THIS is the time to look back at the sporting year - and what a memorable one it has been for me!

Following our grand slam it was important to win something again, and we did by retaining the BBL Trophy in dramatic style against London Towers.

Towers hit a basket right on the buzzer and we all held our breath as the referees consulted with the time-keepers before ruling out the score, which meant we had achieved a hat-trick of trophy victories.

The biggest personal buzz for me, though, was one afternoon last April when we clinched the signings of John McCord and Calvin Davis for this season.

Robbie Peers was also desperate to sign them for the Towers, having just announced his departure from the Jets, and he had given them until the end of the week to give him a decision.

It was a tremendous moment for me when they both signed and took a lot of pressure off me for the rest of the summer as I looked forward to my first season as head coach.

It brought it home to me once again just how far we had come as a club. In the early days, especially when I was captain, our main ambition was not to finish bottom! Now, here we were, having won the BBL Trophy again and beating one of the top clubs in signing two key players.

I have always said it is important to make winning a habit and that has become even important now we have already lost four games this season. Ideally, I would like to have come into Christmas with no more than two losses, so it means we can't afford any more if we want to regain the BBL Championship.

On our day we are a very, very good team, but our day doesn't come often enough at the moment, so consistency has to be the key from now on - and that's the message I will be putting over to the players.

Our plan had always been to give the players maximum rest in the second half of the season, but we also have some tactical stuff up our sleeves.

Title chances come and go, so while we are keeping one eye on retaining the BBL Trophy we have by no means given up on the championship.

Last weekend was close to being perfect. We were delighted to beat Sheffield Sharks to qualify for the semi-finals of the trophy and were pipped at the buzzer in the league game against Newcastle Eagles 24 hours later at the Northgate Arena.

It was an intense game against Newcastle and it was disappointing to lose, but we are keeping our heads up for another tough weekend ahead.

We are in Glasgow to play Scottish Rocks tonight, and I was impressed when I saw them beat Leicester Riders on Tuesday night.

At least we have Saturday to recover before we take on Birmingham Bullets at the Northgate on Sunday.