park were London Leopards. With far more Americans at their disposal, London Leopards were obviously going to be a force to be reckoned with. Solent plunged into the transfer market and signed 37-year-old Chris Harper from Cardiff Phoenix prior to the game and also welcomed back Colin Irish. Irish plundered 34 points in the game, but Solent were never going to be able to contain their illustrious opponents. The final score was 88 - 110 (Irish 34, Cunningham 20).

Another cup game followed at Fleming Park, this time a National Trophy game against second division side North London Lords. Alan Cunningham was ruled out through injury and Solent made heavy weather of the first half, leading only 44 - 43 at the interval. Whatever coach Cunningham said at halftime had the desired effect as Solent imposed themselves totally in the second half - denying London any points in the first five minutes - to win the game 95 - 75 (Irish 26, Grainger 23).

Chris Harper

The following Thursday at Fleming Park, Solent entertained Derby Storm from the Basketball League in the first of the UniBall Trophy pool games. At first Derby, with their five American players, looked to be cruising along as they built up an eleven-point lead. But Derby's defence never looked secure and ten late points in the first half by Solent brought them to within one point. In the second half a virus-hit Colin Irish weighed in with some big shots before Chris Harper stole the show with a dazzling array of scoring that brought him a standing ovation from the supporters. In a breathtaking third quarter Solent rattled up 37 points to take them into a lead that a team with their experience would not surrender. This was the case and Solent Stars became the toast of the National League when they beat the team from the Basketball League 100 - 86 (Cunningham 32, Harper 29, Irish 21).

Solent's second UniBall Trophy game followed two days later with a trip to Birmingham Bullets. At first Solent held their own but they were hit by injuries to Colin Irish and Panji Grainger. They then had a disastrous period when seventeen points were conceded without reply. Eddie Owusu and Sasha Singaravaloo helped bring Solent back into the game, but eventually they went down 80 - 103 (Irish 25).

Mark Scott returned for Solent's next home fixture, a second round National Trophy tie with Sutton Pumas. His return was timely since Panji Grainger was out with back trouble. Alan Cunningham suffered both an Achilles heel injury and a chipped tooth in the game. Ten points ahead inside the final minute, Solent should have been coasting. Instead they conceded seven crazy points in almost as many seconds to find themselves only one shot ahead at 93 - 90. Colin Irish was then fouled and his two points from the free throw line steadied Solent and helped them to an eventual 97 - 93 win (Irish 34).

A second home defeat at the hands of London Leopards followed. Alan Cunningham was unable to start the game, troubled with his Achilles injury. Colin Irish and Chris Harper shot well early on to keep Solent in the game. When the Leopards coach was called for a technical foul, Irish's shots put Solent ahead midway through the first half. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Solent as they began to slip behind before bowing out to a 76 - 98 defeat (Irish 24, Harper 20).

The quarter-final home tie in the National Trophy was Solent's next game against Coventry Crusaders. All looked lost for the Solent team when the electronic scoreboard informed them that they had only four minutes left to make up a nine-point deficit. It wasn't the nine points that could prove the problem, it was stopping the Coventry team from scoring. The first inroad into the Coventry lead was made when Chris Harper scored one shot from the free throw line to take the score to 72 - 80. Alan Cunningham was then fouled in an 'unsportsmanlike' way giving Solent two shots and possession of the ball. Twenty seconds later, Colin Irish scored a big three pointer (77 - 80). Meanwhile Solent were successfully stopping Coventry shots and also gaining rebounds. Further baskets from Harper and Cunningham saw Solent edge ahead 81 - 80. Both teams then missed shots before Harper was fouled and scored one from two from the free throw line. Coventry needed a three pointer to win or two points to go to overtime. In the event, they went for the two and Derrick Pope was overjoyed to hit the target. His joy turned to grief, however, when the referees and table officials agreed that the shot had been taken fractionally after the sounding of the buzzer that ended the game. Solent were through to the semi-final, 82 - 80 (Irish 33).

The next game was a mid-week UniBall fixture at Derby Storm. Solent, with no full time players were always going to find it difficult to find players able to travel to Derby for a Wednesday evening fixture. To add to their problems, Alan Cunningham and Colin Irish were coaching at schools in Manchester during the week and Chris Harper was declared unfit with a knee injury. Solent only had six players at the tip-off time. Cunningham and Irish arrived just on 8pm after a mad dash from Manchester and the home team refused to put back the start time to allow them to be ready for the start. Solent's young team had no answer to the early succession of three point shots that rained down on them, and after a short time they trailed 21 - 40. The arrival of the experienced Solent players helped steady the ship, but Solent eventually lost 87 - 117.

The players are introduced to the Fleming Park crowd

The two final away games for Solent in the UniBall Trophy took place over the following weekend. On Saturday the team travelled to high-riding Birmingham Bullets. Chris Harper had recovered for this game and gave a good account of himself. However, the scoring honours were taken by Colin Irish with a haul of 48 points. Almost single-handedly in the scoring department he had kept Solent in touch with Birmingham throughout the game, although it was four consecutive three pointers by Yorrick Williams that gave Birmingham the safety cushion they needed for the second half. Solent's defeat, 98 - 106 (Irish 48, Harper 21) was a creditable performance.

A day later, Solent were in Brentwood, Essex meeting London Leopards. In an ill-tempered encounter Solent's hopes were dashed when coach Alan Cunningham was disqualified for a second technical foul, called for disputing an official's call. Although this match was part of the experiment when three referees were used, it was American official Steve Gottlieb who was the main protagonist. Already in two previous UniBall matches, Solent had complained of Gottleib's 'arrogance' in the official match referees report forms and it seemed that the official was going to have the last word! Cunningham's disqualification came just before halftime. Mark Scott gave a strong performance but could not prevent the team losing 67 - 115. Scott then shocked his colleagues by announcing his retirement.

After eight weeks of cup competitions, Solent could return to league action with a home match against Westminster Warriors. Coach Cunningham reckoned that, "The team has suffered a lot because of our UniBall involvement, not only in terms of injuries and tiredness but we have also fallen behind in our league programme." He himself was banned for the game as an automatic outcome of the London Leopards match. Cunningham had appealed against the original decision but, bizarrely, the appeal would not be heard until after the next game! Because Solent were now six matches behind most clubs, they were second from bottom in the league. Their opponents, Westminster, were at the foot of the table. Alan Cunningham was forced to watch the game from the balcony - because of his ban - and he was joined there by the visiting coach, Steve Alexander, who himself was serving out a one game ban! Solent, through Panji Grainger and Chris Harper, soon imposed themselves on the game and Solent built up an early lead. With Solent leading 71 - 63 at the end of the third quarter, the referees intervened to ask Alison Phillips, the stand-in Warriors coach, to remove an earpiece through which, it appeared, she was receiving instructions from Alexander on the Fleming Park balcony! Solent went on to record a win, 101 - 89 (Grainger 27).

Toby Tripalin

The semi-final draw for the National Trophy took Solent to the Teesside Mohawks' arena in Middlesbrough. Anxious to avenge their earlier home defeat, Solent looked as if they had overreached themselves as they trudged off trailing at the interval 35 - 45. However, a spirited second half started by Tripalin's three pointer and Panji Grainger's inside shooting trimmed the lead to 46 - 49. Stars even chiselled out an eight-point lead before missed shots and turnovers whilst trying to run down the clock allowed Teesside off the hook. At full time the scores were level at 79 all. Chris Harper starred for Solent as three pointers were exchanged at the start of the overtime period. Teesside's better shooting took them to a three point lead with 20 seconds left. Colin Irish missed a free throw, then Harper got tangled in the corner as he attempted a three point shot that fell well short. Solent were defeated 87 - 90 (Cunningham 21).

Solent's next away league game was a very ill-tempered affair against Mid-Sussex Magic. With injuries to the squad reaching crisis point, Solent took along triallist Chris St. Omer to make up the legal minimum required for bench purposes. Magic's JR Alexander received his fifth foul in the last minute but was the cause of further confrontation after the final buzzer. This came after the game had been halted in the second half for Colin Irish to receive treatment for a cut lip in an off-the-ball incident between him and Alexander, following a long running feud between the two players. With no other option, coach Cunningham brought St. Omer onto the court for the two remaining minutes. Solent won the game 120 - 98 (Tripalin 36, Cunningham 20, Irish 20), but Mid-Sussex noted that St. Omer was not a registered player and immediately lodged a protest to the national association.

The Solent Stars club was honoured in the following week when it picked up the BBC South Sports Male Team of the Year award at a broadcast ceremony from the De Vere Hotel in Southampton.

For Solent's next home game, against Islington White Heat, Alan Cunningham was ruled out with 'flu. Mark Scott was a spectator at the game as was Mike Griffiths, who was missing his third game through injury. To add to the team's woes, Chris Harper came off court with the score at 70 all and seven minutes remaining and refused to take any more part in the game, maintaining that he was not satisfied with the attitude of several team members toward him. Luckily for Solent, 18-year-old Alan McDonald decided to come of age basketball-wise in the game and his free throws sparked a Solent revival that was finished off by a series of three pointers from Colin Irish. Solent won 96 - 81 (Grainger 26, Irish 25).

The final match of the calendar year was a trip to table-topping Teesside Mohawks. Teesside had won all ten of their league fixtures whilst Solent had lost two of their six played. Prior to the fixture, Chris Harper had sorted out his differences with the team and Alan Cunningham was able to welcome back Mark Scott, having managed to persuade him out of retirement. Cunningham also returned himself for the game and opened the scoring for Solent. Teesside immediately replied through a Jason Swaine three pointer. Swaine's scoring had been crucial in Teesside's three point cup win over Solent earlier in the season, but Solent were determined that there would be no repeat. Solent were finding it difficult to score themselves before a Tripalin three point attempt kick started the scoring. Colin Irish with another three pointer helped Solent along, but it was the defences that were on top in the first period. Scott retrieved the lead (14 - 13) for Solent in the eighth minute and from then on Solent were never in arrears in the game. Seven points clear approaching the last minute, Solent wrapped up the game when Teesside's Neil Hopper accumulated three penalty calls from one foul as frustration seeped into the home side. Roy Lewis promptly dispatched the free throws before sprinting clear, in an eight point final minute haul. Solent had ended Teesside's unbeaten run with a win, 80 - 66 (Irish 21).

Chris St Omer

Panji Grainger was still on holiday in Zambia when Solent travelled to Cardiff Clippers in early January. However, they were able to welcome back Mike Griffiths whose height and experience came in handy. Solent led almost throughout the whole game and turned a modest 50 - 42 halftime lead into a commanding 110 - 80 final margin (Irish 24, Harper 23, Cunningham 22).

Coventry Crusaders were the next visitors to Fleming Park. With no Mark Scott ('flu) it came as a blow when Alan Cunningham pulled a hamstring after just 23 seconds. With only Panji Grainger under the boards, Solent could have been in trouble from the big Coventry squad. A close game ensued with Solent usually having the upper hand until a series of Coventry three pointers hit the target towards the end of the game. Solent found themselves trailing 80 - 81 as Grainger bundled his way through to give Solent two more points. The large crowd was very noisy, no more so than when Coventry's leading scorer, Matt Donaldson, approached the free throw line with 30 seconds remaining after a foul by Alan Cunningham. Cunningham had, amazingly, brought himself back on - despite his hamstring injury which made movement difficult - to help Grainger with the defensive rebounds. Donaldson, possibly unnerved by the noise, missed one of his throws. It was left to a last dart through the surprised Coventry defence by Chris Harper to seal another famous victory for Solent, 84 - 82 (Harper 26, Irish 25).

Plymouth Raiders were Solent's next opponents. In front of a packed 1,300 supporters at the Pavilions, Plymouth, Solent had difficulty staying with the home team as they scored freely at the beginning of the game. Alan Cunningham decided not to use himself at the start of the game because he was still suffering from the hamstring injury. Instead Panji Grainger played a full part in finally stemming the run of Plymouth points and by halftime Solent trailed only 38 - 44. Grainger scored Solent's opening six points of the second half and Chris Harper then got into the act with eight points of his own. Finally, Cunningham announced his arrival on court with a long three pointer amid a Solent spell where they scored eleven unanswered points to go 77 - 67 up. Eventually, thanks to a last gasp three pointer from Plymouth the margin of their defeat was exactly the same as that of Solent's when Plymouth had been the visitors - twelve points. Solent came away with a 91 - 79 victory (Harper 27, Irish 26).

Solent's next visitors, Oxford Devils, provided a stern test for a Solent team that, on the night, just could not get any fluency in their play. Coach Alan Cunningham was forced, once again, to come into the game in the second half when he would have preferred to rest his injured leg. His presence helped Solent to an 83 - 76 win.

Alan Cunningham

A similar performance followed when Solent visited Taunton Tigers at Millfield School. The team looked disjointed throughout and it wasn't until Chris Harper began demanding the ball in the second half that Solent were able to breathe more easily. Coach Alan Cunningham at least was able to rest his injured leg as he was not required in the game that Solent won 87 - 76 (Irish 27, Harper 20).

Sutton Pumas provided the next action at Fleming Park, including a post match incident that took the news headlines. The game was a close, bruising affair with many fouls called including several off the ball incidents. Sutton had built a 42 - 46 halftime lead in a game where the first half lead had changed hands ten times. Solent then turned the ball over three times in the opening minutes of the second half, prompting an early timeout. Stars responded with their best spell of the match to edge 70 - 69 ahead. It was nip and tuck from there on with important Solent baskets from Mark Scott. Sutton clawed back to 85 - 83 in the 19th minute, but Solent held on to win 88 - 83 (Harper 21, Irish 21). The match headlines came as Sutton's Roger Lloyd kicked through a reinforced glass panel in the corridor outside the visitor's changing room. Lloyd had run on to the court at the end of the game to remonstrate with referee Andrew Carey and only prompt action by Colin Irish, amongst others, prevented the situation from getting out of hand.

A barrage of outside shooting from Birmingham Bullets B made it tough going for Solent Stars at the National Exhibition Centre. The home team sank nine three point shots against just one from Colin Irish and were 26 - 34 ahead by the 16th minute. But Stars, aided by two technical fouls called on Birmingham, rallied to lead 44 - 40 early in the second half. By restricting the home team to just eight points in the last twelve minutes, Solent were able to win comfortably, 75 - 62 (Irish 21).

The next afternoon Solent were back on court at Fleming Park for the return match with Taunton Tigers. Coach Alan Cunningham did not arrive until mid-way through the first half, having mislaid his car keys. By then Solent were eleven points ahead. A Solent triumph was never in doubt once Taunton had been washed away under a torrent of Colin Irish three pointers. His sixth - and best - was unleashed when he was totally off-balance to put Solent 30 - 14 up. Taunton made later inroads, but Solent ran out eventual winners, 96 - 82 (Irish 38).

Birmingham Bullets B were the next visitors to Fleming Park. At one point pre-game it looked as if the game would not take place as Birmingham lodged a protest at the brightness of the Fleming Park TV lights that had been used for the last 19 seasons without complaint! The protest was withdrawn when Birmingham were informed that they would have to lodge a £100 fee. Solent were in no mood to show any mercy to the visitors after this inconvenience and with Alan Cunningham back in the starting five the match outcome was an inevitable 92 - 70 win (Irish 24) for Solent.

Colin Irish

An awkward away trip to Westminster Warriors was next on the cards for Solent. The visitors took charge at the start of the game, but an astonishing display of long range shooting brought Westminster right back into it. Solent led 51 - 46 at the interval. A faulty scoreboard caused disruption at the start of the second half and seemed to affect Solent more than Westminster and the home team closed to within one point (58 - 57). The scoreboard packed up completely before the end of the game, leaving players and spectators completely in the dark as to what was happening. Solent lost Cunningham with a cut lip shortly before the end, but Solent were able to come through 95 - 89 (Irish 25, Grainger 20).

A tough weekend followed for Solent with visits to Worthing and Sutton. The situation was made worse by the fact that Colin Irish had flown off to Trinidad where his father was seriously ill. Worthing, like Solent, were unbeaten in the league since October. The match was delayed for 30 minutes because of the late arrival of referee David Turner. Once the game began, Solent took the early initiative and led 19 - 12 after eight minutes. Worthing Thunder began to fight back and a spell that included three big three pointers took them into a 32 - 39 lead. The second half was one where the lead changed hands many times as the excitement mounted. A last gasp shot by Chris Harper hit the ring but the ever reliable Mike Griffiths popped up to tip the ball in and level the scores (95 all) with just four seconds remaining. The five minutes of overtime to decide the match proved too much for Solent as Panji Grainger, Alan Cunningham and Mark Scott all fouled out. Solent's 15 match unbeaten run came to an end with this 104 - 116 (Harper 42, Grainger 22) defeat. After the game Panji Grainger was taken to hospital for treatment to a back spasm.

Mark Scott

Only a few hours later and now without Grainger as well as Irish, Solent were on court again at Sutton Pumas. It spoke much for their team spirit that despite the previous evening's defeat and lack of key players, the team responded with a victory in this game. Both Tripalin and Alan McDonald showed up strongly in a first half that Solent led 39 - 38. With the score standing at 63 all and five minutes left to play, Alan Cunningham, Chris Harper and Tripalin were responsible for scoring ten unanswered points to all but win the match. In a foul-strewn final minute Eddie Owusu was disqualified for use of an elbow. Solent won 81 - 74 (Tripalin 21).

Solent had Panji Grainger back for the next home game against Mid-Sussex Magic. He managed to last until halftime before succumbing to his shoulder injury. By then Solent had suffered a barrage of successful three point shots from the visitors. Ten on target three point shots had put Mid-Sussex into a 40 - 43 lead, before Solent hit back to take a narrow halftime lead. Solent never trailed in the second half, in part because of the exceptional game played by Alan McDonald, who scored 22 second half points in Solent's 128 - 120 win (McDonald 26, Cunningham 23, Scott 21).

The next day, Solent were in Wales to play Cardiff Phoenix. Alan McDonald was promoted to the starting five after his previous evening's display. After building up a comfortable lead with his experienced squad, Alan Cunningham brought himself into the game with four of the bench players. From being well in control of events, Solent slipped to just a four point lead (87 - 83) with just 30 seconds left. In a hectic finish 12 more points were scored, with Chris Harper, Mike Griffiths and Cunningham all cashing in from the free throw line as Solent eventually won 94 - 88 (Harper 23, Scott 20).

The return match with Worthing Thunder was billed as a must-win game for Solent if they were to have any chance of holding onto their league champions status. What is more, the win would have to be by 13 points or more to overcome the 12-point defeat suffered in the earlier overtime game. An opening six points for Solent augured well, but it proved a false dawn as Worthing began to take charge of events. At one point Solent trailed by 21 points as they failed to contain 44 point Sean Hampton. A late fight back brought Solent to within eight points with just two minutes remaining. Ironically, Solent's second defeat at the hands of Worthing Thunder was by exactly the same margin that they had needed to win by - 13 points! (80 - 93).

Panji Grainger

After the frantic full-house action on the Saturday evening, Solent found themselves at the Hackney Space (sic) Centre on Sunday afternoon in front of a handful of spectators - most of whom had accompanied Solent. Islington White Heat, fifth in the league, were able to take advantage of Solent's earlier disappointment and went into a 13 - 31 lead. That signalled Alan Cunningham's introduction into the match, together with that of Colin Irish. That had the effect of turning the match around. Islington only managed one scoring shot in the last seven minutes of the first half which ended level at 33 all. Solent found it difficult to score at the start of the second half and when Panji Grainger limped off with a twisted ankle, they trailed 46 - 53. Towards the end of this close contest, a Cunningham score edged them to a 71 - 70 lead. Chris Harper then stole the ball twice to break through to the basket. On both occasions he was fouled and he calmly sank all the shots to help Solent to a 75 - 71 win.

Now having no chance of taking the league title, Solent faced the new league champions, Teesside Mohawks, at Fleming Park for their last league match of the season. Solent were below strength with Eddie Owusu (suspended), Colin Irish and Panji Grainger (injured) all missing. That did not seem to affect Solent as they raced into a 22 - 15 lead with Chris Harper plundering 12 of those points. However, by midway through the second half Solent had slipped 13 points into arrears. Alan Cunningham led the revival and his three pointer brought Solent to 78 - 82. Teesside hastily called a timeout but a Mike Griffiths basket brought Stars to within a point before a couple of long range misses by Mark Scott and a controversial foul called on Cunningham handed the advantage to the league champions as Solent went down 89 - 95 (Cunningham 26, Harper 24).

The quarter-final of the League Championship Play-Offs pitted third placed Solent Stars against sixth placed Islington White Heat. White Heat played their usual run and gun game and did not allow Solent to settle at all throughout the game. Solent established an early lead through Tripalin's three pointers and - despite the scrappy, stop-start nature of the encounter, littered with fouls (43) - were ahead throughout the match to win 92 - 84 (Irish 30).

After the game, Chris Harper picked up both the Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year awards, whilst Alan McDonald was the recipient of the Newcomer of the Year award.

Alan McDonald (left, with Chairman Bob Paulley) and Chris Harper receive their awards

The final home game at Fleming Park was an emotional one as Alan Cunningham had announced his retirement at the end of the season from playing full time basketball, whilst it also marked the end of an era as Colin Irish was also bowing out. Panji Grainger would also be leaving the area over the summer for a new job. Worthing Thunder were the fitting opponents on the night, having been one of Cunningham's main clubs with whom, as player/coach, he had won many awards. Worthing already had two comfortable league wins over Solent in the season and started as favourites. The game was close and the Worthing coach called a timeout with just six minutes remaining and his team leading 77 - 78. Whatever his intention - perhaps to remind his team that this was a two leg game with the home leg to come - he could not have foreseen that his team would only score one more point and lose the game by 18 points to a team that thrilled the home crowd with their best six minutes of basketball in the season. Solent won the first leg 97 - 79 (Cunningham 28, Irish 22, Harper 21).

