Birmingham Panthers 71- 69 NIC Leeds Rhinos

By Leo Marchant

The NIC Leeds Rhinos narrowly lost out in an agonising loss to the Birmingham Panthers that went to extra time finishing 71-69. 

Ash Dekker got the game underway at Worcester Arena, in the Rhinos first possession they turned the ball over in the final third. The Panthers took advantage of this to score first. After a series of errors and misplaced balls by the Rhinos, the Birmingham Panthers jumped to a 4-point lead of after 5 minutes into the game. A tactical change was made early in the first quarter with goal attack Harriet Jones being substituted off for Sophie Egbaran. Despite a few errors from the Rhinos with dropped passes and interceptions, the Rhinos were able to claw it back to 15-14 to the Panthers after a supershot each by Joyce Mvula and Sophie Egbaran.

Quarter two was underway via the Birmingham Panthers, but it didn’t take long for the Leeds Rhinos to regain possession through a Cassie Howard interception which was quickly converted into points to equal the scores at 15-15. The Rhinos took advantage of an error filled quarter from the Panthers to lead by 8 points 36-28

The centre pass from Ash Dekker started the second half where fluid ball movement was turned straight into points through Joyce Mvula. Two great consecutive supershots from the Birmingham shooters brought the Panthers back into the game when they needed it but the Rhinos pressed on through Joyce Mvula, finishing the third quarter at 49-45 to the NIC Leeds Rhinos who couldn’t afford any errors in the last upcoming quarter.

It was the Panthers who scored first in the final quarter after some smooth passes cut through the Rhinos defence, 49-46 to the Panthers. A repeated offence penalty for contact was called on wing defence Cassie Howard giving Birmingham a free shot at the goal which they took. The Rhinos lost possession after the next centre pass from a stray pass.

Under the pump, the Rhinos were forced into taking a tactical timeout to regather themselves. An intense battle between the two carried on throughout the final five minutes where the Rhinos picked up the momentum and brought it back to just a one point deficit at 58-59. Joyce Mvula with the final shot of regular time sunk the shot and sent the battle to overtime.

The back and forth continued into extra time with the Rhinos taking a commanding lead through a Joyce Mvula supershot, 64-59 to the Rhinos. It was ex-Rhinos alum Shelly Magee who was putting in an inspiring performance throwing cut-out passes to the Panthers goal-shooter. But an incredible interception by Cassie Howard, who read the Panthers perfectly, helped push the Rhinos further in front at the end of extra time one with the score ending 67-65 to the Rhinos. The second half of extra time was packed full of misses from both teams as neither looked like they wanted to risk the shot and the chance of losing possession. The second half of extra time concluded all tied up at 69-69 however it was Birmingham Panthers who took the glory as they hit a supershot in the third round of extra time, putting them two points ahead and winning the game 71-69. 

Photo credits Clive Jones