Despite falling just short in their top-of-the-table encounter on Friday, Islington Panthers basketball club have their sights firmly set on promotion.
Having enjoyed one of their best seasons in the London Metropolitan League to date, the Panthers sit second in the second division, one point behind Ealing and Hammersmith College but with a game in hand.
Coach William Akuffo told Islington Now that with the finish line fast approaching, promotion is a real possibility.
“I’m quite hopeful that we should finish at the top of the league this season but you know with four games left anything can happen,” he said.
The Panthers could have been even better placed, but lost out to Ealing and Hammersmith last weekend 71-70 in a game where momentum swung both ways.
The Islington outfit seemed to have allowed the game to slip away in the first three quarters as the league leaders opened up a 19 point lead. A disciplined fourth quarter saw the Panthers close the gap to just one point, but they were just unable to complete the comeback.
Akusso said: “We lost by one but it was a very close game. It was quite exciting – we were down by 19 points and came back from it. But we unfortunately lost in the end.”
“Hammersmith currently are top but we beat them at home the first time and then they beat us so we are level pegging at the moment.”
As well as success at a senior level, the coach is also pleased by the development of the youngsters.
“Under 14 played in a development league so they can just get some game practice in.
“But our under 15s played national league where they finished third from the bottom. But it was only their first season in national league so it was an eye opener for them to see what the competition was like.
“We have more and more people filtering through playing the game, it is good to get more young people participating in basketball.”