Perhaps too much hung on the return leg at Worthing Leisure Centre the following week for it to be a classic game. Worthing hustled the Solent team, but it was they who suffered most in the discipline department when Paul Mundy-Castle fouled out for dissent. Previously, he had taken Worthing to 42 - 57 lead, just three points short of an aggregate win. Solent weathered that storm and although Chris Harper was having a nightmare game with his floor shooting, he proved accurate enough from the free throw line to help Solent regain the aggregate advantage. In the end Solent, despite playing poorly, only conceded the game by seven points 76 - 83 (Irish 22) to proceed to the final at Wembley against Teesside Mohawks.

Action from the Championship Play-Offs Final at Wembley

Three coach loads of supporters made their way to Wembley to cheer the Solent squad. Solent started well, with Colin Irish scoring nine points in the first four minutes, but eventually had to dig themselves out of a hole to trail by just three points in a low scoring first half (29 - 32). Just two minutes into the second half, Panji Grainger fell awkwardly and left the game on a stretcher with a cruciate ligament injury. Solent badly needed a hero but the Wembley occasion seemed to get the better of the players, most notably Chris Harper who took until the sixth minute of the second half to nail his first field basket. When Alan Cunningham fouled out with 11 points and as many rebounds, the writing was on the wall. Solent trailed 61 - 74 with just over three minutes left. With a look to the future, and sensing all was lost, Cunningham withdrew his older players from the court and let the younger Solent players experience the occasion. Solent lost their final game of the season 63 - 80 (Irish 27) as an era ended.

	1999/2000 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Teesside Mohawks	24	22	2	2259	1891	+368	44
2	Worthing	24	21	3	2350	2010	+340	42
3	Solent Stars	24	18	6	2061	1942	+119	36
4	Plymouth Raiders	24	16	8	2058	1905	+153	32
5	Sutton Pumas	24	12	12	1988	1922	+66	24
6	Islington	24	12	12	1921	1910	+11	24
7	Coventry	24	11	13	1828	1886	-58	22
8	Taunton	24	9	15	1853	1948	-95	18
9	Birmingham Bullets	24	8	16	1847	2025	-178	16
10	Westminster	24	7	17	1797	1967	-170	14
11	Cardiff Clippers	24	7	17	1828	2023	-195	14
12	Oxford Devils	24	7	17	1924	2053	-129	14
13	Mid Sussex Magic	24	6	18	2040	2272	-232	12

Solent Stars 1998/99 Season

2008-11-05T14:54:00.004Z

Standing (left to right): Derek Browning, Jason LeGoff, Masai Ujiri, Mark Scott, Bob Glanville, Ben Peacock, Neil Smith, Alan Cunningham, Joe Morant, Panji Grainger, Tom Mahood

Over the summer period, the club looked to strengthen its squad. Having already lost Jon Rumsey through injury in mid-season, another blow was dealt when Mark Scott also went down with a long-term knee injury. The other losses to the team consisted mainly of bench players, and coach Alan Cunningham and the backroom staff began the process of getting together a squad that could play in Division One of the National League.

The first signing, Roy Lewis, needed no introduction to the fans. Lewis, who already had an illustrious career with Solent behind him, came back to the club after a year with the Southampton Trailblazers. A former England international, 6' 6" Panji Grainger, moved into the area and was quickly sought by Colin Irish with whom Grainger had played at Manchester Giants. Although Grainger was a bit 'ring rusty' - having not played for a couple of seasons whilst completing his Masters degree - his experience and ability was not in question. Two further signings were James Gibbons and Tom Mahood, both students at Southampton Institute and they were joined by local youngster Neil Smith who had impressed in trial matches.

With Colin Irish, Panji Grainger and Jason LeGoff all still absent on holiday, Solent Stars made short shrift of Bournemouth Dolphins in the second annual Radio Solent Trophy game. Eight of the Solent players scored into double figures as Solent overran Bournemouth 104 - 71.

A further player bonus came Solent's way in the week preceding the opening league match, when the return of Masai Ujiri was announced. Ujiri had missed the end of the previous season when he had been snapped up by a Belgian club to help them in their end-of-season league programme. Despite several offers from European clubs, Ujiri felt that he wanted to return to the Solent fold.

Masai Ujiri

The first league game of the season was a home match against Stevenage Rebels. Stevenage had finished third in the league last season and would prove a stern test, especially as Solent were still without Colin Irish, who was away on family business. The lead changed hands several times in the first half and Solent were only one point ahead at the halftime interval. The game continued to be fast, furious and close until a spell where Alan Cunningham and Masai Ujiri were instrumental in outscoring Stevenage 24 - 5 in a searing six-minute second half spell. Solent won their first home league game 91 - 79 (Cunningham 29, Ujiri 27).

With Panji Grainger still feeling his way back into the rough and tumble of top-flight basketball and still no Colin Irish available, it was left to the charismatic Alan Cunningham to hold the team together. This was never better demonstrated than in Solent's second home league fixture, against Cardiff Phoenix. The 44-year-old player/coach had heavy strapping on a knee ligament injury when he took the court for what eventually proved a 40-minute outing. Solent trailed 34 - 46 at halftime and never looked in the game. It was not until six minutes from the end when Cunningham (2) and James Gibbons landed back-to-back three pointers, that Solent went ahead for the first time. They held their nerve and closed the game at 79 - 73 for a second league win (Cunningham 26).

Solent's first road trip was to play Guildford Pumas. Alan Cunningham was still suffering with a knee problem, and there was no Colin Irish. Solent trailed 40 - 50 at halftime but had kept in touch with the home team in the second half before a last minute incident saw Cunningham called for his fifth foul and Solent's impetus was lost. So, too, was their unbeaten record as, for the first time in eleven months, Solent lost a league game, 92 - 106 (Ujiri 23, Cunningham 22, Gibbons 21).

Another away game followed when Solent visited Solihull Chiefs. With Alan Cunningham sidelined - although he did come on for the last four minutes - and captain Joe Morant out injured, Solent found it hard going and quickly fell 10 - 26 in arrears. A determined fight back followed and a three pointer by James Gibbons took Solent to a 33 - 31 lead. However, the team did not have the strength in depth to withstand the Solihull onslaught and eventually went down 56 - 62 in a very low scoring game.

A break from league action followed when Solent played Taunton Tigers in the National Trophy competition. The game marked the return of Colin Irish and a first for new signing, Paul Mundy-Castle. Solent's injury list - including Alan Cunningham - had reached desperate proportions and the acquisition of Mundy-Castle was timely for the club. However, the new players had little time to blend with the rest of the squad and it was particularly noticeable against the well-organised Taunton team, who were to finish runners-up in Division Two later in the season. With no Cunningham nor Bob Glanville to shore up the defence, Solent lost too many boards. This coupled with poor shot selection led to Solent's cup exit as they went down 78 - 85.

"We are missing four of our squad that picked up silverware last season, and it will take time for the new team to gel," explained coach Alan Cunningham prior to Solent's next home fixture, against Mid-Sussex Magic. Cunningham decided to kit-up for the game, despite carrying his knee injury still. He gave himself a ten-minute spell in the first half to help consolidate the early lead that Solent had built up. Subsequently with Colin Irish dictating play all over the court and 'flu stricken Panji Grainger being very effective, he felt he was not needed again as Solent cruised to a welcome 91 - 75 win (Ujiri 24).

A friendly against Thames Valley Tigers B followed, which was used to help several players back to match fitness and to give a trial to Carter Perryman, an American forward. Although Perryman impressed, no move was made to sign him following Solent's 91 - 55 win (Grainger 22).

Panji Grainger (far left) and Masai Ujiri (far right)

Westminster Warriors were the next visitors to Fleming Park for a league game. Solent, despite their efforts, still had a potential seven team players on the injured list. Only eight places were occupied on the home bench for the game, and one of those was Alan Cunningham. Masai Ujiri had turned an ankle in training and it remained to be seen who would take up the scoring mantle. It proved to be Colin Irish, who stole the show with his 34 points and all round court presence. Westminster could not find any answer to the Irish problem and Solent convincingly won 98 - 65.

A visit to Wembley Arena to play the unbeaten London Towers B followed. Already reduced to nine fit players from their seventeen strong squad, Solent were dealt a further crushing blow when Neil Smith limped off with a twisted ankle having started brightly with six points in the first six minutes of the game. Undeterred, Solent built on their early advantage to lead 51 - 34 at halftime. Towers hit back with a flurry of three pointers to narrow the gap to 54 - 44 as Panji Grainger picked up his fourth foul. Paul Mundy-Castle was ejected from the game after some pushing and shoving. From leading 62 - 54, Solent's lead was reduced to four points before Cunningham called a timeout to give his team some much needed breathing space. Solent immediately restored their eight-point cushion before Tom Mahood fell awkwardly and was taken off to hospital, leaving Solent with only Ben Peacock on the bench. The stickiness of the situation brought out the best in Solent when Irish stole the ball and set up Roy Lewis who stretched Solent's lead. Irish joined Grainger on four fouls, but two cleverly used timeouts by coach Cunningham helped Solent pace themselves to their first away league win of the season, 90 - 83 (Cunningham 30).

Brixton Topcats were Solent's next visitors in the league programme. With Tom Mahood and Neil Smith both reckoned to be out of action for some time, it was fortuitous for Solent that the game saw the return of Mark Scott after a 12-week absence with knee problems. Although no match for the fast running Brixton outfit, Mark's experience carried him through a very effective comeback, notching 14 points and many rebounds. With Colin Irish in one of his long shooting moods, Solent built up an unassailable lead early in the game and were in no mood to let the visitors back into the game. Another league win for Solent, 89 - 71 (Irish 27) saw them climb further up the league table.

Another signing was made prior to Solent's next home game against Cardiff Clippers. Eddie Owusu from Brixton joined his compatriot Paul Mundy-Castle in the Solent line up. Cardiff Clippers trailed from the start to the end of the game once Solent had opened up a 21 - 4 early lead but one incident will be remembered long after the game is forgotten. There had been several niggling exchanges between Cardiff's American Todd McNeill and several of the Solent squad. With six minutes remaining, Alan Cunningham took a rebound and sent the ball up court for a fast break. An incident then occurred between Cunningham and McNeill which led to them both being disqualified after an on-court melee that included several bench players from the Solent team - in front of which the incident had happened. The game was held up for five minutes for the situation to be sorted out and on the resumption Panji Grainger was the only player from the bench to be allowed on court. Solent held their nerve to win 106 - 90, but had to think of the consequences of the evening's dispute.

A disastrous opening that saw Solent trailing 8 - 32 by the ninth minute was the feature of the visit to play Plymouth Raiders in mid-December. By then, coach Alan Cunningham had already used both his timeouts as he strove to get more out of his team. For once Colin Irish's outside shooting form deserted him as, in front of 1,000 screaming home fans, Plymouth were able to put away ten three pointers in a first half that saw them into a comfortable 35 - 56 lead. It was a different story in the second half, when Plymouth were only able to add one more three pointer as Solent whittled down the home team's lead to seven points (77 - 84). In the end, Solent lost by nine (80 - 89) having retrieved the situation somewhat, for what was going to prove a vital return game later in the season.

The lesson of the poor start did not seem to have been learned when Solent faced their next opponents, Teesside Mohawks, at Fleming Park for the last match of the 1998 calendar year. Once again, an indifferent first half display saw Solent fall 28 - 38 behind by halftime. When Teeside then opened the second half with three consecutive three pointers to move into a seventeen point lead, Alan Cunningham was quick to call a timeout. The result was better defending, better shot selection and a gradual narrowing of the points difference. A Mark Scott 3 pointer, after a Cunningham block, put Solent into a 66 - 63 lead with a couple of minutes remaining. The last minute began with both teams on 70 points, but two Panji Grainger free throws, a steal by Colin Irish and a basket by Paul Mundy-Castle broke the Teesside resistance. Two coach technical fouls helped Solent to their final winning tally of 79 - 70 (Irish 26), to bring the curtain down on a successful year at Fleming Park.

Alan Cunningham's punishment for his actions in the Cardiff game was a four-match ban, which meant he could not play in the away Coventry fixture that began the new year. Solent were able to win this close game 79 - 75 without unduly exerting themselves. In fact, so disappointed with Paul Mundy-Castle was the coach, that he kept him on the bench for a good proportion of the game.

The return match with Guildford Pumas was Solent's first home game of 1999. A fast paced first half ended 42 all with Solent matching the current league leaders basket for basket. Then, in front of the biggest crowd of the season, a series of misfortunes saw Solent lose Masai Ujiri early in the second half with a twisted ankle. Added to this, Panji Grainger and Colin Irish were both called for their fourth fouls early in the half. Solent trailed by three points with two minutes remaining as Colin Irish picked up his fifth foul. Solent lost their intensity and eventually lost 80 - 90 to drop to third position in the league table, four points behind Guildford Pumas.

A visit to Stevenage Rebels followed with Solent unable to play their two leading point scorers, Alan Cunningham and Masai Ujiri. In an atmosphere-less arena, with a spectator following of less than 100, Solent put on one of their most prolific displays, scoring a season high total in their easy 94 - 70 win (Irish 23, Grainger 22).

Another main player was missing for the next road trip to Cardiff Phoenix. This time is was Eddie Owusu, banned for three games by the National Association, for transfer irregularities, when Owusu had signed in place of the club secretary in the faxed transfer papers. With Panji Grainger winning nearly every loose ball, Solent were given ample opportunity to use the possession gained. Colin Irish was in red-hot shooting form (38 points in all) and Paul Mundy-Castle's pace left Cardiff for dead on several occasions. One feature of the game was that in a five-minute spell, 25 free throws were awarded as foul followed foul. Solent shaded that total 14 - 11, and also won the game 100 - 90 (Irish 38, Mundy-Castle 23, Grainger 23).

Paul Mundy-Castle

Alan Cunningham returned for the next home match, against lowly Solihull Chiefs. Having cruised to a 19 - 8 lead by the sixth minute, they lost their way when they introduced young trio Tom Mahood, Neil Smith and Jason LeGoff. By the time Cunningham introduced himself into the game, Solent trailed 25 - 29. An indifferent start to the second half soon plunged Solent back into arrears and their headache intensified when Panji Grainger bowed out with a knee injury after falling and clattering into the backboard support. Solent gradually edged their way back into the game, but were relieved when, with one second remaining, the final three point attempt from Solihull hit the ring and Solent came home 77 - 75 winners (Irish 23).

A trip to Westminster Warriors could have proved costly bearing in mind Solent were without Colin Irish (knee), Jason LeGoff, Ben Peacock, Neil Smith (all injured) and Eddie Owusu (suspended). When Panji Grainger bowed out with a thumb injury early in the second half, Solent needed all their bench strength to pull through. Fortunately, Bob Glanville, in particular, was up to the task and Solent strolled to a comparatively easy 97 - 73 win.

The next home game turned out to be a gripping fixture against fellow championship hopefuls, London Towers B. The drama was packed into the last seven seconds of the game when Solent - who had led 79 - 73 with 80 seconds remaining - had been pegged back to 79 - 77 and faced two free throws following a foul by Eddie Owusu. Revitalised by a timeout, Solent urged the near capacity crowd to scream the house down as Steve Ogunjimi stepped up to the line. His first shot went in, but the cauldron-like atmosphere got to him with the second and Mark Scott was conveniently fouled as he collected the rebound. Scott himself missed one of his two free throws, Towers broke quickly and Mike Redd's three point rescue attempt failed on the buzzer, ensuring the injury hit Solent Stars the most crucial of victories, 80 - 78 (Cunningham 21).

Pictures from a charity game that included - amongst others - athlete Iwan Thomas, sailor Ben Ainslie and ski-jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards

On the next day Solent travelled to play Mid-Sussex Magic at Haywards Heath. With 53 seconds remaining, the home team player, Ade Orelaja, was charged with a foul on Alan Cunningham. Orelaja, who had fallen to the floor, stood up to reveal a large gash under his eye which he claimed had been caused by Cunningham's elbow. Orelaja had to be restrained and removed from the court, but even then he broke free and made for Alan Cunningham. Luckily the match officials and his own team-mates were able to intervene and he was disqualified from the game. The chaotic scenes marred an inspired performance from Solent - and in particular from Paul Mundy-Castle who scored his highest tally of the season plus providing umpteen assists for his colleagues. Solent went on to record a 102 - 86 win (Mundy-Castle 40).

With Panji Grainger (cracked thumb) and Colin Irish (knee) still missing, Solent travelled as league leaders to play lowly Brixton Topcats, who had only amassed two league wins. As so often happens in such encounters, Solent could not impose their will on the game and found themselves trailing by 14 points at one stage in the first half. And but for the steady and consistent scoring of ever-reliable Mark Scott, Solent might have been even further behind. Eventually another fine performance by Paul Mundy-Castle, ably assisted by Masai Ujiri, pulled the game around for the visitors. Solent were never less than nine points ahead for the closing stages of the game and won 107 - 96 (Mundy-Castle 27, Scott 25).

Mark Scott

Coventry Crusaders were the next visitors to Fleming Park and provided a stern test for the home team. Alan Cunningham missed an easy lay-up with just one minute to go and Solent leading 87 - 84. Coventry then went to the free throw line and Cunningham made amends by grabbing Jim Smith's second shot which failed to find the target. He scored two more points for Solent and added three more when Solent took advantage of Smith's missed three point attempt. 93 - 85 looked a far more comfortable win than had actually been the case (Mundy-Castle 26, Cunningham 22).

A potentially awkward trip to Cardiff Clippers was the next Solent fixture. With memories of the earlier game - when Alan Cunningham and Todd McNeill had both received four match bans - Cunningham was at pains to point out that all was forgotten and the match would need to be won with both players taking a full part. Solent were at full strength for the first time for several months, although Colin Irish and Panji Grainger were not used in the starting five. As if to prove his point about winning the game on-court, Cunningham scored the opening basket and followed that by a long successful three pointer. Mark Scott was given the job of man marking McNeill and so successful was he that McNeill had picked up four fouls just after halftime, mainly through frustration. He sat out a good part of the second half as Solent began to pile on the pressure to bring them a most convincing win, 116 - 89 (Irish 24, Mundy-Castle 21).

Alan Cunningham

Excitement mounted as the next home game approached. Both Plymouth Raiders and Solent Stars were locked together with identical won - loss records at the top of the National League Division One, but Plymouth held the trump card of an 80 - 89 win earlier in the season at Plymouth. The Devonshire team arrived as league leaders, but they left with bruised egos and simmering anger about a bizarre first half incident which could cost them the title. With temperatures rising on and off the court, one of Plymouth's noisy travelling fans sprang out of his seat, burst through the bench area and dived onto the court in protest at a refereeing decision. Amid the mayhem, the referee signalled a technical foul against Plymouth and Paul Mundy-Castle broke off from his running battle with Raiders' Danny James and coolly sank the two free throws, helping the Stars back on track from an early six-point deficit. Had Plymouth gone on to win, the incident would probably have been forgotten but, significantly, the two points could prove vital to Stars' championship hopes. Having lost by nine points in Plymouth, Solent needed a victory of ten points or more to ensure an aggregate advantage. In a nerve tingling finale that had the 904 spectators on the edge of their seats, Plymouth missed four successive three point attempts before Alan Cunningham scored right on the final buzzer to clinch the all-important eleven point win 99 - 88 (Irish 28, Cunningham 26). Plymouth later decided to enter a protest that Solent's stewarding should not have allowed the court incursion - but this was thrown out by the England Basketball authorities.

Solent were hoping to tie up the league championship in their next game, which was the long trip to Teesside Mohawks. Solent started brightly enough and led 24 - 21 by the twelfth minute. But in a half punctuated by missed Solent lay-ups, it was the home team who came out on top to lead 36 - 41. Three quick baskets at the start of the second half by Teesside left Solent eleven points in arrears. It wasn't until the fifth minute of the second half that Paul Mundy-Castle sank Solent's first three pointer. Only Mark Scott distinguished himself in the game and his three consecutive three pointers kept Solent in touch at 76 - 77. Solent even managed to grab a three-point lead with points from Panji Grainger and Mundy-Castle, but Teesside got back on top to lead by two points before both Colin Irish and Alan Cunningham missed chances to take the game into overtime and Solent lost 82 - 84 (Mundy-Castle 24).

Colin Irish

Just before the final home game, against Oxford Devils, Solent received news that the Plymouth appeal had now been made to FIBA, the governing body of European Basketball. The crux of the Plymouth protest was that it was wrong to punish the team for the behaviour of a supporter and that it was "crucial in determining the final score and therefore the destination of the league championship". FIBA however were quick to reject the protest, thus leaving the way clear for Solent to win the league if they could overcome their final opponents of the league season.

A full capacity crowd of nearly 800, with many turned away on the night, were in attendance as Solent entered the court for their final league game against Oxford Devils. The start was delayed for fifteen minutes to allow everyone to get in, but once underway, Solent showed that they were not going to be denied one of their finest hours. By halftime the team led 64 - 45. All ten Solent players got on the scoresheet as the score continued to mount. Finally, to thunderous applause, Solent closed the game as winners with their highest score of the season, 124 - 92 (Cunningham 21, Owusu 21).

