Of all the 25 seasons, never has one shown so much promise, but finished so disastrously.  The signings of England international Mike Martin – a former Leopard from the BBL days – and American guard AJ Roberts along with a link-up with Oaklands College set the Big Cats up for a promising season. But a seemingly never-ending injury list and some truly awful luck at times saw Leopards suffer a first relegation in their history.

Returning coach Steve Ogunjimi brought back the core his side from the previous year, with David Ajumobi returning after a season with Reading, butit was a mixed start to the campaign. A slimmed down National Trophy competition saw only three games, and a single point home loss against Hemel Storm in the first game proved key despite wins at Lituanica and Westminster. The league season didn’t start well, and Leopards’ only win in the next seven games was a walkover against Ipswich in the National Cup as the Suffolk side failed to show up at Harlow. To prove that every silver lining has a cloud, Leopards’ reward was a humiliating 94-67 loss at second division Kent Crusaders. Clearly things had to change, and following a loss at Derby Trailblazers an announcement was made, with Ajumobi, Ladi Brown and Bode Adeluola (who had struggled with injury after joining in the summer from Hemel) were all released. In their place came Perry Lawson, who had helped Mersey Tigers to a BBL treble a couple of years before, and former GB under-20 international Darrell Bethune.

The changes worked – at least in the short-term – with a crushing win at Westminster Warriors along with tight home wins against Solent Kestrels and Bradford Dragons, and although they then lost close games against Leicester Warriors and London Lituanica, Tosin Oyelese hit a game-winner against Lancashire Spinners to send Leopards into the Christmas break with a 4-7 record.

January proved to be possibly the most surreal month in the club’s history with first victories in an “international” game and a BBL Trophy tie before a run of losses started the slide into Division Two. A capacity crowd at Oaklands saw Wales comfortably beaten in an opener for 2017 and that provided a boost as Manchester Giants arrived at Brentwood for what proved to be a thriller – and after a decade of trying, the new Leopards finally got their first BBL Trophy victory. The good form continued two days later as Worthing were beaten 86-71 at the Brentwood Centre to complete an excellent first week of the year.

And that really was as good as it got as Leopards lost their next 12 league games, starting with a pair of defeats against Team Northumbria and Loughborough. The BBL Trophy provided a break, with Plymouth Raiders visiting for a second straight season. The previous game had ended with a brawl on the court and continued in the Plymouth Herald, and the fallout had seen Leopards initially not invited into the competition before Manchester Magic pulled out. Things were a bit more sane this time around as Raiders comfortably won in front of a big crowd at Brentwood.

The win against Giants had come at a cost, with the influential Martin suffering an Achilles injury which ruled him out for most of the remaining games. Leopards managed to beat the signing deadline to add big man Alex Scotland-Williamson, who had been with the club as a junior in their Ware days before going to college in the States. His debut came in a double-digit loss as Reading, but his season was abruptly ended the following week when he tore his quad muscle and damaged his knee in an overtime loss at Hemel.

And just when it appeared things couldn’t get worse, they certainly did. A heart-breaking loss at Manchester the day after losing Scotland-Williamson at Hemel was followed by the visit of basement side Westminster Warriors to Harlow. The Londoners had lost every game against Division One opposition but a truly dismal performance saw that run end with a 64-58 victory against the Big Cats. In hindsight the loss of Bethune with a season-ending injury in the following day’s defeat at Solent was the nail in the coffin, leaving them with few defensive options and a rapidly diminishing roster..

A narrow loss at Bradford gave some hope but the following day saw an abysmal 89-63 loss against Hemel at Brentwood. It was clear that something had to change, Ogunjimi had offered his resignation following the Westminster game and the day after the Hemel debacle it was agreed that the club and coach would part company.

With four games remaining and at least two wins needed, Leopards needed an immediate replacement – with assistant coach Roger Malpass unable to commit – and turned to Oaklands for a solution as Thomas Baker became the sixth head coach (initially on an interim basis) in the new club’s history.

Baker’s first game saw Leicester Warriors visit the Brentwood Centre and it proved to be another “what if” as a couple of key calls went against Leopards down the stretch as Karl Brown’s side went home with a 68-66 victory.  It was a similar tale the following week as Leopards made the short trip to the University of East London to face Lituanica and led for the first 39 minutes of regulation time before a couple of shocking calls from a ((Lithuanian) referee saw the game go into overtime. The first extra period proved to be a war of attrition with only eight points shared but the second period saw the hosts live at the foul line as they edged Leopards out 88-83.

So it was do or die for the trip to Myerscough to face Lancashire Spinners. Martin had clambered off the treatment table to play at Lituanica, finishing with 19 points, but he was in no condition to play back-to-back games. Preparations weren’t helped by the mini bus getting caught up in the Brentwood marathon for an hour, but the Big Cats started strongly they built on a 30-20 first period lead to go into the locker room 53-38 up. But after a half-time whine from the home coaches, Spinners started the second half strongly and the previous day’s 50 minute game together with the nightmare trip began to take their toll and the lead was shaved to 70-62 at the final break. The fourth period was like torture as Leopards’ advantage , gradually ebbed away, but although Spinners briefly grabbed the lead, the Big Cats were 82-81 up going into the final play of the game. Leopards were still in Division One when Dave Walsh’s shot left his hand and the buzzer sounded a split second later, but it dropped and Division Two basketball beckoned.

We live in difficult times at the moment that put things in perspective. But this was horrific. Tears were shed in the locker room, Spinners were fairly shitty about it all (and their car crash of a 2017/18 season was a joy to behold as a result), but somehow we all got home in one piece.

There was still one more league game to play and Baker collected his first victory in double overtime at Worthing (the last side Ogunjimi’s Leopards had beaten) and such was the success Leopards were enjoying off the  court that they staged a friendly against Oaklands to raise some cash for the following season’s attempt to escape from the abyss they call Division Two.

I still haven’t really got over it.

Oaklands link for Leopards – May 9, 2016