Rockets travelled to the E.I.S. in Sheffield as defending champions and in confident mood, but they found the northerners in inspired form.

Magic blasted out of the traps in the opening quarter and took a 31-15 lead, and though Rockets got within nine points in the second period, the effective side-tracking of Reading captain Danny Carter (pictured left) early in the second quarter to foul trouble saw Manchester hold on comfortably to the end.

Manchester’s Ellis Cooper was most valuable player with 18 points and 19 rebounds, and Alex Zurn hit 16 points and six rebounds for Rockets.

Downbeat Rockets head coach Manuel Pena Garces said: “I am naturally disappointed we were unable to recapture the National Cup and unfortunately we didn’t do ourselves justice on the day.

“This said, we have been on a great run in the league and had a really good game against Newcastle in the BBL Trophy so we must use this and the lessons from Sunday to propel ourselves right back to the level we need to be at. A lot of hard work, commitment, and preparation is going to be needed for the next couple of weeks and I believe we can definitely do this as a group.”

Rockets have two home games at the Rivermead Leisure Complex this weekend, against Bradford on Saturday (6.30pm) and Hemel Storm on Sunday (4pm).

Pena Garces added: “This weekend’s games are two really tough ones for us. Bradford is always such a tough team to play against; they are well coached, have good talent, are well balanced, and very competitive for forty minutes despite their league position.

“Hemel are on a bad run of late but I think that has to change for them soon because they also have a good roster so we will need to be very wary of them as well.

“These next few weeks are hugely important for us and will have a big bearing on where we finish.”