Paul Mundy-Castle lifted the Player of the Year trophy ahead of Colin Irish who was runner up. The Players' Player of the Year went to Mark Scott.

The team are presented with the league trophy

The quarter-final of the play-offs pitted Solent at home against eighth placed Coventry Crusaders. Panji Grainger and Colin Irish were left on the bench for the start of the game, but they were soon brought on and making their presence count as Solent put together 19 points on the bounce to go into a 21 - 10 lead. From then on the sides more or less matched shot for shot in a fast, frenetic and physical game. Only when Solent's frustration at the lack of officials' calls surfaced did the lead slip. When this happened, invariably someone popped up with an important score to restore the lead. None were more important in this way than those of Grainger's and Paul Mundy-Castle's in the final minute to secure a win, 84 - 74 (Cunningham 24, Irish 22).

Alan Cunningham with the league trophy

Coach Alan Cunningham had words of warning to the press prior to Solent's home semi-final play off against Teesside Mohawks for the league championship. "My biggest worry is that our young guys could go into the game thinking that the season's over because they have already won the league," he said. Unfortunately for Solent his words proved to be prophetic. Too many of the home team were unable to find their form. Player of the Year, Paul Mundy-Castle, could only contribute two points as shots that had been going in all season simply refused to drop. Solent also found themselves cleaned out on the boards as Teesside's much greater height paid dividends time and time again. Only Cunningham himself managed to keep Solent in the game in the first half with a personal haul of 24 points. However, eventually he himself had to bow to the inevitable, as Solent crashed to a 92 - 113 defeat (Cunningham 41, Irish 20).

The club could look back, nevertheless, on a very successful season having won the Division One title and brought large crowds back to Fleming Park.

	1998/99 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Solent Stars	26	21	5	2374	2114	+260	42
2	Plymouth Raiders	26	21	5	2372	2017	+355	42
3	Guildford Pumas	25	19	6	2250	2035	+215	38
4	Teesside Mohawks	26	19	7	2465	2188	+277	38
5	London Towers	26	17	9	2222	2038	+184	34
6	Mid Sussex Magic	26	16	10	2287	2267	+20	32
7	Cardiff Clippers	26	14	12	2288	2251	+37	28
8	Coventry Crusaders	26	12	14	2175	2189	-14	24
9	Westminster Warriors	26	9	17	1926	2179	-253	18
10	Stevenage Rebels	26	9	17	2065	2176	-111	18
11	Oxford Devils	26	9	17	2053	2256	-203	18
12	Solihull Chiefs	26	7	19	1971	2139	-168	14
13	Cardiff Phoenix	25	6	19	2085	2299	-214	12
14	Brixton Topcats	26	2	24	1782	2187	-405	4

Solent Stars 1997/98 Season

2008-11-05T14:53:00.007Z

Back row: Ben Peacock, Martin Dowdall, Colin Irish, Joe Morant, Faisal Al-Awqati
Front row: Jason LeGoff, Masai Ujiri, Craig Metcalf, Alan Cunningham, Jon Rumsey

As usual there was much activity in the basketball close season over the summer. Mick Byrne parted with the club as a new consortium was established which included Bob Paulley, a local businessman, and Jim Rumsey. Two new national league teams were accepted into the league, one based in Southampton and another in Portsmouth. The latter club was under the direction of Mick Byrne and included ex-Solent players Alex Byrne, American Mike Sableski and Andy Rowlands. Southampton Trailblazers meanwhile had secured the services of Drew Sewell and Roy Lewis.

The new Solent partnership set about planning for their future in Division Two by revealing plans for a School of Excellence and appointed Steve Chant to run a junior section. Closer liaison was made with the English Schools basketball organisation locally and the club entered into talks with the Solent Pacers Women's team with a view to playing double-header matches at Fleming Park.

However, the biggest news in the summer was the signing of 41 year old, 6' 7" Alan Cunningham as club player/coach. Cunningham, known as "Swoop", played with the Harlem Globetrotters before playing in Belgium with Anderlecht. He came into British basketball in 1982 with Doncaster before moving on to Brighton, Portsmouth, Glasgow, Kingston, Worthing and London Towers. He had won honours with all those clubs including seven league titles and Wembley Championships along with numerous cups, individual awards and international appearances. He was probably best known to the southern supporters for his recent three-year spell with Worthing who he had coached from relative obscurity to three consecutive Wembley wins.

Cunningham's local recruitment gave him some players from the previous season - Joe Morant, Martin Dowdall, Simon Morton and Craig Metcalf. Steve Davison and Matt Eames had both left for American colleges. Ex-Solent player Mark Scott was also in the frame for the season. 17-year-old Jason LeGoff, from the Isle of Wight, was also snapped up by Cunningham.

Joe Morant

Solent's first test was a National Trophy home Pool tie against Reading Rockets. With the previous season's 26 consecutive league defeats behind them, it was a testing time for the 'new' Solent. The first quarter was a tense affair with the teams level at its end. However, Cunningham and Scott soon then got amongst the points - scoring 38 of Solent's total of 44 in the first half. Gradually the team pulled away to a comfortable win 82 - 55 (Scott 24) and bring smiles back to the players' and supporters' faces.

Chance had thrown Solent into an early meeting with the newly formed Portsmouth team when they travelled to play at the Mountbatten Centre on a Wednesday evening for a cup game. Solent included Jon Rumsey in their squad for his first game since having to 'retire' three years earlier with injury problems. Inspired by new player/coach Alan Cunningham, Solent were never really troubled as they won the game 82 - 59 (Cunningham 24).

Two more signings were made before the next game - a guard, Andrew Knight, from Worthing and an Army player, Simon Morton. This gave Solent the unusual experience of having two Simon Mortons in their squad.

A tough away fixture at Westminster Warriors was the next cup fixture. The game was played at a frantic pace and was full of errors. Solent trailed at first but then denied Westminster a point in a four-minute spell that enabled them to catch up by halftime. With just one minute remaining, Solent led 67 - 65. Any danger of Solent squandering all their hard work was averted as Mark Scott, Martin Dowdall and Jon Rumsey all scored to give Solent a 71 - 66 win (Cunningham 27, Scott 20).

Jon Rumsey

The first league game paired Solent with London Towers B at the Wembley Arena. The London team was a strongly fancied outfit having disposed of Southampton Trailblazers by a large score and then another big win away at Aston (111 - 77). Solent, without a league win in 30 matches, quickly went into an 8 - 1 lead which London pulled back before another burst by Solent took them 23 - 12 in front after 12 minutes. London showed their mettle and briefly went ahead 45 - 48 in the second half before Alan Cunningham and Mark Scott again stamped their authority on the game. With Craig Metcalf having his best game for some time, Solent ran out winners (65 - 59).

Derby had withdrawn from the league shortly before Solent were due to play them so a hastily arranged game with second division rivals Bournemouth Dolphins followed. It took place at Fleming Park on the next Saturday. With a trophy donated by Radio Solent, the teams went about their task with no quarter given. Alan Cunningham sat out most of the first half to give more court time to the less experienced players. Whilst all the players got on the scoresheet, it was left to Mark Scott to keep the score ticking along. However, a lax last few minutes enabled Bournemouth to draw level at 88 all. With just one second remaining, Jon Rumsey was fouled in his three point attempt. Although he only scored one of the three attempts, Mark Scott then stepped up for two more successful free throws as Bournemouth were punished for protesting too much. Solent won the game 91 - 88 (Scott 25). A long road trip to play Flintshire at the Deesside Leisure Centre followed. Craig Metcalf was absent through injury and when both Jason LeGoff and Jon Rumsey picked up injuries, Solent were stretched for cover. However, another gritty away performance led to a 79 - 67 win (Cunningham 22, Scott 20). A notable feature was the lack of ice to treat the injuries which led to Jim Rumsey visiting the adjacent ice rink, where he was told that they too had no ice available!

The basketball world was shocked when Solent pulled off another signing in the following week. Colin Irish once again paired up with Alan Cunningham. Irish and Cunningham had shared 11 major trophies in their days together at Kingston, Portsmouth and Worthing. Described by Cunningham as "one of the best players ever to grace these shores," the 36 year old, 6' 6" Great Britain and England international could have signed for any number of top flight clubs. In the previous season he had played in France before joining Manchester Giants at the end of the season.

Colin Irish's debut, at home to Chessington, provided an opportunity for player/coach Alan Cunningham to rest himself for most of the first half. Solent were by then comfortably ahead (32 - 23) in a half where only three fouls were called - and two of those were on Colin Irish! The second half continued in the same vein with Solent winning 79 - 63.

A visit to Cardiff followed and Solent were made to work hard by the young home squad. With Joe Morant picking up four early fouls and Martin Dowdall struggling with an ankle injury, it was left to Jon Rumsey to take on the role of guard. Leading by only three points with four minutes to play, it took a moment of inspiration by Mark Scott - nipping in to grab a rebound and score whilst the Cardiff players hesitated - to give Solent a breathing space before they went on to win 85 - 74 (Scott 30, Cunningham 22, Irish 22).

Alan Cunningham received the Coach of the Month Award for October. However, he was disappointed with the news that Martin Dowdall's injury would keep him out for a month. The award for Alan Cunningham proved to be a false dawn when Solent's proud unbeaten record was lost in their home encounter with South Bank Bulls, for whom Paul Mundy-Castle scored 31 points. Cunningham could have blamed the injury list which included Craig Metcalf, Jon Rumsey, Martin Dowdall and Andy Knight - all sidelined - and Joe Morant leaving the game after only eight minutes. However, he pointed to the missed free throws (11) as the main cause. A three pointer on the final buzzer from Cunningham had levelled the scores in front of the season's biggest home crowd. Another one from Colin Irish had brought Solent to within two points of South Bank as they played catch-up in the overtime period. He was then called for travelling, which led to his departure from the game because of the subsequent technical foul for protesting too much. Mundy-Castle provided the final points as South Bank took the honours 86 - 90 (Irish 29, Cunningham 28).

Bob Glanville made a starting five appearance for the first time in Solent's next home match against Swindon Sonics. The 6' 5" Glanville was a local league player who had been training with Solent at the recommendation of Mark Scott. He was joined by Jon Rumsey, Colin Irish, Mark Scott and Jason LeGoff who gave the team a confident start in a game where the home team was always in charge as they moved to a 100 - 61 win (Scott 23).

Solent's next home game was against First Division opposition in the form of Stevenage Rebels - a team that had moved from Ware, having won the league the previous season. This National Trophy game was to be Solent's last at Fleming Park for some time since a new floor was about to be laid. Over 500 fans turned up for the event and they were not disappointed as the two teams slugged out a close encounter. Several three pointers from Ware established them a 2 - 10 lead, followed by two from Alan Cunningham and one from Faisal Al-Awqati who had signed for Solent in the previous week. Al-Awqati was a student at Southampton University. Craig Metcalf later came off the bench to score three quick baskets as Solent took a 47 - 38 interval lead. A furious second half followed with Solent keeping the upper hand until both Cunningham and Irish picked up technical fouls in the closing stages to allow Stevenage to narrow the gap. Solent progressed to the quarter-final with an 87 - 82 win (Cunningham 29).

With Fleming Park under repair, Solent were now faced with five consecutive away fixtures. Another signing was made by the club, this time an ex-Solent player, Masai Ujiri. The actual signing was only given clearance twenty minutes before the start as club secretary Jim Rumsey finally tracked down the league official who could give the okay that all the paperwork had been completed correctly. In the event, the opponents, Slough Chargers were easily overcome. Only once did they threaten to come back into the game and then Solent brought on their starting five - Cunningham, Irish, Rumsey, Scott and LeGoff - and took over again. Indicative of Solent's will to win nonetheless was underlined by a gritty show of determination from Jon Rumsey. He launched himself to stop the ball going out of play behind the Solent basket and somehow managed to flick it up-court to Colin Irish who set-up an unlikely basket. Solent won 82 - 55 in a game where the opponents only committed six fouls throughout.

The next trip for Solent was the quarter-final of the National Trophy against a team currently third in Division One - Solihull Chiefs. Once again, Solent were not overawed by higher league opponents, even when a first half head injury put Craig Metcalf out of the game. But for foul trouble by the Solent big three - Cunningham, Scott and Irish - Solent would have won more convincingly than the 105 - 90 final score (Cunningham 30).

Masai Ujiri

Solent arranged a friendly match against Worthing during the following week. With neither side at full strength, Solent ran out winners 112 - 90 (Irish 31, Cunningham 28, Ujiri 22).

Bob Glanville twisted his ankle in the Worthing game and so missed the trip to Liverpool ATAC, the team relegated with Solent at the end of the previous season. Another absentee through injury was Mark Scott, although Solent did once again have the services of Joe Morant who had missed several games. A solid team performance saw Solent through to an 87 - 60 victory.

A tough trip to Northampton 98ers followed, especially since a knee injury would keep out Mark Scott. Ten three point scores from the home team in the first half helped them to a 14 - 30 lead at one stage. By halftime Solent had whittled that back to 38 - 45. When Northampton's long range scoring touch deserted them in the second half, Solent levelled to 57 all by the seventh minute. With three minutes remaining it was 86 all when Jon Rumsey's timely three pointer followed by an Alan Cunningham lay-up gave Solent a cushion which led to the 93 - 89 win (Irish 33, Ujiri 22).

With Fleming Park still unavailable, Solent Stars were forced to play their semi-final home draw match of the National Trophy at the neutral Mountbatten Centre venue. The opponents, First Division Plymouth Raiders, were looking for a second consecutive appearance in the final at Sheffield in January. It was Plymouth's two American players who dictated the game as the weakened Solent team, without Mark Scott, gamely tried to match them. A long three pointer from Colin Irish levelled the score at 35 all at halftime, but it was the visitors who were stronger in the second half as Solent ran into foul trouble. The final score of 76 - 88 (Irish 27) in Plymouth's favour was no disgrace to Solent.

A good start to the first match in 1998, away to Wolverhampton, saw Solent take an early 26 - 8 lead midway through the first half. Coach Alan Cunningham then used the game to give players court time and inevitably the scoring rate dropped. The final score was 102 - 85 (Irish 21) in Solent's favour.

Finally after nearly two months, Solent returned to Fleming Park to give the home supporters an opportunity to welcome Masai Ujiri back - although this would be his seventh match! Over 650 fans turned out to watch the homecoming against high-riding London Towers B. They were treated to a close and exciting game. A mere four points (81 - 77) separated the teams with 50 seconds remaining. Solent played possession basketball and forced a foul from Mike Redd. This was too much for coach Tony Garbelotto who was charged with a technical foul. Colin Irish coolly sank three shots from the free throw line but as he stepped up for his fourth a Towers player accidentally struck him with the ball. Garbelotto inexplicably got himself another technical foul at this juncture and was dismissed from the arena. Solent won 86 - 77 (Irish 32, Ujiri 24) with a final alley-oop basket from Masai Ujiri.

Colin Irish

The next game pitched Solent against league rivals Bournemouth who, like Solent, had only lost one game. The attendance on the night at Fleming Park was counted as 759. Another ex-Solent player had joined the squad in the week. Mike Griffiths was brought in to cover for the continued absence of Mark Scott, who had undergone a knee operation. It took a little while for either team to score and it was an unlikely source - Joe Morant - who got Solent under way with a three pointer. The fouls quickly mounted up for Solent and culminated with Alan Cunningham reaching five midway through the second half. Solent went twelve points behind in the first half before scoring more freely to take a 43 - 36 halftime lead. Griffiths' defensive qualities were welcome as Solent ground out an important win, 91 - 81 (Irish 31). This was to be Jon Rumsey's last game in the season having battled hard against illness and injury.

Flintshire were the next visitors to Fleming Park. They had recently acquired a new American player and in their previous game had upset one of Solent's main rivals, South Bank, 90 - 71. This seemed to cut no ice with the Solent squad who raced into a 53 - 34 halftime lead. "I told the guys at halftime that we could either blow Flintshire away or pussyfoot around and try and get the referees involved to liven things up a bit more, but perhaps that was a mistake to give them that choice," said Alan Cunningham after the game. This was because he had just watched Solent allow Flintshire to come back to 79 all with four minutes remaining, before Martin Dowdall scored a couple of big three pointers to give Solent another win, 99 - 82 (Cunningham 25, Irish 20, Ujiri 20).

Two games in the following weekend put Solent in a strong league position. A visit from the Wolverhampton Adante team in front of 600 plus home supporters gave Solent another chance to do a demolition job. Adante reeled in Solent's early burst to level at 21 all midway through the first half. The visitors' coach then made a big mistake when he yelled for his team to put "old man" Colin Irish under pressure. Adante soon found to their cost that Irish still was an able player as he sank two mighty three pointers to put Solent 48 - 36 ahead at the interval. Solent opened their box of tricks to pull further away in the second half with Masai Ujiri, Craig Metcalf and Alan Cunningham all sinking spectacular dunks in the 106 - 84 win (Irish 32, Cunningham 28). The following day Solent travelled to Chessington Wildcats. Solent were unable to regain the flow from the previous evening and struggled at a pedestrian pace until Colin Irish woke them up with a 19th minute three pointer which nosed Solent ahead for the first time since the opening minute. They managed to up the tempo in the second half and eventually came out easy winners, 78 - 57 (Ujiri 26).

The following weekend was also a double header for Solent as first they played the top of the league team and then the team at the foot of the table. Saturday's home match against Cardiff Phoenix, who, like Solent had only lost one match, was a torrid two hour affair. Alan Cunningham was so furious with his team as they allowed an 11 point halftime advantage disappear that he used up both his second half timeouts in the first four minutes. Solent's problems continued to pile up with Masai Ujiri being rested on four fouls, Colin Irish called for a technical foul, Craig Metcalf retiring with a shoulder injury and Cunningham's fury finally boiling over with two quick technical fouls for dissent. Ujiri fouled out with almost eight minutes remaining and Irish had also excited the crowd with a combination of foul and ankle trouble. However, Solent shone through in the face of adversity with Cunningham, fit-again Mark Scott, Martin Dowdall, Joe Morant and Jason LeGoff pulling away in the closing stages and restricting Cardiff to just six points in the closing six minutes for a 103 - 82 win (Cunningham 35, Irish 26). Less than 24 hours later Solent played at Thames Valley B in a game that lasted a mere 65 minutes with Solent being charged for only three fouls. In fact, had Martin Dowdall not been called for a foul with 29 seconds remaining in the second half, they could have achieved a second half clean foul sheet in the 86 - 68 win (Cunningham 23, Ujiri 20).

Yet another double header weekend followed and this time both the matches were away games against teams closely chasing the Solent Stars. Solent had team problems ahead of the first game against Bournemouth Dolphins with injuries to Craig Metcalf (shoulder), Mike Griffiths (nose), Colin Irish (ankle) and Masai Ujiri ('flu). In the event only Mike Griffiths was missing from the squad on the night. A decisive push was made in the seven minutes before halftime when Masai Ujiri and Alan Cunningham scored 19 points between them to give Solent a 44 - 22 halftime lead. In what he described as the best performance of the season, Alan Cunningham was able to sit out most of the second half as his team all got on the scoresheet in the 108 - 69 win (Ujiri 23, Cunningham 21).

The visit to South Bank Bulls the next day gave Solent a chance to avenge their only league defeat of the season against a team that had slipped to fifth place. Although trailing by six points midway through the first half, Solent took a 51 - 39 halftime lead. Solent drew steadily away in the second half that included technical fouls against both coaches to record another success 100 - 78 (Scott 28, Cunningham 22, Ujiri 20).

Solent's next away match was at Swindon Sonics. A large number of Solent fans took the trip to Swindon. In part this was to be present at the final game of Masai Ujiri. The popular Nigerian player had accepted an offer from a Belgian club to help them in their end of season Championship Play-Offs. He had refused a similar offer some weeks before, but the Belgians had then increased it. Ujiri was given a large ovation by the team followers when he was substituted five minutes from the end of the game which Solent won 97 - 77 (Cunningham 35). The win meant that Solent had gone through the season unbeaten away from home in the league with a record of played twelve, won twelve - the first side to do that since the leagues were restructured.

Four home games remained and before the first of those, Solent Stars announced that approval had been given to transfer the ownership of the club to Solent Stars 2000 Ltd which comprised club chairman, Bob Paulley, coach Alan Cunningham and director Jim Rumsey. Equally important was the announcement of Jimmie Guymon to run the Solent Youth Programme. Guymon and his wife, Beverley, had been instrumental through their Young Guns programme in attracting £15,000 of sponsorship through Probe Sports and the government's SportsMatch scheme. To celebrate the event the Young Guns played Bognor Royals in a warm-up game to the Solent Stars match and received the cheque in a halftime ceremony.

Big three pointers from Colin Irish and Ben Peacock got Solent off to a good start against visitors Slough Chargers. Even without Masai Ujiri Solent had no problem in keeping the score ticking over and moving to a 95 - 61 victory (Cunningham 34). A surprise defeat for London Towers B at Flintshire on the same night meant that Solent had won the league.

Liverpool ATAC were the first visitors to Solent after they had won the league and they were unable to provide any upset. Colin Irish scored three consecutive three pointers and was matched in that feat by Ben Peacock as all the Solent players enjoyed the gala occasion in their 103 - 76 win (Cunningham 27, Irish 27).

Solent Stars were presented with the league trophy at the start of the their game against Northampton 89ers. A best-of-the-season crowd of nearly 800 packed into Fleming Park to see the trophy and medals handed over to each squad member before the match. Solent responded by posting their highest score of the season against a Northampton side that they could just meet again in the play-offs. A series of niggling fouls detracted somewhat from the occasion but Solent were comfortable winners, 117 - 97 (Irish 33, Cunningham 32, Scott 29).

