31 May 2008
Home court advantage for Leopards in Cup
Leopards will be looking to make home court advantage count when they start their National Cup campaign on Sunday October 19.
Having reached the quarter-finals last season, the Big Cats received a bye in the first round, and will host either Division Three side Oxford Brookes University or fourth division Richmond College London.
If Richmond College upset the formbook and beat Oxford it will be a lucky omen for Leopards. Richmond were nursery club for the now defunct London United who the Big Cats hammered 74-50 at the Brentwood Centre in the third round on the way to winning the competition in the 2005/6 season.
With the Brentwood Centre unavailable for the second round tie, Leopards do not know where they will stage the game yet, but if they are successful they will be playing at Brentwood in the third round on November 9 against Westminster Warriors, Eastside Eagles London or Wellingborough Phoenix.
Warriors were the surprise package of last season, hammering Leopards’ fellow Division One side West Anglia Fury by 30 points on the way to the quarter-finals.
The Big Cats have never met Eagles, but they hosted Phoenix in the second round in 2006, and destroyed the Northamptonshire team 102-29.
If Leopards make it through to the quarter-final, they will also be at home – with their most likely opponents being Reading Rockets, who they beat at the NIA in Birmingham to lift the Cup in December 2005.
Leopards general manager Dave Ryan was pleased with the draw: “It’s as good as we could have asked for. We’re at home all the way through, and we can’t meet anyone from Division One until the quarter-finals.
“The college teams are always something of an unknown, but Westminster had a really good season last year, and they will give us a tough game if they get past Eagles or Phoenix.”
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