Jamie’s all the Rage as Spartans lose a thriller
JAMIE Coulson will take a long time to forget his return to Rugby Rage, for he turned out to be the matchwinner after a thrilling Division One fixture looked likely to be a home win for Leamington Spartans.
There had been little to choose between the two sides although Rugby had threatened and broken away several times before a final flourish from Spartans created a cliffhanger.
With five minutes of the game remaining Rage were 55-45 ahead and Spartans’ coach Russell Dunkley called time-out and ordered his men to step up the pace as Rugby went on the defensive.
Three minutes later it was Rugby’s turn to stop and regroup with Leamington breathing down their necks at 55-51, then a three-pointer from Nick Klemos, a couple of free-shots and a last-minute basket from
Michael O’Neill stood the score on its head as Spartans took the lead at 58-57.
The pressure mounted as Rage went for the last-ditch attempt and it was too much for Klemos to resist as he turned from hero to villain in the blink of an eye and fouled Coulson just as the buzzer sounded.
Officials saw the team-foul marker was up and the Rugby man, returning to the game after nine months off with a severe ankle injury went to the line with all eyes on him in a win-or-bust situation. With the coolness of a veteran, Coulson dropped in the first to tie it and was then mobbed by his team-mates as Rage broke Spartan hearts to win 59-58.
There was not quite the same excitement as the division’s high-fliers Arden Griffins and Tile Hill Trojans 1 both recorded huge wins to keep the pot boiling at the top.
Griffins went to Woodlands and ran away with things as Warwick
China Red failed to land a shot until the seventh minute, by which time they had conceded 14, and so it continued until Griffins had piled up a 96-52 win with Sam Workman hitting 31, one more than Paul Roberts with the pair throwing down twelve triples between them.
Trojans 1 were, as expected too good for their second team who found themselves 44-25 in arrears at half-time, but, with the senior squad appearing to coast to an easy win, things started to go awry and the Seconds bounced back.
But a time-out called by acting coach Ash Dickson stopped the rot and they took the next few minutes by storm to rocket from 48-39 to 69-39 and it was all over. Austin Dickson continued his rich vein of form with 31 points as Egis Baliunas made 15 to lead for TH2.
Tamworth Tigers made it win number five as they defeated Aylesford Hawks 59-41, thanks to a devastating spell which brought them a 28-10 second quarter and the match points.
Nuneaton Predators had to come from 12 down to overcome Tile Hill Trojans 3 in another pulsating finish at The Jubilee Centre, and they stay top as unbeaten Grizzlies did not have a game.
But Westwood Rhinos did, and they were without Jack Ford but had Mike Kearsley to thank for their 50-49 win over Leamington 2. Kearsley grabbed 18 points including a last-minute triple to thwart Spartans and deny them victory.