Solent had a target in their last league game - against Thames Valley Tigers B. If they wanted to be the league's highest scoring team, they would have to score 121 points. Director Jim Rumsey suggested a target of 127, this being the number of runs scored by the England cricket team in their current match against the West Indies. Colin Irish top-scored, yet amazingly the Great Britain and England international had a lean start to the game, finally stuttering off the mark with one out of two from the free throw line. "When he missed the second free throw I went over and niggled him by saying I'd bring someone else on in his place, " said coach Alan Cunningham. The result was quite staggering as Irish brought the Tigers to their knees with three stupendous three pointers that brought Solent a 56 - 22 lead with three first half minutes remaining. With just over two minutes to go in the match, Martin Dowdall scored to bring the total to 121 and in the remaining time six more points were added to the Solent total to finish with the target 127 points. The final score in the final league game was 127 - 75 (Irish 43, Cunningham 41, Scott 22).

The play-offs beckoned for the club, with a quarter-final home and away tie against Northampton 89ers. For the first of the games, away at Northampton, Solent were backed by a large and noisy contingent of travelling fans. The fans were delighted to see Solent take full control in the first half and go in 60 - 33 ahead. Coach Cunningham was expecting his team to maintain at least that difference at the final buzzer. However, Northampton staged a brave fight back in the second half, in part helped by some controversial refereeing decisions that upset the visiting team. Mark Scott's 29 points came in the first part of the game and as his scoring dried up, so did Solent's. Nonetheless, they were able to return to Fleming Park for the second leg with a 15 point advantage thanks to their 105 - 90 win (Cunningham 27, Irish 25).

In the second leg, over 650 fans turned out to roar Solent on. The home team responded with an awesome display, in part caused by actions of the Northampton team. The first incident was in the sixth minute when Alan Cunningham was 'undercut' by Mark Wilson while scoring with a dunk shot. An incensed Cunningham berated Wilson and bundled him to the floor. Wilson's fall was described by Cunningham as 'amateur dramatics'. Even so, Alan Cunningham was sufficiently fired up to score 53 points in the game! The second main event was a foul on an off-balance Colin Irish as he went for a lay-up. Eventually, Northampton's own players suggested that the perpetrator, Lloyd Cox, go straight to the changing room! A clearly irate Colin Irish then proceeded to score a series of three pointers to take Solent to within a few points of their highest score ever. In the event, a win of 152 - 89 was more than enough to send them to the semi-final.

After the game Alan Cunningham picked up the Player of the Year award with Colin Irish as runner-up. The Players' Player of the Year went to Mark Scott.

South Bank Bulls were to be the semi-final opponents after their 167 - 142 aggregate win over Bournemouth Bears. The Londoners had won at Fleming Park early in the season - Solent's only league defeat - but Solent had gained a useful 100 - 78 win when they visited South Bank. That result proved to be a good form guide for the first leg at the Brixton Recreation Centre. Solent were always in command of the game although never able to establish much of a lead until just after halftime. Coach Cunningham gave all of his bench players court time as Solent ran out winners 100 - 79, only one point less than the margin of the earlier league game (Cunningham 30, Irish 25, Scott 24).

There was an off-court battle of words prior to the return leg. South Bank accused the senior Solent players of intimidating the referees. Alan Cunningham's reply was that it was one thing to play hard, but another to 'talk trash'. He would be unhappy, he said, with a win that was by less than 30 points. As it happened, Solent once again surrendered to the same team that had beaten them at home earlier in the season - and by exactly the same margin of four points (102 - 106). Only two points had separated the teams at the halftime interval and Solent had built up a five point lead midway through the half. With Irish and Cunningham both on four fouls for the last ten minutes, Solent were less effective in defence and South Bank eased their way back into the lead. Solent missed five free throws in the last three minutes and this proved costly. However, the previously established 21-point advantage from the first leg never looked in doubt as Solent lost the game, but won the semi-final (Irish 38, Scott 24).

The Championship Play-Off Final was in the Manchester Nynex Arena and the opponents were London Towers B. The team travelled north on Friday evening. Colin Irish had to turn around at Newbury because he had forgotten his boot insoles! In the morning, the team found that three of their cars had been broken into in the car park of the hotel. One of the cars belonged to Jim Rumsey and contained the team kit - which had disappeared! A search of local woodland brought success - except for several towels and one missing pair of shorts! So it was that the preparation was less than perfect for the event.

Alan Cunningham in the Championship Play-Offs Final

After trailing to an early three pointer, Solent steadily compiled a first half lead that peaked at 29 - 19. Under constant pressure from the young London Towers B team, they had to settle for a 36 - 31 halftime lead. London caught Solent napping at the start of the second half and 13 points on the bounce saw them take their biggest lead at 36 - 44. Solent steadily worked their way back and by the three quarter stage they were 49 - 48 ahead. The lead then changed hands several times until with three minutes left the scores were tied at 64 all. As play helter-skeltered to either end, Solent made the decisive push with Irish and Cunningham both scoring. There followed a period of missed chances, turnovers and massive scrambles under both baskets. Alan Cunningham took three important rebounds (17 in all in the game). Solent should have been in a more comfortable position but they missed eight out of ten shots from the free throw line in the last two minutes to leave them vulnerable when London's top-scorer, Steve Ogunjimi, broke away with only seconds remaining. To the vociferous Solent supporters' delight, he missed the lay-up and Solent had won the Championship Play-Off by just two points, 70 - 68 (Irish 28, Cunningham 20).

Stats:

Colin Irish was voted the Most Valuable Player but was the first to acknowledge the importance of the team effort - players, staff and supporters - of all involved.

Solent Stars had bounced back from the previous season - when they went without a league win and were relegated - to finish the season as Division Two Champions and Championship Play-Off winners. After one season away from it, Solent were going back into the top national league division.

	1997/98 (Division 2)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Solent Stars	24	23	1	2257	1767	+490	46
2	Cardiff Clippers	24	20	4	2250	1825	+425	40
3	London Towers	24	19	5	2129	1743	+386	38
4	South Bank Bulls	24	14	10	1886	1868	+18	28
5	Bournemouth Bears	24	14	10	1934	1893	+41	28
6	Wolverhampton	24	12	12	2034	2077	-43	24
7	Flintshire	24	11	13	1930	1977	-47	22
8	Northampton 89ers	24	10	14	2063	2062	+1	20
9	Slough Chargers	24	9	15	1717	1944	-227	18
10	Liverpool ATAC	24	9	15	1820	1938	-118	18
11	Swindon Sonics	24	9	15	1873	2038	-165	18
12	Chessington Wildcats	24	5	19	1706	1952	-246	10
13	Thames Valley	24	1	23	1639	2154	-515	2

Solent Stars 1996/97 Season

2008-11-05T14:52:00.000Z

As usual, a busy summer following the previous season's poor performances led to new hope for the club. Coach Mick Byrne confidently predicted that the forthcoming season would be Solent's best since their return to the first division. "We are hoping for a top half of the league position plus a good run in the cup," stated Byrne who hoped that the team would do better than the last three seasons positions of 10th, 12th and 10th respectively.

Part of his hopes were pinned on a new American signing. The club had lacked an overseas player of late and in 6' 2" Eric Wills, who had impressed Mick Byrne at several summer camps, the team would have a regular point scorer. Wills would replace Ron Whitehead who had helped out at the conclusion of the previous season. Otherwise the side would have a familiar look, including Roy Lewis, Drew Sewell and Martin Dowdall who would provide the main experience. Coach Byrne was also hoping to sign Mark Scott for another term with the club.

The league had expanded to 14 clubs with newcomers Liverpool, Oxford, Westminster and Croydon replacing Crystal Palace (accepted by the Basketball League) and Oldham. The expansion meant that Solent were able to continue in Division One despite finishing at the foot of the table in the previous season. The National Trophy competition took on a new format with Solent playing one match against four other teams in a pool arrangement.

The opening match in the National Trophy was a home game against second division South Bank. Work permit problems denied Solent the services of Eric Wills, but it seemed not to hinder them as they quickly built up a 25 - 7 lead. South Bank briefly rallied but with three quarters of the match gone Solent were comfortably ahead 60 - 42. Then followed a period where Solent could not score regularly and their rebounding was non-existent. At full time the score was 70 all and the rot continued from the home team's perspective as they eventually lost 81 - 86. (Dowdall 22, Lewis 22).

If ever Solent needed to bounce back, this was the occasion. Their next match followed just four days later at the Bracknell Sports Centre against Thames Valley B. For a while it looked as if Solent could not get out of the doldrums as they found difficulty in establishing any kind of influence on the game. However, gradually the team got its act together and a second half tally of 66 points helped them to a 101 - 85 point win (Sewell 31, Lewis 26).

A week later found Solent in London to play another second stream team from a Basketball League club, London Towers B. Solent were at a disadvantage with the absence of coach Mick Byrne and players Drew Sewell, Joe Morant and Craig Metcalf. It was a newcomer to the team, Andy Luckett, who drew first blood for the visitors, scoring four early points. With the help of a second player recently signed from Portsmouth, Steve Davison, Solent managed to keep their noses in front for most of the game. Regular scoring from coach for the night, Martin Dowdall, and Roy Lewis helped bring the game to an exciting climax. Having battled back from a seven-point deficit, Solent went into the last minute leading by just two points. Davison was then fouled and although he missed the two free throws, Dowdall gained the rebound before being fouled himself. Although only able to convert one of the two shots, this was enough to give Solent the game 89 - 88 as Towers could only manage one more score in the remaining time (Lewis 24).

The final pool game was another away match, this time an all First Division clash with Mid-Sussex Magic. Solent had Drew Sewell back for this game, but he was unable to stop Solent from falling to an 88 - 114 defeat despite scoring 26 points himself. Roy Lewis led the Solent scoring with 27 points. There were encouraging performances from newcomers Mike Sampson and Ben Peacock.

The surprising group winners were London Towers B with Mid-Sussex, Thames Valley B and Solent each recording 4 points. South Bank brought up the rear with just the one win - over Solent Stars. This meant that Solent would have to wait to see if they had qualified. In the event, their adverse match points difference told against them, despite being the only team to beat the pool winners.

Mick Byrne's unavailability, occasioned by a heart attack, meant that Jimmie Guymon took over the mid-week coaching sessions prior to Solent opening their league campaign, a home game against Plymouth Raiders.

Martin Dowdall was acting as player/coach for Solent in the match and he was without the services of Drew Sewell (work). Whilst the starting five of Andy Rowlands, Joe Morant, Alex Byrne, Roy Lewis and Dowdall himself remained fresh, Solent were always a threat. However, once they began to tire Plymouth were able to slowly forge ahead to gain a 15-point halftime advantage. Solent fell further behind in the second half to lose 74 - 99 (Lewis 25).

Prior to their next match, Solent redoubled their efforts to obtain work permits for Eric Wills and 6' 9" Todd McNeill - a second American. McNeill already possessed a permit for playing for Cardiff, but when they released him, the process had to start all over again.

The next match - a home fixture against Bury & Bolton - saw a first coaching appearance for Jimmie Guymon. Also there was the return welcome presence of Mick Byrne - who had ruled himself out of coaching for some time to come after his heart attack. Early on Solent took a 14 - 7 point lead, but once Bury had caught up it was nip and tuck for a while. Bury had American owner Richard Moses making his debut after leaving premier club Chester Jets and it was he who provided Bury with most of their impetus. A three-minute period without a Solent point left them adrift and they were never able to close the gap, losing 74 - 90 (Lewis 26, Sewell 21).

In the two weeks that followed before the visit to unbeaten Ware Rebels, Jimmie Guymon was joined by Paul Philp to try and revitalise the players. Guymon's commitments to the Solent Ladies team meant that there were inevitable clashes of fixtures which prevented him coaching in the match.

Such was the case when Solent went to table-topping Ware Rebels. Without Drew Sewell (work) and with Roy Lewis having a rare scoring off day, Solent were no match for the home team. Some respite came when Ware used their bench players for five minutes and Solent restricted them to just one point whilst scoring nine themselves. In truth, Solent never threatened and eventually lost 60 - 99 (Dowdall 20).

Jimmie Guymon was now fully in charge of training and insisted that he would only select players who regularly attended. This posed problems for Drew Sewell and Roy Lewis, the club's senior players, whose work commitments meant that they had to miss training on occasion. With Todd McNeill's work permit problems not solved and Eric Wills having long since given up any hope of obtaining one, things looked bleak for Solent.

It was therefore a very young and inexperienced group of players that formed the basis of Solent's team for their next away fixture at Westminster Warriors. This was the opening match at Westminster's new home and Solent played their full part in not spoiling the party by going down 55 - 106. Solent conceded 31 turnovers as if to demonstrate their inexperience.

Team captain Martin Dowdall missed the next home game against Stockton Mohawks because of tonsillitis. Coach Guymon was insistent on his training policy and also in turning to the younger players in the club for help. In particular, 17-year-old Steve Davison was proving a useful asset. On this particular night, Davison played in a pre-game Solent Junior match (scoring 16 points) before coming on in the starting five of the senior team. He was one of the early scorers in the game, ghosting through for two points, before Stockton - bigger and more experienced - took control of the game. Davison eventually scored 18 points in the game to follow the efforts of Andy Rowlands who had a total of 19. Solent never threatened the Stockton total in the 72 - 99 defeat.

A basement battle followed with a visit to Cardiff. A scrappy match between two poor teams was the view those watching. Cardiff had sacked coach Curtis Xavier at the beginning of the week and for a time it looked as if the Solent team might be able to take advantage of that. Matt Eames and newcomer Simon Morton scored early points. Cardiff led 36 - 48 when Solent were awarded four free throws for technical fouls. Steve Davison could only land one of the four. Once Martin Dowdall fouled out with seven minutes remaining, Solent's fate was sealed and they dropped to the foot of the table with the 62 - 79 defeat.

Brixton Topcats were the next visitors to Fleming Park. With only one win to their credit, the visitors could look ready to provide Solent with their first league win. Midway through the first half Solent were level (16 - 16) but not looking confident. At halftime the game was still close, but it took nearly seven minutes before Alex Byrne could open Solent's second half account and by then the game was out of reach. Coach Guymon, puzzlingly, was reluctant to use either Joe Morant or Martin Dowdall, even after Andy Rowlands fouled out with eleven minutes remaining. Solent lost 59 - 92.

After a miserable run of defeats it was with some trepidation that Solent set out for Haywards Heath to play Mid-Sussex Magic. This feeling was reinforced as Solent fell 20 points behind in the first half. Solent welcomed the return of 44-year-old Paul Philp on the court after a three-year absence since his retirement. He was able to keep Solent to their task and help them in a fight back that eventually left them just cruelly one point short of the Mid-Sussex total (94 - 95). Martin Dowdall had led the scoring revival with 39 points of his own. He had been well supported by Steve Davison and Matt Eames. Eleven points from Alex Byrne in the final three minutes in his match total of 21 meant that Mid-Sussex needed to desperately hold on for their close win.

Another close game followed when Solent entertained Liverpool in the final home fixture of 1996. Andy Rowlands got Solent off to a good start with a lobbed shot that opened the scoring. Liverpool clung to their task and with Solent giving the ball away too often, it was the visitors that led 39 - 50. A 10 - 2 spell of scoring at the start of the second half gave hope to the small but noisy home crowd. Matt Eames took Solent to within one point but handling errors cost Solent dear as Liverpool forged ahead again. Martin Dowdall (22 points) sparked another Solent revival to level the scores at 77 all. However, Solent failed to take the initiative at that point and lost 77 - 81.

The final match of the year was an away trip to Oxford Dons. If Solent were looking for a change of fortune, then it was not to be. The game proved almost a foregone conclusion from the first jump ball and Solent were outclassed throughout by the young Oxford team and lost 68 - 113.

Would the start of a new year bring about a change of fortune for Solent Stars? The first opponents, Nottingham, had only one win under their belt when they arrived at Fleming Park on January 2nd, 1997. Jimmie Guymon was persisting in his 'no training - no playing' rule which he steadfastly refused to elaborate on to the press, even though the only potential Solent match winners - Roy Lewis and Drew Sewell - were both excluded by this policy. Their absence was especially noted in this game when Solent fell behind 24 - 57 by halftime. The inept display continued as Solent found it impossible to raise their game against mediocre opponents. It was small wonder that the average of 350 spectators at last season's matches had fallen to less than 200. Solent lost 60 - 102 and Mick Byrne publicly apologised to those spectators that had come to the game. He said he had one or two players - notably American Mike Sableski - to whom he was talking, but he also noted that that the club's financial position was not strong.

Mick Byrne's programme notes (January 1997)

A long trip to Stockton followed. The captain, Martin Dowdall was ruled out with a heavy cold, which left Andy Rowlands to have a more dominant role. This he achieved and with the aid of 19 points from Alex Byrne and stoic performances from Joe Morant and Paul Philp, Solent put up a creditable performance before succumbing 79 - 98 to Stockton.

A weekend's respite followed but this was followed by a double-header weekend with a home game against Guildford to be followed by a trip to Plymouth. Jimmie Guymon at last spoke to the press and said that he was perplexed as to what to do to stop the losing run. "We have several 16 and 17 year olds in the team who play against teams that are much bigger and stronger than us." With the transfer deadline approaching, Solent signed Jason Colgan, who had drifted away from the club two seasons before to concentrate on playing in local basketball. Sebastian Scott - a student at Southampton Institute who had playing experience with Gloucester Jets - was also brought into the squad. Most surprisingly, the 48-year-old Jimmie Guymon had also put pen to paper. "There's no way I can play a whole game, but if it helps the team I am willing to go out and give it a go," he remarked.

None of the signings could help Solent in their home game against Guildford. With their man-mountain defence and the high scoring of Julio Politi (30 points), Solent were outclassed and fell to a 76 - 110 defeat.

The next day the team travelled to Plymouth where they were again run ragged, being thumped 71 - 113.

Despite these reverses, bottom of the table Solent Stars showed there was nothing wrong with their team spirit or application when they travelled to play Bury & Bolton at the Castle Leisure Centre. Without Steve Davison (twisted ankle), who had been the top scorer at Plymouth, Martin Dowdall was left with the mantle of keeping the scoreboard ticking over. So successful was the early shooting of Solent that they were in with a chance of a first victory throughout. This was despite Dowdall picking up three early fouls and sitting out much of the first half and a head injury to Andy Rowlands. Simon Morton missed two free throws that would have put Solent within one point of Bury with minutes remaining. Despite a timeout called by Jimmie Guymon with two minutes remaining, Solent were not able to follow his game plan. Half of Bury's winning margin of 13 points (67 - 80) came in the final ten seconds of the game as Solent fouled to try to gain possession. This was Solent's 100th game since their return to the first division and of those, 78 had been losses.

With only two defeats, Ware Rebels were the next visitors to Solent. Bigger, stronger and far more experienced, Ware had little difficulty in dealing with the home team even though as reporter David Ogilvie put it, "Ware showed that they have few equals when it comes to a bit of shirt-pulling, back-chatting, body checking or general obstruction." Solent were hampered by the loss of Rowlands with a foot injury. In two separate periods of five minutes each, Solent only scored two points. The result was a 72 - 116 defeat (Davison 23).

A visit to Coventry Crusaders was next on the agenda for Solent. Andy Rowlands was still injured and Solent again lacked height with only a young Simon Morton to match the bigger Coventry players. Solent again showed battling qualities and achieved their third highest score of the season. However, for the sixth time in the last eight matches the opponents netted over 100 points to leave Solent the losers (77 - 104).

The Eastleigh Weekly News reporter, David Ogilvie, summed up the situation prior to Solent's next home game against Westminster Warriors. "Most of us hadn't even thought about where to go for our summer holidays the time Solent last won a match in the league. The trouble is it is last year's summer holiday that we are talking about." Solent's poor run was not relieved in this match when a fast moving, although erratic, Westminster team proved too much for Solent to handle. Solent had now lost Andy Rowlands for the rest of the season. Martin Dowdall had tried to hold things together, but when he demanded a breather in the second half, Solent fell away. Without Matt Eames also, Solent had turned to youngsters Ben Peacock and Simon Morton for more court time than they could have expected. There was also a lively debut from 17-year-old Lawrie Vormorwah. It was all to no avail as Solent went down 62 - 87.

On March 6th, nearly two months after signing for Solent, Mike Sableski finally received a work permit giving him permission to play. Although not match fit because of the long period away from match action, it was ironic that Sableski's first game should be against the team for whom he had previously been registered, Cardiff Heat. After scoring the first points of the game (in his 26 point haul) Sableski took several rebounds to give Solent some form of defensive shape for the first time in a while. Solent led 48 - 44 at halftime and with Joe Morant driving them forward, and another newcomer, Sebastian Scott helping, Solent looked capable of achieving a first league win. However, they tired, turned the ball over several times and lost 89 - 100.

For the visit of Mid-Sussex Magic, Solent Stars were thrown into another dilemma that often faces teams when things are not going well. Solent's main guard, Martin Dowdall, was now to miss his second match in succession. Unfortunately for Solent he was now joined by the other main playmaker, Joe Morant. More responsibility was therefore placed on 44 year old Paul Philp. He was joined on court by 48-year-old Jimmie Guymon. Guymon had played a minor on-court role for several of the preceding games, but this time he decided to lead by example. The result was a top-scoring performance of 24 points. Assistant coach, Steve Fitzsimons, described it as "an amazing performance. He was the oldest player out there yet still he was the first one to get down court for us." For all his effort and enthusiasm, however, Guymon could not end the losing run as Solent lost 81 - 93.

