Leeds Force: Derby drubbing by Sharks was not what I wanted for Christmas '“ Rob Marsden

Well that did not go to plan at all.
Back on court: Armand Anebo.Back on court: Armand Anebo.
Back on court: Armand Anebo.

Not much went right for us against our arch-rivals the Sheffield Sharks.

It’s the one game we are so up for and it should have gone so much better.

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First of all playing in front of the BBC cameras was something quite special for all of us. Hopefully we have picked up a few more followers despite the 83-44 result.

I have to say being from Doncaster these are the games that really matter to me. Playing against Sheffield, it’s the fixtures I look for at the start of the year.

Beating them in the first game of the season was a great way to start the year, I was hoping for an early Christmas present of beating them in their own back yard, in front of the cameras, too.

Scoring only 44 points in the game was just not good enough. Especially against the Sharks, there is no way you can win a game by scoring that few points.

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We were hit by an injury to one of our most consistent and highest scorers in Jermaine Sanders which was a big blow. It showed on the scoreboard.

It was good to see Armand Anebo back on the court though. It’s been tough on him not being able to play after his surgery in the summer.

We have been hearing him on the sidelines trying to help us, but now he can do it on the floor which is much better.

In general, I can’t put my finger on what happened on the court.

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Looking back, we seemed to be cold on the floor, nothing dropped.

Nobody can be proud of their figures from Sheffield.

Starting with myself, shooting just 23 per cent on the floor. I missed 15 attempts. That’s poor by not only my own standards but any player in the BBL.

Jack Isenbarger and Rob Sandoval only hit 20 and 30 per cent, respectively.

Between the three of us the coach can normally rely on getting some good points on the board.

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Then you look at Sharks’ Michael Tuck, shooting 80 per cent inside the arc. That’s the kind of stats we need to be throwing up.

Now we have a two-week rest period before we go to the second-placed Leicester Riders who have already beaten us twice this season.

We need to get our act together and put in a strong performance against the Riders in the last game of the year.

Leeds Force are sitting second bottom.

We do not belong in that position. We are a team that should be in and around the play-offs.

We are a long way off that just now.

But, we are getting players back into the roster.

Anebo is back, Sanders hopefully won’t be out for too long and Oliver Hylands isn’t too far away either so hopefully we can put things right when we play Leicester.