Some four hours after Solent Stars' under-18 men end their Sureshot Cup final against Doncaster today, the Solent Stars senior men step out on the same court against Manchester Magic (Amaechi Basketball Centre, 7.30pm).

Defeat for Solent would condemn them to missing out on the English Division 1 play-offs for the second consecutive season.

Director Jim Rumsey reflected: "The team has not performed with any consistency under the new coaching team of Alan Cunningham, Steve Chant and Mike Akemon.

"Despite a few encouraging wins in January, most notably against Teesside Mohawks, they have not been able to gain victories over close rivals Essex Leopards and London Capitals in recent matches.

"On the scoring front, both American players, Marlin Capers and Larry Parker, are regularly scoring over 25 points a game.

"However, the next main scorer is the club captain, Mark Jackson, who has an average of 12 points per game.

"After that there are only single figure averages for the rest of the squad."

Manchester lie fifth in the league and need a win to take them into the top four to gain a home advantage in the play-off quarter-finals.

Last week Magic trounced lowly Coventry Crusaders 88-58 and earlier in the season beat Stars at Fleming Park 85-69.

Solent's Chris St Omer is a doubt for the game because of work commitments but the team will have the services of the three Institute Academy players, Paul Silcox, Graham Hunter and Mike McGregor, who were originally destined to play in the Universities' Championship this weekend.

But Southampton Institute fell at the last hurdle and finished just outside the eight qualifiers.

Solent's men's second team have no game this weekend.

However, they are the first team from Division 3 East to qualify for the play-offs, along with - so far - Derby Trailblazers, Plymouth Raiders and Aston Athletics from the other Divisions.

Wins from their last two matches against Reading Rockets (home) and Loughborough Cardinals (away) would guarantee a home tie on April 2.

l Solent first team's game against Worthing Thunder, originally scheduled for tomorrow, will now be played on Easter Sunday, March 27, at 2pm (Fleming Park Leisure Centre).

The game has had to be re-arranged because Worthing are playing Sheffield Arrows in the National Trophy final at the Brighton Centre tomorrow.

Haringey Angels, unbeaten at under-14 level for the past two years, had their wings clipped by Solent Stars, who romped to a nine-point victory.

Right from the start, Solent's fast break and disciplined offence were too much for the Angels to cope with, providing shooting opportunities for Jess Brookfield and Sam House.

They backed that with great defence throughout and strong rebounding from Lianne Miller (captain), Kiri Peters, Katherine Blake and Grace Truman.

Solent scorers: Jess Brookfield 16, Lianne Miller 8, Grace Truman 8, Sam House 6, Kiri Peters 2.