The injury and absence (Joe Morant and Martin Dowdall both in America) crisis continued for the next match away to Liverpool ATAC who occupied the league position above Solent, albeit with six league wins to Solent's none. To add to Solent's player problems, the juniors had an important fixture at the same time. Solent were only able to travel with seven players, including a 15 year old Alan McDonald who was unable to get any court time in a closely fought match which saw Jimmie Guymon play throughout! At various times Solent trailed by 13 points and then 10 points before a late rally meant that when Mike Sableski scored in the last few seconds, Solent drew level at 93 all. In a cruel twist of fate, with no visible scoreboard and no off-court coach to advise, Paul Philp believed that Solent still trailed by one and committed a foul with one second to go in an attempt to gain possession. Liverpool gratefully accepted the shots and won 93 - 95 with no overtime necessary. Sableski (42), Alex Byrne (22) and Jimmie Guymon (21) were Solent's leading scorers.

Frustrated at the lack of professionalism shown by his players, coach Jimmie Guymon berated his squad for not turning up in sufficient time ahead of the home clash with Coventry Crusaders. "If you don't turn up on time and mentally prepare, you will not win games at this level," he said. Proof of his thinking was demonstrated when Solent went down 78 - 97 despite being within eight points of their opponents with just five minutes remaining.

The final home game was against Oxford. Solent were never in contention and demonstrated why they occupied a bottom of the league position, well adrift of any other club. At one stage Solent trailed by 25 points in the first half before they pulled back to 39 - 52 at halftime. Oxford then ran away with the second half to leave Solent with yet another defeat, 66 - 106 (Sableski 20). Coach Jimmie Guymon admitted that, "If I had been a paid coach I would have been fired by now." However, that would have been a cruel decision based on the ability of the players available. Having taken on the role to help the club out after Mick Byrne's illness, Guymon had demonstrated an enthusiasm not always mirrored by his players.

The end of season awards saw the Players' Player award go to Martin Dowdall whilst the supporters picked out the only ever present player, Alex Byrne.

The season finally ground to a halt the following day when Solent travelled to Nottingham. The 82 - 103 defeat suffered there brought the season to an end without a Solent victory and a return to Division Two unavoidable. Coach Jimmie Guymon said that he would now be concentrating on a youth programme and that his senior men's coaching job would have to go to someone else.

	1996/97 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Ware Rebels	26	21	5	2358	2051	+307	47
2	Plymouth Raiders	26	20	6	2471	2123	+348	46
3	Coventry Crusaders	26	18	8	2205	2007	+198	44
4	Guildford Swifts	26	18	8	2217	2059	+158	44
5	Oxford Devils	26	16	10	2331	2113	+218	42
6	Westminster Warriors	26	15	11	2109	1979	+130	41
7	Stockton Mohawks	26	14	12	2403	2352	+51	40
8	Cardiff Phoenix	26	14	12	2322	2311	+11	40
9	Nottingham Knights	26	12	14	2024	2055	-31	37
10	Bury and Bolton	26	11	15	2040	2176	-136	36
11	Mid Sussex Magic	26	10	16	2167	2324	-157	36
12	Brixton Topcats	26	7	19	1823	1969	-146	33
13	Liverpool ATAC	26	6	20	2023	2307	-284	32
14	Solent Stars	26	0	26	1861	2527	-666	26

NB one point awarded for each loss during 1996/97

Solent Stars 1995/96 Season

2008-11-05T14:51:00.005Z

Back row: Mick Byrne, Drew Sewell, Andy Rowlands, Ron Whitehead, Richard Game, Chris Sheldrick, Roy Lewis, Steve Fitzsimons
Front row: David Martin, Joe Morant, Ian Broadsmith, Alex Byrne

"Solent Stars usher in a new era for the club" - so ran the headline in the Eastleigh Weekly News of September 14th, 1995. The main change referred to was that Mick Byrne, coach for the past six seasons, had been given a free hand to run the club through his cash injection that gave him a three year franchise from the current owners. Apart from recruiting and coaching the players, Byrne would also be responsible for all club administration and development of new marketing and sponsorship initiatives.

Realising the burden of his responsibilities, Byrne approached Steve Fitzsimons to ask for his assistance in the coaching role with specialist team training sessions. On the playing front, the team continued much as before, with the exception of Drew Sewell who had signed for Premier League Birmingham Bullets. Roy Lewis, Martin Dowdall and Joe Morant would be the core of the squad whilst Craig Metcalf, Jamie Donaldson, Guy Nicholas, Andy Rowlands, ex-Junior David Martin and Jon Rumsey (if fit) were all offered places. Richard Cutler also would be available, Navy commitments allowing. Conscious that relegation had been a major issue in the last three seasons, Byrne was anxious to strengthen the side and began negotiations with American basketball agents to find a suitable player.

The league for the forthcoming season included promoted clubs Cardiff and Mid-Sussex who replaced Slough and Swindon in the twelve team division. The National Cup first round draw had given Solent a home tie against Croydon.

Solent's first game was an away trip to Oldham Celtics, one of the lesser teams in the league. Solent were hampered by a back injury to Martin Dowdall, who did not make the trip. Reduced to just a hard core of four senior players, Solent were reliant on a good team performance from all the players. Joe Morant, Roy Lewis and Alex Byrne helped Solent build up an early lead with good support from Andy Rowlands and David Martin. That lead had disappeared at halftime and with five minutes remaining Solent trailed 53 - 60. The visitors then decided to chance everything on a press - a risk because of leaving exposure at the back, especially with a young and tiring squad. On this occasion, though, it brought instant reward as Solent harried Oldham into a succession of errors from which Lewis and Byrne scored several points. Richard Bell levelled the scores and then drew the final foul that enabled them to go ahead and win the game 70 - 67 (Lewis 28, Byrne 20).

The first home game of the season, against Cardiff, was to prove a disappointment for the home fans. With no new players in the Solent squad and memories of many recent home defeats, it came as no surprise that Solent trailed 36 - 43 at halftime in a lacklustre performance. Any hopes of a revival were dashed by an eight minute spell when Solent failed to score at all and by the time Roy Lewis did put the next points away, Solent were losing by 24 points. Chris Harper was Cardiff's inspiration, scoring 22 points and having a commanding presence on court. Solent had no reply and lost 64 - 88 (Lewis 18).

Solent's next visitors, Brixton, had also lost to Cardiff in the opening game of the season. Coach Byrne had been in Turkey in the week in his role as England team manager and it had been left to Steve Fitzsimons to take the training sessions. Solent looked a more compact outfit at the start of the game and contested every loose ball and rebound throughout. It was after just such a contest that the game's most unsavoury incident took place midway through the second half. The scoring had been close throughout when a loose ball scramble ended with Junior Williams of Brixton being called for a pushing foul on Joe Morant. Unexpectedly Williams then head-butted Morant to leave him with an ugly facial gash. Williams was disqualified and the game continued with the teams still trading baskets. When Roy Lewis levelled the scores at 72 all with two minutes remaining, the game could have gone either way. Instead, Eddie Owusu the visiting guard sank two long three pointers to dash Solent's hopes and send them to a 75 - 80 defeat.

Steve Fitzsimons (left) and Mick Byrne

A visit from Croydon in the National Cup first round followed and it provided yet more controversial incidents. In one case this involved the referee, David Taylor. With Solent leading by three points almost at the final buzzer, a Croydon player launched a desperate three point attempt from the sideline. Although the shot missed, Taylor called a foul on Roy Lewis which gave the visitors three free throws, which they gratefully scored to take the game into overtime. "Referees should not decide games with awful calls like that," said coach Byrne who was already upset by a series of calls made during the game. He was particularly upset when the officials failed to notice or take any action on an elbowing incident deep into overtime that put Guy Nicholas in hospital with a suspected fractured cheekbone. Solent lost the game 82 - 85, but would look back to a first half where they were generally outplayed in all departments.

Steve Fitzsimons was in charge of the squad for the next away league match, a visit to Plymouth Raiders. He was hampered in his team selection through the absence of Roy Lewis, Guy Nicholas and Richard Bell. Ben Peacock and Steve Johns joined the team for the first time. The squad was not strong enough and this was demonstrated when, apart from a few free throw attempts, Solent went ten minutes without scoring in the first half to trail 20 - 51 at halftime. Steve Johns showed his inexperience by picking up five fouls in almost as many minutes and limiting the coach's options even more. However, a gutsy second half performance saw Solent recover some of their pride although the margin of defeat (70 - 104) was a matter for concern.

More newcomers joined the Solent ranks for their trip to Northampton - from the second division - in a National Trophy game. Chris Sheldrick (from the Solent Junior squad) and Chris Mills were the additions. In a match strewn with fouls, Solent moved into an early 13-point lead that they defended throughout most of the first half. Six points ahead at halftime, Solent then lost Martin Dowdall on foul trouble six minutes into the second half. When Joe Morant followed three minutes later, Solent suddenly looked in trouble. Northampton gained confidence and came back to trail by just two points (65 - 63) before a series of fouls by them allowed Solent breathing space and a final 71 - 63 win. Andy Rowlands with 16 points had been the pick of the Solent team along with an impressive performance from Alex Byrne.

Crystal Palace had been unable to gain acceptance to the Premier League in the close season and since had won league matches by 71, 54 and 44 points. Solent were their next opponents. Steve Fitzsimons was again in charge of the team for this game at Fleming Park which marked the return of Guy Nicholas from injury. Fitzsimons' game plan was to slow down the Palace attacks by a series of defensive strategies. This worked well until the last quarter of the game when Crystal Palace took advantage of the tiring Solent team to run in 30 plus points to leave Solent 62 - 99 behind at the end (Dowdall 25).

A visit to Coventry followed and but for a match winning performance by American Matthew Donaldson, who scored 49 points, Solent could have caused a surprise. Solent were only six points behind with as many minutes to go when Donaldson took advantage of the tiring visitors to launch a final scoring salvo. This followed shortly after Guy Nicholas, who had played probably his best game for Solent, had to leave the court for attention for yet another head injury. No Roy Lewis, who would not play without payment, meant that Solent were short in the scoring department with only Alex Byrne able to reach the 20 point mark. Solent lost 71 - 90.

Drew Sewell

Coach Byrne arranged a series of friendly matches to try out some newcomers. One player who impressed was Arnie Hoffman, a 6' 6" engineering student from Germany. Unfortunately his international clearance papers did not come through in time to allow him to play in the next home game against Bury.

Nine months earlier Bury had provided Solent with their last home win. Coach Steve Fitzsimons was limited in his personnel for this game and opted to play his starting five nearly until halftime. He was forced to make a change when Joe Morant picked up his third foul. Two subsequent three point shots from Martin Dowdall put Solent 43 - 40 ahead at the break. Morant fouled out early in the second half, but Solent just about held onto the lead as the game continued. Guy Nicholas was called for a charge when scoring a basket that would have put Solent five points ahead with three minutes remaining. That let Bury in and as Solent's passing was matched only in its inaccuracy from the free throw line, Bury scrambled home 84 - 85 (Dowdall 28, Nicholas 24).

More disappointment followed for Solent when the next visitors to Fleming Park, Brixton Topcats, ousted them from the National Trophy at the second round stage. In truth, Solent were never able to match the running game of the Brixton team and their final tally of just 61 points was the lowest of the season so far. At one stage, Solent had closed to within eight points of the Brixton total, but the result never looked in doubt as Solent lost 61 - 78.

A visit to newly promoted Mid-Sussex followed. Solent suffered a setback when Joe Morant was delayed en route and by the time he arrived it was to the usual situation of chasing the superior points total of the opposition. Eight points behind at halftime, Solent produced their best spell of the match and closed to 58 - 59. A handful of points separated the teams for a time until Mid-Sussex pulled away to win 74 - 86. Arnie Hoffman on his debut scored 7 points and took some useful rebounds as he began to get to know his new team-mates.

Ware Rebels were the next visitors to Solent. They had only lost one match so far in the league before this final game in December 1995. Solent, on the other hand, had won only one match. As expected on such an occasion, nothing is certain. Solent - playing well above their normal level - were in the game from the start, despite Ware holding most of the early initiative. Fouls galore marred the first half with Alex Byrne and Martin Dowdall picking up three apiece. Eventually, Ware seemed to have gained the upper hand when they led 49 - 64, but some brilliant outside shooting from Byrne and Dowdall brought Solent right back into the game. A desperate finale ensued once Byrne had put Solent 72 - 71 ahead with minutes remaining. Ware took the lead again but two long shots by Dowdall levelled the scores with five seconds remaining (82 - 82). There were no more points in normal time and therefore overtime followed. Arnie Hoffman scored with 25 seconds remaining in the overtime period to put Solent one point ahead but free throws awarded to Ware finally put pay to Solent's efforts, 92 - 95 (Dowdall 26, Byrne 22). With Oldham and Rochdale surprisingly winning against Nottingham, it meant Solent were joint bottom of the league with just two points at the Christmas break.

A new year ... a new beginning? The first visitors to Fleming Park were Nottingham Knights, just two points and three places above Solent. Without Joe Morant (holiday) Solent were limited in their guard options and when an out-of-form Martin Dowdall fouled out just three minutes into the second half, the situation became desperate. Already having to play catch-up to a not very inspiring Nottingham team, Solent were guilty of too many fouls and turnovers. In all 51 fouls were recorded in the game where five players were back on the bench having fouled-out. Solent tumbled to a 74 - 90 defeat (Nicholas 27).

Next up at home were Oldham Celtics - sharing bottom place in the league with Solent. Joe Morant was back in the team, but Guy Nicholas announced that this would be his final game before transferring to Poole in the second division. Solent started well enough and built up a comfortable, if not commanding, first half lead. Arnie Hoffman missed most of the second half when a collision on-court left him with a gashed mouth. Still Solent led, by eight points, with six minutes remaining, but they did not look confident. Once Oldham drew level at 75 all, the home team's confidence visibly drained away. Oldham took the lead, Andy Rowlands scored to level the game, then Oldham stole through to take the match 80 - 84 (Dowdall 27).

Roy Lewis

With Nicholas having departed, Solent at the foot of the table and the final transfer deadline approaching, these were desperate times for Solent. A glimmer of hope appeared when Mick Byrne was able to persuade Drew Sewell to join the cash starved club for the fourth time of asking. After being released by Birmingham, Sewell had been training with Solent to keep match fit.

Solent next had to travel to Cardiff for a tough league fixture. Once again Cardiff's Chris Harper, with 52 points, proved to be too much of a handful for Solent, who had given Alex Byrne the task of man-marking him. Sewell's presence though helped the Solent players raise their game. Although 17 points behind midway through the second half Solent staged a fighting rally before going down 85 - 88 (Sewell 32) with Alex Byrne's last second three point attempt rimming the basket but failing to drop.

Brixton provided the next opposition for Solent on a road trip. Disaster struck when Sewell pulled a calf muscle early in the game. After having scored just one basket, he took no further part in the game. Instead it was Arnie Hoffman who took centre stage as he scored 17 points in a low scoring game. With just three minutes left Brixton only led by two points (50 - 52). But Solent then suffered one of their poor spells and let the game slip (55 - 65).

The return of Roy Lewis, who last played in September, proved another ray of hope for Solent who entertained Plymouth in a league match. Apart from a reasonable spell either side of halftime, Solent failed to get enough cohesiveness into their play and with defence a weak link they were soon in trouble. When Alex Byrne levelled the score on the stroke of halftime, it seemed that Solent had finally clicked. In the second half however they relied too heavily on Sewell for the scoring. Although he scored 38 points, not enough came from the other members of the team as Solent went down again (85 - 99).

Roy Lewis was unavailable for Solent's next trip which was to unbeaten leaders Crystal Palace. Despite their bottom-of-the-league status, it was Solent who made all the early running in this match. After an early eleven points from Drew Sewell, it was not until nearly halftime before Crystal Palace were able to take the lead. A hat trick of three pointers from Alex Byrne kept Solent in the match at 51 - 53 before a calf injury to Martin Dowdall and Joe Morant's fifth foul halted their challenge. In Arnie Hoffman's last game before returning to Germany, Solent had played above themselves, but eventually conceded the match 62 - 77.

Ten years after last playing for Solent, Ron Whitehead made an appearance for Solent's next home match against Coventry Crusaders. Having played well against Crystal Palace there was more confidence shown by the Solent team in this meeting with a side that had only been beaten once in the season. Once again, it was Drew Sewell who was constantly available to score points. He helped the home team to a 38 - 30 halftime lead. But whereas Solent had been able to contain Dip Donaldson to just ten first half points, the American cut loose in the second half to add 24 more points of his own and help Coventry to a 70 - 79 win. Drew Sewell had scored 25 and he was followed in the scoring by a less than match fit Ron Whitehead with 15 points.

Six months had passed since Solent's last win, against Oldham Celtics in the first game of the season. Martin Dowdall's injury kept him out of the long trip north to face Bury and Solent could only muster seven fit players for the trip, including the return of Roy Lewis. A bruising encounter took place in a match riddled with fouls but one that allowed the experience of Drew Sewell, Ron Whitehead and Roy Lewis to be of use. With barely a minute left, Sewell scored from the free throw line to level the scores at 85 all. Joe Morant then took a vital rebound as Bury missed their shot and when Sewell was fouled with just four seconds remaining, he calmly scored the two shots to give Solent a deserved victory (87 - 85).

Thirteen months had passed since Solent had last won a league game at Fleming Park, but hopes were high as the next visitors, Mid-Sussex Magic took the court. This time it was Ron Whitehead who took the eye as he scored, rebounded and defended in brilliant fashion. Although Drew Sewell took the scoring honours and coach Steve Fitzsimons reminded everyone that it was a team performance, it was Whitehead who stole the show. At one time Solent led by 25 points before being pulled back in before the end, but at last the patient supporters had their reward with a 84 - 72 win (Sewell 31, Whitehead 25).

The two top scorers in the Mid-Sussex Magic victory were both unavailable for the trip to play Ware Rebels. With Martin Dowdall also missing his third match because of an ear infection, it was a depleted side that managed to stay with the home team for most of the first half. With Roy Lewis cutting a swathe through the home defence on several occasions Solent were only ten points adrift at the interval. However, the young, inexperienced side crumbled at the start of the second half. Once coach Steve Fitzsimons realised that the game was as good as lost, he gave valuable court time to a crop of Solent youngsters who were in the team - Ian Broadsmith, Jason LeGoff, Ian Chambers, Chris Sheldrick and Dave Martin. Solent's recent mini-revival came to a sudden end with this 57 - 91 defeat in which Roy Lewis scored 21 points.

Back row: Drew Sewell, Richard Game, Andy Rowlands, Mick Byrne, Richard Bell, Steve Witt, Chris Mills
Front row: Roy Lewis, Guy Nicholas, Joe Morant, Martin Dowdall, Alex Byrne, Ian Broadsmith
On floor: Glen Follett

The final home game of the season was against Stockton Mohawks. It turned out to be a heartbreaking occasion for the Solent team and fans when, after leading throughout the match Solent let Stockton in to grab the final honours 90 - 94 (Sewell 39, Whitehead 24). The turning point came when Joe Morant was fouled out when Solent held the slenderest of leads.

After the match, Andy Rowlands picked up the Player of the Year award and Alex Byrne was given the Players' Player award. Just two matches now remained - both of which would require victories if Solent were to avoid the final place in the league.

The first of the two games was a visit to Nottingham Knights. Missing only Martin Dowdall from the usual starting line-up, Solent made a positive start with Drew Sewell scoring heavily. With Roy Lewis, Alex Byrne and Ron Whitehead all chipping in, Solent were ahead for the majority of the first half which ended with Nottingham scoring a fortunate three pointer. This seemed to give the home side an impetus and they were generally in front thereafter, although Solent fought for every ball. Three minutes from time Joe Morant fouled out for the second successive match. With Solent re-organising, Nottingham pulled seven points clear which was too big a gap for Solent despite a late flurry of points. Solent lost 90 - 93 (Sewell 35) to condemn them to last spot in the league table.

Solent saved their highest points total for the final game of the season - away to Stockton Mohawks - but still finished as the losing team! Going forward Solent were strong with Drew Sewell and Ron Whitehead scoring 55 points between them. Defensively, however, Solent were torn apart by a series of fast breaks from the Stockton team. The final defeat (95 - 100) was Solent's nineteenth out of twenty-two starts, nearly half of which had been by less than double figures.

	1995/96 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Crystal Palace	22	22	0	1989	1337	+652	44
2	Coventry Crusaders	22	19	3	1866	1627	+239	38
3	Ware Rebels	22	17	5	1864	1713	+151	33*
4	Cardiff Phoenix	22	14	8	1897	1845	+52	28
5	Bury Wildcats	22	10	12	1785	1861	-76	26
6	Stockton Mohawks	22	10	12	1939	2060	-121	20
7	Brixton Topcats	22	9	13	1557	1631	-74	18
8	Mid Sussex Magic	22	9	13	1736	1778	-42	18
9	Nottingham Knights	22	7	15	1630	1764	-134	14
10	Plymouth Raiders	22	7	15	1731	1785	-54	14
11	Oldham Celtics	22	5	17	1682	2042	-360	10
12	Solent Stars	22	3	19	1760	1990	-230	6

* One point deducted

Solent Stars 1994/95 Season

2008-11-05T14:50:00.005Z

Back row: Marc Barfoot, Guy Nicholas, James Cole, Andy Rowlands, Richard Cutler, Craig Metcalf
Front row: Richard Bell, Ian Broadsmith, Martin Dowdall, Alex Byrne, Steve Chant, Dean Owen

"Mass exodus leaves Solent Stars in a weak state for new season". So ran the banner headline in the Eastleigh Weekly News prior to the commencement of the new basketball season.

