Leopards coach Jon Burnell was delighted after his side returned from Sheffield with a tight 80-74 victory against the Arrows.

“Going up to Sheffield was tough, we’ve lost to them twice this season, and although we should have won the previous game, we didn’t. We tried something different at the beginning with the match-ups, and it got us off to a better start. Unlike last week when we were down by 20, we started reasonably well, and it gave us self belief which proved to be a big turning point.

“I know everyone was tired, but when you’re in the game and playing well it puts that tiredness to the back of your mind. James [Nicholson] was playing well and scoring, if he’d missed those shots he’d have felt how tired he was.

“Losing James with an injury, and being forced to sit Calvin [Fowler] down due to foul trouble could have given us an excuse to lose, but people stepped up. We started the second half with two starters on the bench, and the risk that I’d have to play, but had an exceptional period of defensive pressure. If you can sustain that level of defence for a few minutes a couple of times a game, you’ll win games. It’s impossible to play like that all the time, but it breaks teams down and gives you the chance to win.”

Despite losing at Reading the previous day, Burnell was pleased with a Leopards’ performance that saw them in with a chance of winning the game until the closing stages.

“It was always going to be tough, they are not second in the league and winners of the National Trophy for no reason. Generally we played quite well, and we put ourselves in a position to win the game. We had our chances, but we seem to make vital errors when it really matters. They got a couple of shots, and the scoreline really didn’t reflect the game, but they found a way to win, and hats off to them.

“The concern was that, having played well at Reading, we’d be tired for the trip to Sheffield, especially as they hadn’t played on Saturday. We don’t do well on double headers, but we stepped up and showed some real grit.”