The opening exchanges saw the younger Erks leap out to a 13-1 start with Olufeso & Hussain scoring on the break and Lee Atkinson hitting from outside. However, the Stars then dug in and rallied to 20-12 at the end of the first quarter, with ex-Crystal Palace guard Hill imposing himself at the offensive end.

The Stars revival continued in the second quarter, with Pringle starting to cut loose as the Hainault men took their first lead of the game with a minute left in the first half. Then to cap their comeback, with the scores tied at 31-31, bench player Daley hit a pair of unexpected, if riotously received 3 pointers to give the Stars a 37-31 half-time advantage.

Undeterred, the Erks opened the second half in determined mood, forward Richard Williams hitting all 3 of his shots in the period and Olufeso driving aggressively to the basket as the Erks quickly ate into the Stars lead. For Hainault, only lanky forward Burns made any impact in the third quarter as the Erks defense stepped up a notch in an attempt to deny the dangerous Pringle the ball.

With the score tied at 50-50, the game was in the balance entering the 4th quarter, however the Stars Keith Pringle was not to be denied. Showing that he's lost few of the skills, if a little of the quickness and athleticism, that he displayed first for Erkenwald in the early 90's and then for Hemel Royals and Stevenage Rebels in the professional game, Pringle reeled off 8 consecutive points in little over a minute to take his side 11 points clear with 3 minutes remaining. In a low scoring game, that gap proved insurmountable for the Erks despite a late rally, as the Stars were able to run the clock down allowing captain Jon Clark to pick up the play-off trophy to go alongside their League title.

The Stars victory is to be commended as they managed to overcome the absence of their leading scorer, towering forward Tim Lewis, by playing aggressive defence to compensate for their shortfall in points. The Erks failed to exploit the hole in the Stars middle as their own star Essex Met forward "Play-Off Ed" Bailey was similarly missing. Unfortuately for the Erks, Ed actually achieved his disappearing act whilst playing 38 scoreless minutes in the final!

SCORERS:
Stars:
Pringle 25, Hill 12, Daley 10, Burns 9, Reed 6, Goddard 2

Erks:
Olufeso 23, Hussain 18, Atkinson 7, Williams 6, Agbolegbe 3, Bromfield 2, McCusker 1

Report posted: 14/05/02