The departure of Joe Morant (until mid-season, at least) and Steen Sorensen had been known. However, it came as a blow when Colombian star, Jimmy Palmer, announced that he was moving to the USA. Also going to the USA was Mark Jackson, for a three year scholarship. Jon Rumsey was out with injury and with Jason Colgan having also left the squad prior to the end of the preceding season, coach Mick Byrne was left with scarce resources.

The number of incoming players was less pronounced. Alex Byrne, son of the coach, was returning after a year in America and would join Martin Dowdall as a guard. Dean Owen, originally from the Solent area, but having worked in Plymouth and played for the Raiders was also signed as a forward. In defence, Solent would be relying on the ever-improving Craig Metcalf, but otherwise the team would rely on players who had been on the fringe of the squad in the previous season. In a pre-season, morale boosting win at Oxford Dons (78 - 64) those players had included Guy Nicholas, Andy Rowlands, Richard Bell and Steve Chant. Solent were also hoping to sign Richard Cutler and Marc Barfoot. Solent also gave a trial to Zimbabwean Clarence Mushtonga in the Oxford game, but he failed to impress. Solent demonstrated the fact that they had undertaken a summer fitness training programme by streaking into a 25 - 2 lead at Oxford. Dowdall bagged 24 first half points but then twisted his ankle and played no further part in the game.

Dowdall also missed the opening away league game against the fancied Ware Rebels. This meant that the Solent line-up was almost unrecognisable from that which had played since Solent's return to the full national scene two years previously. It meant in this game that the guard's role fell almost exclusively on the young shoulders of Alex Byrne who had to play throughout the game. Strong defensive play by Marc Barfoot and Guy Nicholas combined with Byrne linking up well with top-scorer, Craig Metcalf, meant that Solent surprised Ware to lead 37 - 34 at halftime. Ware then scored nine early points in the second half and scorched to a 55 - 66 lead. There then followed two ugly elbowing incidents which involved Ware's Dwayne Martin on both occasions. As a result of the first, Solent lost big-man Richard Cutler whilst the punishment for the second, on Alex Byrne, was only called as a technical foul much to Solent coach Mick Byrne's disgust. Despite this, Solent fought back to 64 - 72 before losing out to a further three point shot by Jon Burnell and going down finally 69 - 78.

The first visitors to Fleming Park in the season were Nottingham Cobras. As a newly promoted team they had won both their opening games. Once again, Alex Byrne took on the role of sole playmaker. Solent were on course for a first victory, building up an early 25 - 13 advantage, mainly thanks to the shooting of Richard Cutler who mixed three pointers with a spectacular dunk. By halftime, however, Nottingham had come back to 34 all. Solent held most of the advantage throughout the second half until the closing two minutes when Marc Barfoot gave them a two-point lead (61 - 59). But a poor defensive display from Solent allowed ex-England international Martin Ford to dominate the game and send Solent to a 65 - 69 defeat.

Away from league action for their next game, Solent travelled to second division Northampton for a tricky National Cup opening round game. Martin Dowdall returned to the team after his three week layoff and this eased the burden on Alex Byrne. Although Solent struggled at first against the young Northampton team and even trailed 37 - 38 at halftime, once they got their noses in front there could be only one winner. Steve Chant had a particularly impressive game in Solent's 66 - 56 win.

Marc Barfoot

Since their return to the national scene, Solent had not beaten Brixton Topcats in the six meetings between the clubs. Strengthened by the return of Marc Barfoot, who had missed the Northampton match, Solent did well to match the fast running Brixton team and held a 33 - 32 lead towards the end of the half. A strong spurt from the home team took them 33 - 41 clear at halftime. Solent remained in touch until the last three minutes when Brixton opened a big lead to deny Solent a first league victory. Solent lost 64 - 80, with Byrne top scoring with 15 points.

The second round of the National Cup took Solent to Plymouth. Richard Cutler was on naval duty and he was sorely missed as Solent trailed by nineteen points at the half way stage. Coach Byrne commented, "We could not score to save our lives and Plymouth just blew us away with the speed of their break." A better second half performance saw Solent, inspired by Alex Byrne, close to 67 - 73. Just as it appeared that Solent might turn the game around a series of poor shot selections enabled Plymouth to build their lead again to win 69 - 82 (Byrne 27).

Mick Byrne, the Solent coach and England team manager, hit the headlines in Solent's next home league match against Slough. He was dismissed 24 seconds from the end of the match after a heated argument with the officials about the substitution of injured player Richard Cutler. A collision moments earlier had left Cutler hobbling with a knee injury but as the officials refused to stop play to attend to the player, Byrne's frustration became ever more apparent. Byrne had already been upset by previous technical fouls called on Martin Dowdall, Alex Byrne and Andy Rowlands. He became even more upset by the technical foul called on him for querying the decision not to stop the game and moments later was on his way to the changing room. None of the events, however, could hide the fact that Solent had lost another home game (58 - 69) - this time to a poorly regarded Slough outfit.

Solent's next trip was to league leaders Bury. Coach Mick Byrne was suspended and Martin Dowdall took the role of player/coach with team follower Jim Rumsey on the bench acting as lip-reader to Byrne who was forced to watch the game from a balcony of the Castle Leisure Centre. With five wins out of five, Bury expected to have things all their own way. However, a lively display from Dean Owen, Andy Rowlands and Alex Byrne denied them that. Despite losing Marc Barfoot (in the 14th minute) and Craig Metcalf with injuries, Solent closed to within five points of Bury in the final stages before going down 67 - 83.

A return to Fleming Park was next on the list, to play Plymouth Raiders in a league game. Surprisingly for a team without a league win over 400 supporters were present for the encounter. Coach Byrne had served his suspension and the team responded to that and the crowd size by putting on a long awaited-for display that put them nine points ahead for most of the first half. Plymouth came back into the game and overtime looked a distinct possibility with the scores at 60 all with less than two minutes remaining. The game could have gone either way but it was Martin Dowdall who decided it in Solent's favour with 13 points in the last five minutes to give Solent a 68 - 62 win (Dowdall 26).

The same venue and the same two teams constituted the next Solent fixture as the teams met in the National Trophy. Plymouth opened with an early 18-point salvo and after that Solent had a very uphill struggle. With Martin Dowdall tightly marked it was left to Alex Byrne to score the points. Although he totalled 27 in the game, there was not enough support from the other home scorers - other than Dowdall with 19 - and Solent exited the competition at the first hurdle (81 - 86).

An old favourite joined the Solent squad for their next game, at home to Stockton Mohawks. Drew Sewell had practised with the team for several weeks before committing himself to playing whenever work duties allowed. His shooting helped Solent establish a 35 - 22 halftime lead against a team just a few places above Solent in the league. With only seven players in their squad, Stockton looked down and out - having lost to third division Mid-Sussex in the Trophy just one week before. It was, therefore a complete mystery as to how Solent could let the match slip away in the second half to lose 79 - 88 (Sewell 24). Even without Richard Cutler, Solent should have won this match according to coach Byrne. "I can only apologise publicly to all those people who came along and bought tickets to watch this sort of display," he said.

Richard Cutler

Over 800 fans turned up at the Coventry Sports Centre for the home team's game against Solent Stars. Currently in contention to lead the league, Coventry Crusaders were surprised at the performance of Solent who only trailed by three points at halftime (32 - 35). However, Coventry then blew Solent apart with a fine second half display that began with denying Solent a point in the first five minutes. Indeed, Drew Sewell did not score a second half point and Martin Dowdall only hit two points. With no other visiting player picking up the scoring role, it was no surprise that Solent lost 54 - 80.

The next visitors to Fleming Park were Crystal Palace who were leading the league, just ahead of Coventry. Coach Byrne was hoping for a performance akin to the first half at Coventry. His team did not disappoint him. A newcomer to the squad was Roy Lewis who joined up with his previous partner Drew Sewell to give Solent more options. At first things went Solent's way as they patiently built up an 18 - 11 lead. Palace, coached by Alton Byrd, came back to level the game at halftime (37 - 37). Once again, Solent were slow out of the blocks at the start of the second half and Palace forged ahead. Solent rallied to come back to 62 - 64, but the league leaders demonstrated their superiority by racing away to a 77 - 86 win (Dowdall 19).

Solent Stars failed to ease their relegation worries when they travelled to Oldham Celtics and lost 75 - 83 (Byrne 22). American player Terraine Sears did most of the damage with 30 points and Solent only came back into the game at the end when Martin Dowdall did a good man-marking job on Sears, denying him the ball and reducing the points supply of the home team to a trickle. Without Drew Sewell and Roy Lewis (both working) Solent did not have the scoring power to stay in touch although the coach was encouraged by a return to form for Craig Metcalf and Marc Barfoot.

Next up for Solent was a match against Swindon Sonics who were bottom of the table. Drew Sewell enjoyed much freedom to shoot early on and capitalised on that. Once Swindon tried to close him down, Martin Dowdall took over the main scoring role. Swindon threatened briefly in the first half when they trailed by just two points, but at halftime they had fallen 52 - 36 in arrears. Solent were in no mood to let up and finally won 89 - 64 (Sewell 26, Dowdall 20).

A title-chasing team, Ware Rebels, were the next visitors to Solent. When Roy Lewis missed the first easy chance to score in the game in the first minute, Solent looked to be in trouble. Coach Byrne was forced to use both his timeouts in the first seven minutes, but could do little to stop Ware outscoring Solent 4 - 34 during one passage of play. That Solent finally mustered 52 points (Sewell 22) was due in part to Ware resting their main players for long periods. The final score of 52 - 105 was Solent's biggest defeat for five years - since the 54-point loss to Kingston. This marked Richard Cutler's last game for a while as he returned to Royal Navy duties.

If ever a team needed a boost, Solent were that team but their next match took them to Nottingham Cobras who were currently in fourth place in the league. Both Roy Lewis and Drew Sewell made the trip and their experience proved invaluable as Solent found themselves in a close-run finish after being level at halftime (33 - 33). In a match decided only in the final minutes, the unlikely match winner was Andy Rowlands. Normally a loyal bench man, Rowlands' opportunities were few and far between. Pressed into action when Marc Barfoot fouled out of the game, Rowlands swung the match for Solent with a couple of spectacular jump shots and then clinched it from the free throw line as he punished Nottingham's indiscipline. Solent won their first away game of the season in early February 70 - 66 (Sewell 20).

Drew Sewell and Roy Lewis were again the scoring heroes when Solent faced Brixton Topcats at Fleming Park. Apart from some anxious moments early on, Solent dictated the pattern and pace of the game - something that had eluded them in recent meetings between the teams. Solent accumulated a 43 - 31 halftime lead before a devastating second half which finished with Solent winning 104 - 81 (Sewell 34, Lewis 24) - exactly twice as many points as they had scored just two weeks ago on the same court.

Going into the final few matches of the season, Solent were in ninth position in the league with eight points. Trailing eight points behind Stockton, who were in eighth spot, a play-off place was unlikely. Survival was the main priority. Swindon, with only one win, looked doomed but Solent's points tally was matched by Plymouth and Slough were just two points behind. The game at Slough took on an important significance for Solent. Marc Barfoot was not fully fit for the Slough match but his height and bustle were needed. Solent led by seven points at the halfway stage, but suffered a blow when Drew Sewell fouled out with three minutes remaining, just as Slough Waterside went ahead for the first time. Despite a whole-hearted effort Solent could not regain the lead in the remaining time and lost 69 - 74.

Bury Lobos were wracked by injury problems and could only field six players for their visit to Solent. Their lack of numbers suggested that they would tire as the game went on and when Roy Lewis scored a three pointer to put Solent 65 - 58 ahead, the home crowd felt that just one more score might settle it. Instead they watched in horror as Bury gained renewed impetus when Alex Byrne twice gave the ball away with no cover behind him. Those errors allowed Bury to draw level in what had been an extremely tight contest throughout. Further defensive problems allowed Bury to regain a lead that was cancelled out by Martin Dowdall before he fouled out of the game. Bury again went two ahead before missing two important free throws. Marc Barfoot missed an easy lay-up before Guy Nicholas again levelled the score at 73 all. Only seconds remained as Drew Sewell gained an important defensive rebound before steaming up court as he looked to score a late winner. As Bury swiftly closed down the space before him, Sewell delivered the ball to Byrne, who had taken up a position on the right hand corner of the court. A reverse pass as the marker peeled away from Sewell left him free in his favourite wide shooting position. With only five seconds remaining, there was no room for error and Sewell ensured there was no error as he scored a typical three pointer that had the crowd leaping out of their seats. Solent won 76 - 73 with Sewell scoring 26 points.

Solent's recent hero was not available for the important trip to Plymouth. Also missing was Guy Nicholas although Solent were boosted by the return from America of Joe Morant, for his first game of the season. Unfortunately his lack of match practice showed as he ran up more fouls than points. Indeed this proved to be a very physical match, dominated by foul calls. Solent trailed 34 - 39 at halftime, but could not match the physical size and aggression of the home team and lost 69 - 88 (Lewis 22). With just five matches left, Solent were heading toward one of the two relegation places.

A second long trip beckoned in successive weeks when Solent travelled to Stockton Mohawks. Again, Drew Sewell was unavailable and this time he was joined by Marc Barfoot and Richard Game. The probable outcome seemed assured as Stockton went into a 0 - 8 lead. Solent pegged them back to 21 all before going behind again, only to rally for a second time and trail by three points at the interval. A trademark poor start to the second half - no score for five minutes - was not punished by Stockton who found the Solent defence hard to break. Alex Byrne threw in a couple of long three pointers whilst Roy Lewis' willingness to run through a defence proved profitable. With Joe Morant probing at guard and Craig Metcalf shrugging aside a hand injury, Solent began to accept their chances with more conviction. In a rough and tumble game, the sort that Solent rarely fancied, they found themselves 73 - 80 behind with five minutes remaining. More problems loomed when Lewis and then Andy Rowlands both fouled out. A couple of quick baskets by Guy Nicholas levelled the scores before Byrne put them in front from the free throw line. These points were to prove decisive since Stockton missed with their last attempt and Solent won 89 - 87.

A double-header weekend followed with the first match being at home to Coventry Crusaders. Even with the return of Drew Sewell, Solent were uncomfortable trying to match the Coventry team's running game and also they had little height resistance to offer, with Craig Metcalf - who had an indifferent game - being the only one of size in the team. A season's biggest crowd of over 500 spectators saw Solent keep level at halftime (42 - 42) thanks to some good shooting by Alex Byrne before Coventry's power drew them ahead to win 68 - 84 (Lewis 21).

The second game of the weekend took Solent to bottom club Swindon. Coach Byrne was upset when both Drew Sewell and Craig Metcalf withdrew from the squad at the last minute. With Marc Barfoot also having dropped out of the squad, Byrne's resources were sorely stretched. As luck would have it, he could again call on the services of Richard Cutler who had returned from Royal Navy duty. Cutler pulled down 15 rebounds in the game. Against a team that had only won once in the league, Solent made an indifferent start and were losing 38 - 41 at halftime. Fortunately for Solent, team captain Martin Dowdall recovered his shooting form that had deserted him of late. This allowed Solent to have plenty to spare as they won 89 - 75 (Lewis 25, Dowdall 24).

With Slough losing twice in a week, Solent were assured of a ninth or tenth place spot as they travelled to play Crystal Palace. As usual the Palace team proved too strong for Solent, being bigger and more mobile. Their fluency was interrupted when Michael Hosannah was disqualified for striking Joe Morant, but in the end they were comfortable winners (76 - 107). Crystal Palace were then crowned league champions.

Solent's final home game was against Oldham Celtics, a team that had finished fourth in the league. Once again the Solent support was evident as nearly 500 people came to Fleming Park for the match. In the early stages it looked as if their journey had been in vain as Solent appeared to be unable to muster any enthusiasm for the game or make any impact on their opponents. A ten-point burst near halftime enabled the visitors to go in nine points ahead. A tense finale to the season was barely conceivable when Oldham led by ten points with three minutes remaining. In less than a minute, however, the mood swung as Roy Lewis pounced twice and with Drew Sewell following, the lead was reduced to four (86 - 90). Solent had achieved this breakthrough by pressing Oldham in their own half, but there was always the risk that this would incur fouls. So it was, but in the process coach Byrne - who felt the officials were being too fussy - also was charged with a technical foul. All this helped Oldham move to a ten point lead which Sewell and Lewis made inroads into, but in the end Solent lost 94 - 100 to finish tenth in the league.

At the final league match, Drew Sewell received the Player of the Year trophy and Martin Dowdall collected the Players' Player of the Year award.

Solent points scorers for the season:

Martin Dowdall 327, Alex Byrne 322, Drew Sewell 254, Roy Lewis 231, Guy Nicholas 166, Richard Cutler 135, Marc Barfoot 132, Andy Rowlands 84, Craig Metcalf 65, Dean Owen 35, Joe Morant 29, Richard Bell 27, Richard Game 11, Ian Broadsmith 11, Steve Chant 8

	1994/95 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Crystal Palace	22	21	1	1883	1467	+416	42
2	Coventry Crusaders	22	18	4	1799	1572	+227	36
3	Ware Rebels	22	17	5	1969	1643	+326	34
4	Oldham Celtics	22	14	8	1800	1731	+69	28
5	Brixton Topcats	22	13	9	1905	1830	+75	26
6	Stockton Mohawks	22	10	12	1848	1873	-25	20
7	Bury Wildcats	22	9	13	1801	1852	-51	18
8	Nottingham Cobras	22	9	13	1549	1638	-89	18
9	Plymouth Raiders	22	7	15	1725	1855	-130	14
10	Solent Stars	22	7	15	1624	1785	-161	14
11	Slough Waterside	22	6	16	1477	1695	-218	12
12	Swindon Sonics	22	1	21	1562	2001	-439	2

Solent Stars 1993/94 Season

2008-11-05T14:49:00.005Z

Back row: Jon Rumsey, Richard Lawrence, Leon White, Mark Scott, Craig Metcalf, Marc Barfoot, Andy Rowlands
Front row: Jason Colgan, Jimmy Palmer, Joe Morant, Mick Byrne, Mark Jackson, Alex Charlton

Having finished tenth out of twelve teams in Division Two in the previous season, Solent Stars now found themselves playing in Division One! This came about because of the creation of the Basketball Premier League, which automatically led to a renumbering of all the other divisions, turning Division Two into Division One.

Off-court the club continued its association with Tonrin and was also developing links with Top Trainers - a sportswear firm based in Bournemouth but with a Southampton outlet. The club was sad to bid farewell to the services of Molly Ingram. Since 1981 Molly had been a regular supporter, winning the Supporter of the Year award on many occasions. She particularly remembered the all-day train journey with her husband to watch Solent in one of its Scottish matches.

The club was fortunate to have an excellent backroom staff for its match promotions that included Lee Worsfold and Paul Newman (who ran the merchandise table), Paul Bryan, Bob Beggs, David Hedley, Keith Metcalf and Andy Jackson.

Derek Browning was beginning his first full season as the club's physiotherapist having proved a very popular person to both players and club officials for his services over the last year. Another newcomer was Steve Witt who took on the role of Team Manager.

Pre-season activity centred on the identities of any new players Solent could attract. The name most prominent in newspaper articles was that of ex-Solent player, Mark Scott. The 33-year-old 6' 6" centre had recently played with Thames Valley Tigers, but had now moved to a teaching post in Southampton. It was known that Scott was looking to develop his coaching skills and Solent offered him the position of Assistant Coach to Mick Byrne. Jason Colgan, the player of the year for the 1991 - 92 season, had also been persuaded to return to the club. Other names in the frame for the upcoming season were Marc Barfoot, Mark Jackson, Nic Burns, Drew Sewell and Alex Charlton, a student from the Dorchester area.

However, serious injuries - both to knees - were affecting Paul Philp and Jon Rumsey. Rumsey had been the previous season's leading scorer and would be a difficult player to replace. Philp's experience would also be missed by the younger players recruited to play in this new season.

As usual, rumours abounded about the possibility of an American signing. The club, through Colombian Jimmy Palmer, had the possibility of finding employment for the player - working in Palmer's Solent Health Club - which would help finance any deal made.

The Solent Stars trophy cabinet increased its contents when at the AGM of the English Basketball Association, Solent director - Jim Rumsey - was presented with the Administrator of the Year award in recognition of 30 years service to local and area basketball. Ironically, Rumsey had just relinquished his local post to concentrate on the national scene.

Two preseason games were arranged prior to the first home league fixture. The first game was against last season's national champions, Worthing Bears. Mark Scott, who had played for Worthing prior to moving to Thames Valley was in the Solent starting five along with Jimmy Palmer, Jason Colgan, Joe Morant and Martin Dowdall. The rest of the squad was Craig Metcalf, Mark Jackson, Leon White and Richard Lawrence. Worthing, whose Premier League season began later than the Solent Stars league programme, had only recently assembled their squad. Even so, the pace and tenacity of the Solent team must have impressed them and eventually Worthing had to hang on for a one point win (78 - 79). Jimmy Palmer, in particular, impressed in this match, scoring 19 points.

