Last Saturday the road to EBL National League division 2 survival began with a win at NEWI for the Kent Crusaders, which brought the Kent side two points clear of the relegation zone. The journey continues this Saturday with a fixture against the Plymouth Raiders, who has the same number of wins as the Crusaders. Kent, Plymouth and NEWI are all within one win of each other, and barring a late surge from bottom team Black Country, who has only two wins for the season, those three teams are battling it out for two spots to avoid relegation.

“The relegation battle is still on for all of the four bottom teams”, says Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen, “Black Country have lost some awfully close games against good teams, and I wouldn’t put it past them to string a run of wins together to end the season, and the rest of us are just neck-to-neck as it is. A win over Plymouth is key to stay out of the relegation spots, and I don’t even want to think about what a loss could do”.

Plymouth lost a close game to NEWI on February 23, but beat playoff team Northampton last weekend, setting up the game in Canterbury as crucial for both teams to get clear of the relegation zone.

The teams have met twice this season, with the Crusaders the runaway winners in the preseason Patrons cup, while Plymouth took the first Division 2 game of 2008, 70-57 against a decimated Crusaders team that were without Robbie Parker, Rikki Broadmore, and Dan Garrard.

This time around the Crusaders should have a full squad, with Robbie Parker scheduled to make a return from injury, barring setbacks.

Kent Crusaders v Plymouth Raiders II

Saturday 1 March at 7.30 pm

Venue: Body & Mind Leisure Centre, Canterbury High School