Everything that could go wrong did for Southend Swifts as they tumbled out of the Women's National Junior Cup 71-65 at Solent.

A usual two-hour journey became nightmare as the M25 ground to a halt, giving the Essex side little time to warm up before the game started.

Surprisingly Swifts came out very brightly, scoring the first seven points of the match and they held a 15-5 lead midway through the first quarter; Yeti Arayomi being particularly effective, taking rebounds at both ends of the court.

The home side recovered their composure, putting together a 17-2 run, which enabled them to hold a 24-17 lead after the opening period.

Southend found their legs again at the start of the second stanza, scoring five without reply, with Arayomi again dominant.

With Solent's outside shooting, which had been effective in the first quarter, taken away from them, neither side were able to dominate. And the half time scoreline of 36-32, meant it was all to play for in the second half.

But the third period was a disaster for Swifts. Never finding any fluency, they managed just six points in the period, as they seemed unable, or unwilling, to penetrate the Solent defence.

With the hosts scoring at will, the margin had extended to 20, at 58-38, with the final 10 minutes remaining.

Despite good early work from cadet captain, six-foot-three Rebecca Rambin, Swifts could make no inroads and with five minutes remaining, the deficit remained at 20. But suddenly there was a complete transformation.

Southend's pressing defence began to reap rewards as they went on a 15-0 run over a three minute stretch, Amy Andrews and Sarah Wagstaff sharing 13 of the spoils.Solent replied with two before another Andrews three-pointer, her fourth of the afternoon, made it a four point game at 67-63 with one minute remaining.

But Swifts could get no closer as they suffered a disappointing loss by 71 points to 65, Andrews top scoring with an outstanding 23 points.

Published Tuesday December 16, 2003

Brought to you by the Evening Echo