Jason Colgan

Solent also played away to Swindon Sonics in their other pre-season game. Once again Palmer led the scoring with 19 points in Solent's 80 - 56 win. This proved an injury-jinxed game with Jason Colgan receiving a bloody nose and Craig Metcalf a gashed hand. Having let Swindon come back to within eight points after establishing a 44 - 21 halftime lead, Solent allowed Swindon just two points in the last eight minutes of play.

It was therefore a concern for Solent Stars that Jimmy Palmer would miss the first home league game of the season because of a suspension gained at the end of the previous season at Ware. Visitors Sheffield Forgers had won their league in the previous season and memories for Solent were of the defeat handed out by Sheffield at Fleming Park which had been Solent's only home defeat in that season when they had won the Division Three title. Also missing, because of holiday commitments, was Martin Dowdall. Solent were aided when it was disclosed that the new Sheffield player/coach - Terry Brunel - had registered too late to play in the game. Solent held the upper hand throughout although it took a wake-up call when Sheffield went briefly ahead shortly after halftime for the team to settle the game. This was done eventually by a series of penetrations of the Sheffield defence by Jason Colgan and the defensive ability of Mark Scott. Solent won 75 - 65 to send most of the 350 crowd home satisfied (Colgan 24, Scott 23).

The next visitors to Fleming Park were Brixton Topcats. Solent were still without Martin Dowdall and his ability to protect the ball was missed as Brixton harried the Solent ball handlers and forced 14 turnovers in the game. Coach Byrne was quoted as saying, "There is a saying in basketball, play quick - but don't hurry. We hurried." It started well for Solent with Mark Scott, Jason Colgan, Jimmy Palmer, Craig Metcalf and Joe Morant building up a 21 - 14 lead but by halftime Solent were trailing 38 - 52. Brixton continued to press and hustle and eventually Solent lost the game 82 - 97, although it could have been a bigger defeat with Brixton always in the driving seat. Jason Colgan and Mark Scott both scored 24 points.

A visit to Swindon followed for a match in the National Trophy. Once again Mark Scott was in a scoring mood, bagging 31 points as Solent stretched their slender halftime lead (35 - 31) to win comfortably 89 - 68. This was Martin Dowdall's first game and he collected 11 points.

Wallet-sized home fixtures card

Early pace-setters for the league season were Coventry Crusaders and it was a visit to them that Solent now made. Only two points separated the teams as the game entered its final stages, but as Solent were forced to chase matters they conceded possession at crucial moments. Earlier Martin Dowdall had collected three fouls in the opening twelve minutes. That forced coach Byrne to take him out of the game for a spell and Solent lost any outside shooting threat. Solent trailed by nine points at halftime and lost Jason Colgan early in the second half courtesy of a Coventry player's elbow that hit Jason's nose. Dowdall then fouled out with seven minutes remaining. His replacement, Mark Jackson, produced an encouraging display, however, as Solent closed on the home team. With barely two minutes remaining just two points separated the sides. But as they pressed forward, Solent were twice caught on the break and eventually went down 70 - 80 (Scott 26) to the unbeaten Coventry team.

A third round tie in the National Trophy pitted Solent against near neighbours Guildford Storm. The visitors to Fleming Park were from a lower division, but Solent could only lead 49 - 48 at halftime after once again being hounded by an agile and fast Guildford team. When Joe Morant fouled out and Jason Colgan could only sit out as a 'flu victim, an upset looked possible. Three minutes from time Solent led 79 - 77 and were indebted to Craig Metcalf for a couple of quick scores followed by a steal that set up Mark Jackson for an easy score. Solent ran out 95 - 88 (Scott 28, Palmer 22) winners to progress to the cup quarter-final with the opponents being Crystal Palace.

Prior to the next home league game, against Bury Lobos, Solent made an important new signing in the form of Steen Sorensen who stood at 6' 9" and had appeared 70 times for the Danish National team. The 25 year old was living in Bournemouth whilst undertaking a college course and had been spotted by coach Mick Byrne at a local league match.

Jason Colgan had recovered in time for the game, but coach Byrne was denied the services of Marc Barfoot, whose car caught fire on the way to the game. It was as well for Solent that they had Sorensen to cover for the missing player. In the end, Sorensen played for 23 minutes, clearly not match fit, but scored 14 points and took 10 rebounds. He had not been able to train with the team prior to the game and but for Barfoot's absence, would not have been used to the extent he was. Bury, fortunately for Solent, did not threaten at all and the only question was if Solent could reach treble figures. In the event, they fell short (95 - 81) but Mark Scott posted an impressive 36 points.

Solent were missing Jason Colgan for the following weekend when they had matches against Plymouth Raiders (home) and Cardiff Heat (away). Plymouth Raiders were currently bottom of the league and proved no opposition for Solent who enjoyed a free-scoring evening that finished with a huge three pointer from Mark Scott that brought up the century of points. Solent won 100 - 65 with Mark Scott notching 27 points.

Mark Scott also scored the same number of points against Cardiff less than 24 hours later. With Scott, Steen Sorensen, Jimmy Palmer and Martin Dowdall sharing the points around, Solent held their ground in a nip and tuck first half, only slipping behind in the last couple of minutes to trail 41 - 45 at the interval. But the Welshmen stretched their lead to ten points with another two minutes of pressure play and with Scott forced into a lengthy points famine, Solent's hopes of a comeback were sunk when Joe Morant fouled out with twelve minutes still to play. Coach Byrne conceded that it was tired limbs that probably cost the team the game that they eventually lost 80 - 87.

A first round game in the National Cup followed with a visit to Nottingham Cobras. Nottingham were an unbeaten team in Division Two and their confidence showed as they moved into an early 9 - 13 lead after five minutes. With Mark Scott being closely policed by Nottingham's England international Martin Ford, it was left to Steen Sorensen to work inside for points. Martin Dowdall weighed in with a couple of three pointers as Solent gradually took control. Nottingham did not give up easily, even when Ford was fouled out four minutes from the end. Solent were able to stay ahead throughout but were indebted to Sorensen who gained a vital rebound in the last minute to deny Nottingham the chance of drawing level. Solent won the game 78 - 72 (Scott 23).

Jon Rumsey made his first appearance of the season for the team's next match - away to Ware Rebels. Jason Colgan, however, used the same match to inform coach Mick Byrne that he did not feel that he had the commitment to continue playing for Solent. He had played a brief role in the Nottingham cup game after returning from a three match lay-off through an ankle injury. Byrne saw Colgan's departure as a major blow. "We are bound to miss him as he is a class player," he said. It was Martin Dowdall's match as he not only kept a tight rein on Ware's danger man, an Albanian named Zace, but also provided 20 points to complement Mark Scott's 22. The only blemish for Solent was the dismissal of Jimmy Palmer for disputing an official's call. Solent were well satisfied with their 84 - 74 win.

Solent Stars paid a high price for two minutes of carelessness as fleet-footed Brixton Topcats sent them spinning out of the National Cup at Fleming Park. With a third round home tie against Manchester Giants at stake, Solent looked to be on the brink of the big-time when, after a two minute barren spell at the start of the second half, Jimmy Palmer sank five quick points to stretch Solent's 34 - 30 halftime advantage to nine points. But the speed and agility that had earned Brixton an 82 - 97 victory at Fleming Park earlier in the season was soon back in evidence as they briefly took the lead at 39 - 40. Danish international Steen Sorensen was the central figure as Solent eased clear again at 59 - 55 but trouble set in a couple of minutes from time as Brixton switched up a gear to race 62 - 68 ahead. Home expectations rose again as Palmer and a Joe Morant three pointer reduced the deficit to one point. Then Sorensen's intentional foul gave Brixton two free throws and possession to signal the end of Solent's brave fight back as they went down 67 - 72 (Scott 21, Palmer 20) in front of over 450 spectators.

Fourteen points for Solent in the final three minutes - many of them from Joe Morant at the free throw line - were not enough to save Solent from a second home defeat in two weeks. This time the loss was to Crystal Palace (70 - 84) in a league match. The game went to prove how much Solent relied on the scoring power of Mark Scott who had been averaging 21 points a game prior to this one. Fussy refereeing led to Scott being on three fouls early on with coach Byrne having to sit him out for a long period. The player fared no better on his return and with 13 minutes left to play he reached his fifth foul. He had contributed just 10 points to the Solent score. Joe Morant was Solent's top scorer with 19 points with 'flu victim Jimmy Palmer notching 18.

The final game before the Christmas break was away to Sheffield. New signing Guy Nicholas, from Bournemouth Bears, scored the first points of a very indifferent first half. But Solent, without Steen Sorensen and Jimmy Palmer - both away on holiday - were never favourites to win the game and suffered a 70 - 98 point defeat.

With a four-week gap pending, coach Mick Byrne was grateful for an invitation to send his team to take part in a demonstration match against Oxford Dons at the occasion of the opening of the new Banbury Sports Centre. Solent won 78 - 63 and the pleasing feature for Byrne was the 12 points recorded by Jon Rumsey, who had been advised by a specialist to continue playing on his injured knee until it finally breaks down! A newcomer for Solent was Mark Hatton, a left-hander from the Bournemouth Bears club.

Prior to their next game - a National Trophy quarter-final against Crystal Palace - Solent faced their biggest crisis of the season as Mark Scott announced he was pulling out of the club. Scott (34) had stepped down from the Premier League on the assurance that he would be introduced to coaching but he claimed that his role at the club had been minimal. According to Scott he had been used mainly in a playing role and many of his ideas had not been put into practice. Mick Byrne expressed surprise at the move claiming that Scott had not stated his problems and he would do all he could to try and change Scott's decision.

So it was that Solent began 1994 with a crunch game having not played competitively for a month and now having lost their leading scorer (299 points being 30% of Solent's total) and rebounder. In the event, Solent's final total of 62 points was never going to be enough against the free-scoring Crystal Palace team. Jimmy Palmer scored some spectacular three pointers to keep Solent's largest crowd of the season entertained and he was backed by Sorensen's close-in scoring. The final difference between the teams was 14 points (62 - 76), exactly the same as the league defeat suffered earlier by Solent (Palmer 22).

League leaders Coventry Crusaders were the next visitors to Solent. Stars had high hopes of toppling the league leaders when they trooped in 30 - 28 up at halftime, Steen Sorensen have struck a rich scoring vein. But after scoring 16 points in the first half he was only able to add three in the second and Solent's five minute barren spell turned the course of the game. Once again Jimmy Palmer scored three pointers, young Mark Jackson added some much needed pace and Jon Rumsey showed flashes of his old speed and aggression following a lengthy knee injury. The night's biggest disappointment was the non-appearance of Jason Colgan whose comeback plans were wrecked by a last minute back injury in training. Solent went down 58 - 64.

Solent Stars had very little success to reflect upon in recent months but all that was put to one side at Fleming Park when they staged an astonishing comeback to defeat championship challengers Cardiff Heat in overtime. With barely a quarter of the game remaining and Solent trailing by 17 points a home win did not look on the cards. However, in a breathtaking final portion of the game, Solent swarmed all over Cardiff and after levelling the scores at full time went on to clinch the points in the five minutes of overtime. Such was the passionate support given by the 500 plus supporters at the game that it would not have been surprising if the roof had parted company with the rest of the building! Solent's squad was pared down to the bone as Martin Dowdall, Steen Sorensen and Jimmy Palmer all fouled out amid the Solent comeback which allowed them to level the final score at 74 all. Seventeen year old Mark Jackson was at the heart of the victory keeping his nerve to sink three of the four free throws awarded against Cardiff's Ray Longman for a foul followed by a technical foul in the dying seconds of the overtime period. There were giant contributions too from Joe Morant, Jon Rumsey, Craig Metcalf and the impressive Jason Colgan who marked his return with a clutch of valuable defensive rebounds before fouling out himself with 90 seconds remaining. Twelve seconds from time, Chris Harper scored a three pointer to close the gap to 89 - 86 but Solent were able to hang on to the ball for the remaining seconds to gain an impressive victory (Rumsey 19).

A new signing, Richard Cutler, a 6' 6" Royal Navy player, had made a brief appearance at the end of the Cardiff game and he was also in the squad that travelled north to play second-from-bottom Bury Lobos. With a minute to play, Solent trailed by one point (74 - 75) but instead of pushing forward, they were hemmed in by the home side. A string of free throws were conceded by Solent and with it the match as they failed to mount a serious attack in the closing stages. It was disappointing to lose 74 - 79 (Sorensen 26) in such a way after the previous week's display against Cardiff.

Solent then played Stockton Mohawks at Fleming Park. The visitors arrived with a weakened squad of just six players. Stars made painfully hard work of disposing of the Stockton team, however. They trailed all the way until a purple patch by Jon Rumsey put them ahead for the first time at 52 - 51, nine minutes into the second half. Martin Dowdall then chipped in with ten points to give the home team some much needed breathing space. The match was made safe when Richard Cutler, acting against instructions, threw in a successful three pointer right at the end. Rumsey scored 20 in Solent's 76 - 70 win.

Jason Colgan had only managed three points in the Stockton match and then declared himself unavailable for the trip to Crystal Palace on the following day. This prompted coach Mick Byrne to comment that, "Jason needs to make up his mind about his commitment to top flight basketball." Fifteen first half points from Martin Dowdall edged Solent into a 42 - 41 halftime lead. But Palace suddenly upped the pace to outscore Solent 2 - 13 in the first two minutes of the second half as Solent slid to their third defeat by Crystal Palace, this time with a 67 - 92 scoreline (Sorensen 19).

Solent's poor away form - only one win - continued with the rematch against Stockton, just one week after their encounter at Fleming Park. The home team were strengthened by the return of the four players who had not travelled south, whilst Solent were once again without Jason Colgan. Stockton went in to an early ten-point lead as Solent struggled to get their game together. A succession of Martin Dowdall three pointers kept Solent in touch with Stockton, but the home side were still comfortably ahead 36 - 45 at halftime. Solent reduced the difference to six points at one stage, but were never able to get closer than that, finally missing out 76 - 86 (Dowdall 22). Jimmy Palmer had another poor return of points, scoring just two points after two previous games where he had not scored at all.

The next visit for Solent was to bottom of the league Plymouth Raiders. Raiders had recently turned a corner as they had beaten Crystal Palace in the National Trophy before losing by just two points to Sheffield in the Final. A large crowd was present for the game and they had plenty of entertainment as the lead changed hands 20 times in the game. With eight seconds of the game remaining, Solent looked to have clinched it when Steen Sorensen went to the free throw line and scored twice to put Solent 76 - 74 in the lead. But Plymouth's American ace, Trent Forbes, made a lightning last-gasp raid down court, setting up Richard Ure to level on the buzzer (76 - 76). Solent quickly swept into a six-point lead in overtime only for Plymouth to again level at 82 all. Stars had the last say with nine points in the last 32 seconds, mainly from Martin Dowdall at the free throw line. Solent therefore clinched a place in the play-offs with their 91 - 86 win (Sorensen 27).

Having now qualified for the play-offs, Solent entertained Ware Rebels for their final home league fixture of the season. Having edged a tight first half 37 - 36 Solent then lost their way and tumbled ten points adrift within the opening three and a half minutes of the second half. Jimmy Palmer, Steen Sorensen and Jon Rumsey whittled away at Rebels' lead and then Martin Dowdall's timely three pointer brought Stars back to 58 - 59. Ware responded with a series of baskets that finally accounted for Solent, 74 - 82 (Rumsey 26).

The awards for the season were presented after the final home match. Youngster Mark Jackson was voted as the Player of the Year, despite not being a regular starting five player, with Jimmy Palmer as runner-up. The Players' Player award went to Steen Sorensen. With Jackson's forthcoming departure to the USA, Palmer's probable return to Colombia and Sorensen also returning home, to Denmark, it looked as if important changes would have to be made to any future Solent squad.

The final league match was a visit to Brixton Topcats. With Ware having surprisingly beaten Cardiff in Cardiff the previous evening, Solent knew that they had to win to finish seventh in the league. A loss would mean a trip to league champions, Coventry Crusaders, for the quarter-final Championship Play-Off match. After a slow start, in which Solent, missing Steen Sorensen who had returned home for International duty, fell 5 - 19 adrift, the picture suddenly brightened dramatically in an amazing nine minute spell when Brixton failed to score and Solent moved into a 23 - 19 lead. By halftime it was all square at 28 - 28, but instead of playing at their own speed after the break, Solent tried to match Brixton's lightning pace and composure went out of the window. Some questionable refereeing decisions went against Solent and coach Mick Byrne, not for the first time in the season, was called for a technical foul. Solent lost 60 - 72 to finish in eighth position in the league.

The club management and supporters got together to raise the return fare from Denmark to allow Steen Sorensen to join the squad for the play-off fixture at Coventry. Solent coach Mick Byrne had been optimistic that he had the resources to worry Coventry, but after only five minutes it was apparent that a damage limitation exercise was the only viable source of option open to them. In front of a sell-out crowd Coventry offered Solent little respite as they gathered a 15 - 39 point lead inside the first half. Team captain Martin Dowdall spearheaded Solent's attacking efforts with 22 points in their 53 - 78 point defeat.

One final success for the Solent club was the March Divisional Player of the Month Award to Jon Rumsey.

	1993/94 (Division 1)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Coventry Crusaders	18	16	2	1498	1338	+160	32
2	Crystal Palace	18	12	6	1483	1333	+150	24
3	Cardiff Heat	18	11	7	1533	1426	+107	22
4	Sheffield Forgers	18	10	8	1489	1434	+55	20
5	Brixton Topcats	18	10	8	1512	1413	+99	20
6	Stockton Mohawks	18	9	9	1558	1607	-49	18
7	Ware Rebels	18	8	10	1455	1568	-113	16
8	Solent Stars	18	7	11	1390	1448	-58	14
9	Bury Lobos	18	4	14	1552	1699	-147	8
10	Plymouth Raiders	18	3	15	1451	1655	-204	6

Solent Stars 1992/93 Season

2008-11-05T14:49:00.003Z

After the success of the previous season, it was a blow to coach Mick Byrne to lose the services of three of the squad in particular. Whilst Steve Chant's retirement lost Solent a player who could come off the bench, the departure of Masai Ujiri (to college in the USA) and Jason Colgan meant playing without two of the starting five. Colgan had decided to concentrate on playing local league basketball as he reviewed his work and financial commitments. He had been voted player of the year for the previous season and was also nominated as one of the best five players in Division Three.

New players joining the squad were Jamie Weavill, Paul Etherington and Richard Bell. Weavill, a six-foot guard/forward, had signed from Chiltern although he had been on the list of some other second and third division sides. A good shooter of the ball, he would hopefully provide cover for the loss of Colgan's contributions. At 6' 6", Paul Etherington would hopefully improve Solent's defensive rebounding. He played for Stevenage in the third division during the previous season. Richard Bell from Basingstoke had no previous National League experience but coach Byrne saw a potential that earned him a place in Solent's all-British squad.

Off court, Solent were indebted to the continued interest shown in the club by its chairman, Trevor Nichols, especially since his work had now taken him abroad. Marie Comer continued to act as club treasurer and bookkeeper whilst the firm of Tonrin bore the brunt of the commercial sponsorship for the third season.

Solent started the season with a home game against Lewisham Lightning, a team that had finished in the lower part of the league the previous season but, like Solent, had won Division Three the year before that. The Stars got off to a confident start but then ran into foul trouble in the first half which gave Lewisham frequent visits to the free throw line which allowed the visitors to briefly take the lead (27 - 29) toward the end of the first half. Two late baskets from Jamie Weavill restored Solent's lead by the interval. Craig Metcalf was given an extended run in the second half and it was his spectacular dunk that seemed to spur Solent on as they took control of the game to win 77 - 57 (Rumsey 20 points).

In the second league match, away to Barnsley Generals, Solent Stars posted one of their lowest scores ever - but still won the game (49 - 48). It was a year ago that a similar score had been recorded by Solent. On that occasion they had lost to Crystal Palace by one point. This time the victory came at the end of a bizarre evening's events. After arriving without Jon Rumsey (ill) and Paul Etherington (business) Solent found that they had to help prepare the arena before the match could commence. There was no electronic scoreboard, little equipment for the table officials and even the match ball was missing and eventually had to be supplied by Solent. Craig Metcalf then sustained a badly bruised ankle in the opening minutes which kept him out of the remainder of the match. It was left to Nic Burns to muster the defence which he did well with Marc Barfoot putting in a creditable performance also. The result was to restrict Barnsley to only 22 first half points. Barnsley's defence proved equally adept with the result that Solent could only muster 22 points of their own in this time. Things did not improve much in the second half although an eight-point burst from Martin Dowdall helped Solent to a lead that they then held on to. With just 13 seconds remaining a Marc Barfoot basket gave Solent a four-point lead which Barnsley reduced with the last shot of the game. Barfoot was also Solent's leading scorer with 12 points.

It was the same player that was to repeat his last ditch effort in the following match at home to Cardiff. Prior to that Solent had run into injury trouble with Rumsey, Metcalf and Etherington still out, the squad suffered further in the game as Nic Burns suffered a bad back and Paul Philp took a heavy fall. Barfoot himself was not feeling well because of a virus problem. Even so, Solent established a comfortable 34 - 27 halftime lead thanks mainly to Jamie Weavill's 22 points. Cardiff's Chris Harper reduced the Solent lead to five points (65 - 60) with less than two minutes remaining and when Martin Dowdall then turned over the ball, Cardiff scored two more points. Solent failed to score on their next possession and Darryl Gens scored for Cardiff. Amidst tremendous excitement, Solent went looking for the basket that would secure the match. As they did so Jamie Weavill promptly conceded possession to Cardiff's Jason Merchant whose run on basket was checked by Joe Morant at the expense of two free throws. One was scored to level the game at 65 all. Again Solent sought the decisive strike knowing that any further mistakes would probably cost them the match. Under sustained pressure from the Cardiff defence, Solent patiently worked the ball around until, with three seconds remaining, Joe Morant spotted Marc Barfoot, who had eluded his marker, under the basket. As in the previous game at Barnsley, Barfoot made no mistake with his close range shot to give Solent a 67 - 65 win. This was Solent's 20th win in matches in 1992 in which time they went from the third division to the top of the second division.

