THE shrill blast of the whistle echoed around the Castle in Bury with only four seconds left on the clock.

Looking on in horror Scott Summersgill couldn't believe that his innocuous gesture, amidst all the frantic challenges for the ball, had been called a foul!

A broad smile crossed Roger Whitehead's face at having two free foul shots that gave Solent the chance of an unlikely victory.

Having been used to the rough and tumble of the Budweiser Premier League the aggressive Whitehead had pushed, shoved, tripped and used his elbows, as the marks around Ian Howard's eyes testified, to batter his way through the WildCats.

To win the game after such a tame foul, compared with what had gone on before, left the WildCats feeling 'sick as parrots' rather than being 'over the moon' that a victory over the Stars would have meant.

Bury had begun brightly, dimming the Stars with a variety of plays opening up a 16-6 lead in the first five minutes.

With former England internationals Drew Sewell and Roy Lewis returning to the Solent line-up the Stars used all their vast experience to make it 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Orbiting around the arc Scott Summersgill launched a meteorite storm of long range shots to complete the hat trick of three-pointers.

The Stars, still uncertain about their First Division future, kept themselves in contention until a last second score by Bury captain. Keith Howard, edged the WildCats 40-39 ahead at the half time break.

Chris McCormick continued his high scoring exploits of the previous week coupled with Scott Summersgill hitting several more long range shots Bury began to pull away from the Stars.

As the tension mounted there was the undignified sigfht of the England team manager and Solent Coach Mick Byrne storming up to the balcony to attack the match commentator and the PA equipment before being physically restrained by two already injured WildCats.

The kerfuffle seemed to disturb the WildCats concentration while firing up the Stars who flared back into life tying the scores in the last minute. Patiently using up as much time as the could Bury waited until the fateful few seconds before launching their final attack.

A missed shot from deep in the corner allowed Whitehead to collect a tough rebound before the referee intervened and cruelly called the foul that gave Solent the game.

Scott Summersgill was the game's brightest shooting star with 33 points and 9 assists while Chris Cormich scored 22.

On Saturday the WildCats face their longest trip of the season to face one of their closest rivals in Plymouth Raiders.

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