Leopards captain Carl Josey can’t wait to return to action as Leopards host Reading Rockets in the National Cup semi-final at Brentwood on Sunday (2pm).
It’s the biggest game of the season for the Big Cats, and Josey is raring to go: “Reading will give a fight no doubt. I expect the game to be competitive and exiting to watch” he said.
“This is a must win situation for us in keeping our hopes alive of lifting that cup in January. The keys will be on the defensive end as always, especially in containing their key players.
“The Cup is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, I think lifting the first piece of silver wear goes a long way in maintaining confidence and a winning mentally moving into the latter stages of the season.
“From a personal level I am looking to collect the three trophies I missed last year and complete the full set, which starts with the Cup.”
Josey was forced to miss the trip to Manchester last Saturday with a bad back, and his physio suggesting that the coach trip would only damage it further, and Leopards’ captain admitted his frustration at sitting out the overtime defeat@
“The Manchester game was very frustrating because I had to sit at home watching it on the play by play.
“I had faith the team could pull off the win without me but for all their effort they ran out of gas in overtime. Don’t worry we have revenge next time we play them.”
Leopards bounced back with an 18 point win against Hemel Storm the following day, to Josey’s delight: “We needed the win over Hemel as we couldn’t afford to drop another game, and plus we needed to knock them off their high horse.
“I wasn’t feeling 100 percent before the game but I knew if I could keep my back warm I could push through, hence Coach not taking me out. I felt we came together as unit with some fantastic defence and balance scoring from all areas of the floor.”
Sunday’s action at the Brentwood Centre starts at the earlier time of 2pm, with tickets available on the door.