A free week followed before Solent were pitted against the same opponents for the second round match in the National Trophy also to be played at Fleming Park.

What a difference two weeks makes in basketball must have been the observations of all who saw the consecutive home games at Fleming Park as Solent Stars slumped to a rare and unusually heavy defeat (63 - 94) at the hands of Cardiff. It was the worst result since October 1989 when Kingston cleaned up 130 - 76. The number of points conceded was the worst for two years whilst Solent's total of 63 points was their lowest recorded at home for more than six years. Solent made a typically slow start which enabled Cardiff to lead 2 - 14 in the early stages. The only time Solent threatened to stage a recovery was midway through the first half following the introduction of Jon Rumsey. Although not fully recovered from illness he plundered a number of scores as Solent reduced the gap to 22 - 28. But by halftime Cardiff had re-established a 13-point lead and were well on their way to the next round of the competition. Cardiff finally went clear when Solent could only muster eight points in a ten minute spell in the second half. Most of the damage was done by Chris Harper who scored 29 points.

Solent Stars then surrendered their unbeaten league record the following week when they lost at home to Brixton (81 - 94). It was a flurry of three points scores just after halftime that proved Solent's undoing. Prior to that Solent had held a slender 49 - 44 interval lead. This was Solent's highest score of the season but it proved insufficient on the night where Solent's fire-power was restricted by injuries to Nic Burns, Marc Barfoot and Paul Etherington. Added to this, Joe Morant could not participate in the second half because of illness. Coach Byrne commented, "We are now finding out how hard the second division can be."

Solent Stars rediscovered some winning form when on the following weekend another home game pitted them against Lewisham Lightning in the first round of the National Cup. Lewisham were still without a win in the season after their opening game against Solent. Perhaps it was not surprising, given the reverses against Cardiff and Brixton, that Solent sought hard to regain some confidence. Solent even went 20 points clear in the second half before a late Lewisham revival ensued, in part because of a late Solent collapse that almost lost them the game. Craig Metcalf was given a starting five spot following his impressive performance in the Brixton game. Jamie Weavill, Jon Rumsey and otherwise out-of-form Martin Dowdall all sank early three pointers as Solent established their lead. With less than ten minutes remaining the result did not seem in doubt as Solent led 67 - 47. Solent still held a 12-point lead with three minutes remaining, but even this nearly vanished as Lewisham cashed in on a spate of free throws arising from the number of fouls called in the game. Both Dowdall and Rumsey fouled out of the game as Solent clung onto their narrow lead. Andy Rowlands scored two free throws to give Solent a slight breathing space when the score was 75 - 70 in Solent's favour. Lewisham were unable to cash in on a couple of Solent's further mistakes and more scores from Rowlands and Paul Philp saw Solent home 81 - 70. Jamie Weavill was named man-of-the-match for his 22 points.

Coach Mick Byrne was also the England Senior Men's Basketball manager. Because of his European championship duties, Solent were then without a match for a three week period. During this time most of the younger members of the squad went to Eastbourne to take part in a physical performance research project. This was a mixed blessing as Martin Dowdall twisted an ankle in the programme that put him out of the forthcoming National Cup game. Solent also drafted in ex-coach Mark Saiers to run the training sessions and had serious talks to persuade Russ Taylor - a member of the squad when Solent were in the first division - to re-sign for the club.

Ware Rebels were Solent's visitors for the second round of the National Cup. Although they had not made a good start to the league season, recent results had gone their way and they came full of confidence. Solent's lack of match action showed as they struggled to find any rhythm in their play. Solent had been in arrears from early in the match and only recovered from this when Paul Philp and the newly-signed Russ Taylor began to gain and control some possession. Three point shots from Jamie Weavill and Jon Rumsey enabled Solent to level at 21 all. That should have provided Solent with a platform on which to build. Instead it all collapsed under them as a series of ill-conceived shots saw Solent only collect four points in the next six minutes. Solent were unable to pull themselves back into the game and Ware became the first team to win a National Cup game at Fleming Park in six seasons as they took the game 63 - 83. Prior to the game the students from Southampton University had handed a £200 cheque over to the club as proceeds of a number of events held to support the club and organised by Solent helper, Bob Beggs.

Injuries to Russ Taylor (knee) and Martin Dowdall kept them out of the next match which was against second in the table Middlesbrough. Solent quickly fell 11 points behind but unlike latter performances they managed to demonstrate a sense of purpose and zest noticeably lacking in recent games. Successive three point scores from Jamie Weavill and Joe Morant sparked Solent into life and when Joe Morant scored after a dazzling dribble through the defence, Solent were within one point (34 - 35). Middlesbrough extended their lead to 36 - 41 by halftime but Solent were playing with a lot more confidence and a Jamie Weavill three pointer took Solent into the lead at 61 - 60. Still ahead at 71 - 70, Solent suffered a body blow when Steve Race scored with a huge three pointer to take the lead from them. In a frantic final minute, Tony Hanson added two more points for the visitors and Nic Burns and Joe Morant were both charged with intentional fouls as they fought to get the ball. Jamie Weavill scored another three pointer with ten seconds remaining to take the score to 74 - 77. Solent even managed to get the ball again from another steal but Joe Morant's attempted three pointer to level the game fell short of the ring.

Doncaster, the unbeaten league leaders, were the next visitors to Fleming Park. This match was to provide one of basketball's more bizarre endings. This was not evident at the start of the game that had Solent parading their new signing, a Colombian named Jimmy Palmer who owned a local health club. He had been training with the squad for a few weeks but it had taken time for his international clearance papers to arrive. The former Colombian international scored 12 points in the game, the majority in the latter stages of the first half as Doncaster built up an interval lead (36 - 46). Helped by several three pointers from Martin Dowdall (six in the match) Solent narrowed the Doncaster lead to just one point at 60 - 61. The league leaders then set about the task of preserving their unbeaten record and clinically went ahead to lead by 16 points with just 14 seconds remaining on the clock. The next 14 seconds provided unexpected entertainment for the crowd and a closer than expected finish for the game. David Ogilvie described it for the Eastleigh Weekly News:

"Solent Stars just failed to spoil the unbeaten record of Doncaster in an extraordinary finish to Saturday's match at Fleming Park. Trailing by 16 points with just 14 seconds left on the clock, Solent nearly made Doncaster suffer for an appalling lack of discipline that saw visiting coach Curtis Xavier sent off for foul and abusive language. The volatile Xavier had already been the handsome winner of the kicking the chair as far as possible competition when he all but dragged his side down with him after sustaining the kind of verbal assault that even the most tolerant of referee would have been loathe to ignore. The incident that sparked such unbelievable fury followed a Martin Dowdall three point shot that was awarded because of 'interference' by Kevin Penny. Solent were awarded the three points to take the score to 79 - 92 with 14 seconds remaining. Hardly the kind of incident that was likely to affect the outcome of the game, you would think. Clearly it was so far as Doncaster were concerned for Penny, recently sent off himself against Brixton, immediately rushed after the referee who immediately punished him with a technical foul. Xavier then joined in with an arm waving burst of abuse that until then had been reserved for his own team when they failed to heed his playing instructions. Two warnings followed before he was sent to the changing room still protesting his ill-founded innocence. From all the mayhem Solent were awarded six free shots and possession. Martin Dowdall scored from five of the shots and Craig Metcalf from the subsequent possession to make the score 86 - 92. Nic Burns was then fouled as he tried to regain possession. He scored with both attempts with four seconds remaining. Solent even regained possession in that time, but were unable to add to their total finally losing 88 - 92."

More drama ensued after the game when coach Mick Byrne, unhappy at the apparent disharmony in his team - especially after his announcement of Joe Morant and Martin Dowdall as club co-captains - said that he was ready to resign his role. Directors David Varcoe-Baylis and Jim Rumsey called a meeting with him that was also attended by senior players Nic Burns and Paul Philp and persuaded him to continue. This decision was ratified by a subsequent meeting with the players.

The final game of the year was Solent's only second away match of the season. The opponents were Coventry Crusaders and the match was carried live by cable television. The Coventry club had invited a brass band to play Christmas carols at suitable intervals. The band was placed closely alongside the Solent bench which made team talks almost impossible. The result was that Solent slumped to their fourth league defeat (59 - 80). With only Russ Taylor missing, Solent were unable to find any combination that might trouble the home team. Jon Rumsey turned in another useful display to confirm his return to form and but for his presence in front of basket Solent would have been even further adrift in what was a lacklustre performance. Apart from his 20-point return, only Jamie Weavill offered any kind of threat to the Coventry defence. With five minutes remaining Solent had closed the score to 48 - 60, but it was Coventry that finished the stronger team.

The Christmas break brought no joy for Solent who were only able to practise on a few occasions. Added to that Jimmy Palmer, had not returned from Colombia and Russ Taylor was still injured for the home match against Bury in early January. Despite enjoying a nine point lead early in the second half, Solent never looked in control of the game. Nic Burns was particularly effective as Solent had a purple patch just after the break to put them 46 - 37 ahead. Instead of capitalising on that, Solent took just three minutes to surrender the lead as Bury scored twelve points without reply. Bury's Larry Spencer scored seven three pointers in his 25 points despite sitting out most of the first half when he collected three quick fouls, including a technical foul. Solent lost the game 73 - 80 to make it three months without a win in the league.

Near rivals Plymouth Raiders were Solent's next opponents as they travelled to the West Country without Nic Burns and Russ Taylor. Solent did however include a new signing, Drew Sewell. Although far from match fit, Sewell was coach Byrne's attempt to inject some point scoring into the Solent machine. Solent made most of the running in the game until the closing stages. It was five minutes before Plymouth were able to register their first basket as Solent played a tight defence. With Rumsey (24 points) again putting in a powerful attacking performance Solent enjoyed a 35 - 31 lead. But Plymouth edged ahead in the second half and the deciding moment came when Weavill attempted a hopeful three point shot with Solent trailing by seven points. The shot missed and Plymouth went straight down the other end and scored a three pointer of their own to take the score to 60 - 70. There was to be no late rally from Solent who lost the game 71 - 84. This put Solent in tenth place in the league as Plymouth climbed above them with this win.

Russ Taylor returned for the match at Crystal Palace on a Thursday night. Crystal Palace were a much changed team from that of the season before with the arrival of Americans Russ Saunders and Renaldo Lawrence. By halftime Crystal Palace had a commanding lead and Solent trailed 29 - 47. Russ Taylor alone enjoyed his comeback as he scored 21 points but Solent eventually succumbed 73 - 96.

Two days later Solent were back in south London again, this time to play Lewisham Lightning, a team still without a league win. Solent had difficulty in finding the Lewisham court and only the then comparative luxury of a Jimmy Palmer mobile phone allowed directions to be sought whilst parked in front of Lewisham Hospital. Once there it was to prove an atmosphere-less place with less than 20 spectators. As at Crystal Palace Nic Burns was missing as he contemplated his future in the game. In a game that consisted of 51 fouls, Solent found they were unable to impose any control on the game. The decisive moments came with the score tied at 32 all just two minutes from halftime. Lewisham then scored 10 points without reply and this proved to be the deciding factor. Despite a late three pointer from Paul Philp that gave them hope, Solent fell away to a 70 - 77 defeat by the bottom team in the league. Only Drew Sewell (22) scored with any regularity.

The famous Solent support was in evidence again as Solent returned home for a match against the other basement dweller, Barnsley Generals. So many came to support Solent that the game start time had to be delayed to get everyone in. Nic Burns had apparently retired and was not playing but otherwise Solent were at full strength as coach Byrne started with Drew Sewell, Jimmy Palmer, Paul Philp, Russ Taylor and Jon Rumsey. Palmer gave Solent a perfect three-point start and by halftime Solent led by ten points. This was increased to 18 points early in the second half as Sewell, Palmer and Philp all scored. Taylor provided Solent with rebounding control at either end and his reliable distribution set up numerous attacking opportunities as Solent cruised to their first league double of the season 89 - 72 (Sewell 33).

Solent were forced to take stock of their playing situation prior to the visit of Ware Rebels to Fleming Park. Nic Burns had announced his retirement, Marc Barfoot was injured, Russ Taylor had work commitments and Jamie Weavill missed the game because of problems in attending training sessions from his London home. This left Craig Metcalf and Paul Etherington as Solent's main rebounders. Although they tried manfully enough they had no answer to Ware's formidable physical presence, which gave the visitors generous possession. Despite this, Solent only trailed 45 - 51 at halftime. There were still only eleven points separating the teams with five minutes to play when Jimmy Palmer's comments to the referees gave Ware the chance to add to this difference. The ill-tempered match ended with Martin Dowdall being given an intentional foul along with a Ware player as they tussled for the ball. Ware's Jon Burnell decided to join in the dispute as well and was disqualified when he threw the ball in Dowdall's face. Sewell with 25 points was Solent's leading scorer in their 74 - 86 defeat.

Relegation fears were raised again when Barnsley scored an unexpected win over Plymouth as Solent travelled to play at Brixton Topcats. Coach Byrne was presiding over a team that was falling apart as Nic Burns' departure was now enjoined by that of Jamie Weavill who had decided that the travel involved from London was too much to take. For the Brixton game, Byrne was also without Russ Taylor and Drew Sewell. Little surprise then that Solent were unable to match their hosts in the first half scoring and went in trailing 26 - 37 despite an evenly matched opening fifteen minutes. Jon Rumsey provided another determined display but as leading scorer with only 12 points, Solent's problem in finding the basket was only too evident as they lost the game 50 - 81, their heaviest league defeat of the season.

The next visitors to Fleming Park were high riding Crystal Palace. They were without injured Russ Saunders and Solent were desperate to take advantage of that. However, a wretched first half performance saw them trailing by 17 points at halftime. So it came as a welcome surprise to the home fans that after halftime Solent Stars, with apparently nothing more to play for than respectability, completely turned the game around and nearly snatched a famous victory. But for the continued excellence of Jon Rumsey and the sharpness of Drew Sewell, Solent could have been even further adrift as Crystal Palace rattled up 55 first half points against an almost non-existent rearguard although Solent were hampered by the absence of Russ Taylor. Three successive scores at the start of the second half by Rumsey and Sewell gave Solent early encouragement that they might be able to retrieve matters and this they steadily did. The lead was steadily reeled in and two successive three pointers by Jimmy Palmer made the score 72 - 76 and Solent sensed that the game was on. With another large crowd urging them on, Solent closed to two points as Sewell punctured the Crystal Palace defence. A puzzling technical foul against Joe Morant slowed the impetus as Crystal Palace scored five points from the offence. As long range shots from Palmer and Paul Philp missed their target, Solent's chances seem to have gone as Crystal Palace went 74 - 85 clear. Martin Dowdall responded with a three pointer and with Rumsey and Philp adding points from the free throw line, Solent again moved to within two points (83 - 85). In the last two minutes Marc Barfoot scored with a hook shot to keep Solent just two points behind, but his next similar attempt came off the ring and into a Crystal Palace pair of hands. The moment was gone and Solent lost 88 - 95. Solent were still uncomfortably in the relegation zone, yet their three home matches against the top teams had resulted in just three, four and seven point defeats only. Indeed, five of Solent's eleven losses had been by seven points or less.

A visit to runaway league leaders Doncaster was not what Solent wanted as they battled for Division Two survival. Doncaster demonstrated why they were such a powerful force by crushing the Solent challenge 60 - 108. With both Jon Rumsey (ill) and Drew Sewell (awaiting an operation) missing, Solent were always going to be stretched in this game, and so it proved. Luckily for Solent both Lewisham and Barnsley, the two teams below them, were beaten on their home courts in the same weekend. With 22 matches in all to be played, the foot of the league table in mid-March was:

	P	W	L	Pts
Solent Stars	17	4	13	8
Barnsley Generals	18	2	16	4
Lewisham Lightning	18	2	16	4

Both the bottom teams lost their matches during the following weekend, so it required Solent Stars to win just one more game to survive in Division Two. Solent's next match was at home to sixth-place Coventry Crusaders. The team was heartened by the fact that Drew Sewell's operation had been postponed and he was available for the game. Not such good news was the axing of Russ Taylor for failing to appear at training sessions. With Solent having only won one of their last 14 league games, they had to rely on their confidence in recent home fixtures to carry them through. This confidence was not misplaced as Solent opened brightly with good shooting from Drew Sewell to keep the lead in the first half until four successive three pointers from Coventry gave them a slender lead (36 - 37) just one minute from halftime. Drew Sewell responded with two three pointers and another from Jimmy Palmer, plus a free throw, saw Solent go in leading 46 - 37. Whilst Sewell's accuracy and range inevitably attracted the attention, there were other significant features to emerge from the match as well. Not the least of these was the contribution made by Joe Morant and Martin Dowdall who played virtually the entire forty minutes. Morant kept Dip Donaldson so quiet that he emerged with a mere 16 points, whilst Dowdall included in his total successive scores when Coventry were pressing hard to overturn Solent's advantage. Solent's win, 80 - 73 (Sewell 36) ensured survival at the end of their first season in Division Two.

The following day Solent travelled to play Ware Rebels and were beaten 74 - 89 in a game where Jimmy Palmer was disqualified for fighting.

This was followed by a mid-week match at Bridgend to play Cardiff who were using the venue having been given an opportunity to appear on Welsh TV. Although Solent did Cardiff a huge favour in accepting this mid-week fixture, Cardiff were in no mood for any reciprocal action and powered to a 67 - 101 win (Sewell 32).

It was six months since Solent had won an away league game, against Barnsley, as they travelled north to play Bury. Without Jimmy Palmer, Drew Sewell, Marc Barfoot and Craig Metcalf (out for the rest of the season after picking up an injury in the Crystal Palace game) Solent were stretched for playing resources. Since last playing against Bury they had acquired the services of Alan Bannister who had returned from America. At 7' 5" he was a barrier in defence that Solent found hard to overcome, although a brave defensive game by Paul Etherington meant that Bannister did not pose an undue threat on the scoring front. Trailing 31 - 48 just before the interval, Solent seemed off the pace until a late rally inspired by Jon Rumsey drew them to within five points at the interval. Bury again enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges in the second half but persistent scoring by Rumsey and Martin Dowdall kept Solent in touch. Three times Solent came to within two points but when Joe Morant fouled out just before the end, Solent had to accept defeat, losing 87 - 94 (Dowdall 29, Rumsey 26).

Although the next home game was the last of the season for both teams and neither would profit in league table position from a win, the game itself, against Plymouth saw over 50 fouls called as both teams fought hard to gain the ascendancy. Solent could not contain Plymouth's two American players, who between them scored 79 of the visitors' points. Solent trailed for most of the game and with 24 seconds remaining were still 93 - 99 in arrears. It took a three pointer by Paul Philp to level the scores with one second remaining with a shot taken from just over the half way line. Overtime was a continuation of the main game with Solent missing from the free throw line as Plymouth pulled away to leave Solent trailing at the end 108 - 113 (Sewell 38, Rumsey 23).

After the game the Solent awards were distributed. Joe Morant was voted Player of the Year with Martin Dowdall in second place. The first winner of the newly instituted Players' Player Award was Jon Rumsey.

Solent Stars finished in tenth place in the league having won five league matches. Significantly, eight of those games had been lost by seven points or less.

Drew Sewell shakes hands with the Mayor as Craig Metcalf and Coach Mick Byrne look on

The final game of the season was the Eastleigh Mayor's Charity game and saw Jason Colgan make a guest appearance for Solent against Worthing Bears who were preparing for the forthcoming Championship Play-Offs at Wembley. In a low-key game Worthing were the winners (106 - 116) with Colin Irish scoring 35 points for them whilst Colgan top-scored for Solent with 25 points.

Solent points scorers for the season:

Jon Rumsey 347, Martin Dowdall 283, Drew Sewell 254, Jamie Weavill 206, Nic Burns 123, Joe Morant 119, Paul Philp 101, Craig Metcalf 91, Paul Etherington 83, Marc Barfoot 83, Jimmy Palmer 72, Russ Taylor 40, Andy Rowlands 17, Richard Lawrence 14, Lee Dennis 8, Mark Jackson 4, Richard Bell 4, Mike Kessner 2

	1992/93 (Division 2)	Played	Won	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
1	Doncaster Panthers	22	20	2	2036	1458	+578	40
2	Middlesbrough	22	17	5	1950	1919	+31	34
3	Crystal Palace	22	16	6	1920	1795	+125	32
4	Ware Rebels	22	14	8	1844	1764	+80	28
5	Cardiff Heat	22	13	9	1811	1596	+215	26
6	Coventry Crusaders	22	11	11	1696	1623	+73	22
7	Brixton Topcats	22	11	11	1843	1830	+13	22
8	Bury Lobos	22	10	12	1836	1820	+16	20
9	Plymouth Raiders	22	9	13	1945	1989	-44	18
10	Solent Stars	22	5	17	1653	1873	-220	10
11	Lewisham Lightning	22	3	19	1650	2083	-433	6
12	Barnsley Generals	22	3	19	1476	1830	-354	6