NOONECHRONICLESTHEACTIONBETTERTHANUS ROCKETS RIDE INTO FINAL FOUR WITH WIN OVER LOUGHBOROUGH ROYALS CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY IN STYLE

By STAFF WRITER sport@wokingham.today

THE fourth seeded Reading Rockets started their playoff run strongly, claiming a dominant 99-77 win over the Loughborough Riders.

It was a great team performance in front of another sold out Loddon Valley as six Rocket players had double digit points.

It was Jermiah Jenkins who led the team with 17 points on a solid 42% shooting. Fin Porter, who found himself in foul trouble, managed to have an incredibly effective 13 minutes, putting up 16 points, six rebounds and three steals.

The fifth seeded Riders would have felt strongly coming into the game despite being the road team, after beating the Rockets at Loddon Valley just one month ago.

It was Jenkins who got the home side going as the Riders mistakenly went under the screen and left Jenkins enough space to pull up from three and nail it.

This was the start of nine unanswered points as, all of a sudden, the Rocket lead was 11.

The second quarter would be stronger for both sides, but the story remained the same with Reading keeping Loughborough at arms reach.

Two tough layups by Porter and a pull-up three from Jenkins brought the lead to 11 just two minutes into the second quarter, and the lead would hover around this throughout the quarter.

The Rockets would answer every time the Riders brought it within single digits, whether it was a Lewis Champion three, a Troy Cracknell driving layup, or a Ben Dixon fastbreak layup, it was always bringing the lead back to 11. That was until the end of the half. With 1.8 seconds left on the clock, the Rockets had the ball deep in their own half with Troy Cracknell on the sideline inbound.

Cracknell threw a pin point cross court pass to Jordan Jackson who, while fading away, put it up and in to beat the buzzer and bring the lead to 13. To the delight of the home crowd.

Jackson immediately got to work at the start of the third after Jenkins found him in the post, which is where Jackson went to work and got the first points of the second half.

Soon after, Champion leaked out to the right corner where Cracknell hit him for the open three. Which got even better when Elijah Bailey got a piece of Champion’s leg on the closeout, drawing a foul, which Lewis nailed for the four-point play. The Rockets were humming in tune and the lead would soon hit 20 as Zack Powell picked the pocket of Harrison Gamble and finished the fastbreak with a two handed slam.

The lead would hit as high as 25 for the Rockets but the quarter ended with Reading up 71-50. But neither team were content on finishing the game without a show for the fans.

Both teams scored their most points in a quarter in the fourth, with the Rockets tallying 28 and Loughborough hitting 27. The Rockets had held the Riders to under 20 points each quarter before this point. It was a great show in the final home game of the season for the Rockets, with the final buzzer hitting with the score 99-77. The Rockets next take on undefeated Hemel Storm.

By RICHARD OXLEY sport@wokingham.today

READING Royals celebrated their ten-year anniversary in style as their men’s team secured the FA NFS Tier 2 Midlands/South West title at Bradfield College.

It is the highest honour the club has received to date, and now gives them the opportunity to confirm promotion to Tier One if they are successful in the play-offs.

Despite dominating possession, Reading found their attack thwarted by Bedford’s inspired keeper. It would take 10 minutes for top scorer Josh Gillespie to eventually break the deadlock.

The score remained 1-0 through half-time, despite several oneon-one and open goal chances. Royals continued to push, and were eventually rewarded with a fiveminute burst midway through the second half, which saw goals from Dan Abrahamson, Seth Burkett and a second from Gillespie.

A consolation from Bedford made it 4-1, encouraging Royals to keep possession and see the clock tick down in the final moments.

Captain Phil Lant said: “To win the league in the club’s 10th year is special. It’s been a strong league to play in, there have been some fantastic games and we had to overcome different challenges along the way. We will continue to work hard to achieve our goals. Bring on the play-offs.”

Royals now conclude their league campaign away at Loughborough Students B at the end of April before their first play-off game against North champions Derby.