DAVID Colclough’s Swindon Shock side suffered a surprise defeat as they were beaten 83-70 at New College by Woking Blackhawks.

Colclough was confident going into the game, with his side going well in the National League Division Four being placed joint top of the division.

But on the day of the game, Colclough knew his side would struggle as they were dealt a triple blow when top scorer Spencer Wells, plus guards Ollie Swan and Dominik Sajovic were ruled out of the game with illness.

In their two previous meetings with the Woking side, Shock had come out as narrow winners on both occasions, but that wasn’t to be the case this time around as the Blackhawks set the pace from the off.

As the two teams battled it out, the lead swapping between both teams throughout the game, it was the hosts who took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.

But Shock were unable to press home their narrow advantage, being outscored 18-3 in the final minute as the game slipped from their grasp.

After some time to reflect on the performance, player-coach Colclough feels rejuvenated after a productive training session and admits complacency may have crept in for the New College side.

“I feel better after a good session, we had double training and that was brilliant for us,” said Colclough.

“We upped the intensity and everybody knows we have a big game at the weekend. They came in much sharper and more focussed.

“What happened was, Spencer (Wells), who was our leading scorer, let us know Friday that he was going to miss the game.

“What people then thought was that they would take the lead and be the lead dog, so we had a few people do that and the team game was gone.

“We let loose on the defensive side and they made some big shots, which was our undoing.”

It doesn’t get any easier for Shock as they travel to Wales to take on league leaders RCT Gladiators.