Sometimes in life as well as sport there are moments in time when you just had to be there. Saturday night in the Vertu Motors Arena was one of those moments that will live long in the memory of everyone that was there and connected with Newcastle Eagles.

Dubbed ‘The Big One,’ the annual home game where Newcastle target the fanbase in a night to showcase all that is good about the franchise and the Women’s professional side. It’s an effort to encourage more fans to come and see exactly what is on offer and look to further increase that fan base.

The team led by Head Coach Chloe Gaynor could not have advertised themselves any better than they did. In front of a massive 815 fans, an increase on last year’s attendance at The Big One, the Eagles were simply irresistible as they powered to a superb victory over their opponents.

Surely the vast majority if not all of those fans will be back again to see a team that are courageous, committed together and talented and who turned ‘The Big One’ into ‘One For The Ages’ in a memorable occasion that was enjoyed by everyone in black and white.

The Oaklands Wolves came into the Vertu Motors Arena boasting an unbeaten 11-win record in the SLB they have also made it to the SLB Cup Final in which they will encounter the Eagles conquerors the Sheffield Hatters next weekend.

The Wolves also went all the way to the SLB Trophy Final as well where they encountered their only defeat of the season at the hands of the Caledonia Gladiators. Clearly this heavily invested Oaklands side has been the stand-out team in the women’s game this season.

But Newcastle have perhaps been the biggest surprise team so far this season and after a night like Saturday have shown that they are without a shadow of a doubt a real force to be reckoned with and one that stands up there with the best in the SLB.

Did it look ominous when Shanice Beckford-Norton nailed a triple from the corner to get Wolves up and running with the first score of the game? Not a bit of it as with two Shannon Hatch triples and Tierra Hodges, Lauren Saiki and Jada Guinn all getting going the Eagles flew back.

A 15 points to 6 run had Wolves Coach Lee Ryan calling an early time out to stem the flow of the Eagles flying start. It worked, temporarily, as his side clawed their way back and in a back and forth encounter took the first quarter by 26 points to 25.

It would be the only quarter that the Wolves won and the only one where they scored over 20 points as Gaynor’s side stuck to their scout and defended superbly after that in a special effort that eventually brought them great rewards.

The second opened with a 7 to 2 Eagles run and they established a five-point lead. Wolves hit back with six unanswered to go back in front when enter Sarah Birkett. The Eagles shooter had already hit a triple coming off the bench but that was just the taster.

Two more followed and then she was fouled when attempting another and she nailed all three shots from the charity stripe to help her side to go up by seven points at 47 – 40 and the belief was there despite Oaklands cutting the gap to 47 – 44 by the half-time buzzer.

The third saw Wolves take that momentum from the end of the first half and move three points in front until dead-eye Birkett nailed another from beyond the arc and the sides were level again. The Eagles then with the help of Guinn in particular and Hatch supporting went up by seven points again.

Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant though netting a triple as time expired in the third to get the visitor’s back within four points and set-up a final quarter where both sides had the chance to take the game and register a vital win.

There was no quarter asked and no quarter given as the sides went hammer and tong at each other and the game ebbed and flowed in a nip and tuck contest. Eagles re-introduced Abby Lowe into the mix after her minutes had been restricted due to early dubious foul trouble.

With seven minutes to go Newcastle led by three. Three and a half minutes later they led by 14 after the decisive run of the game saw Lowe, Hatch, Saiki and inevitably Hodges and Guinn combining for eleven unanswered points that broke the game open and that Wolves could not respond too.

Hodges exclamation point deuce on the game-ending buzzer giving Newcastle not just a signature statement win but one by a massive 16-points that was as thoroughly deserved as it was perhaps surprising.

A measure of the Eagles dominating defence was that they held the League’s top scoring team to a mere four points through the first eight minutes and one second of the final quarter and one of them a free-throw as they completely shut Oaklands down to pave the way for such a great win.

Certainly, the Wolves were left shell-shocked and no doubt with big wounds to heal as they contemplated a long journey home for the first time this season as a beaten side and a well beaten side at that. For Gaynor and her Eagles it was further evidence of their growing reputation.

Newcastle’s top scorer Jada Guinn had 20 points adding in 11 assists and 4 steals in a great performance. Tierra Hodges had 16 points and 9 rebounds whilst nursing an injured ankle. Shannon Hatch played like Shannon Hatch can with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Lauren Saiki had 10 points and 8 assists as once again she led from the point and then there was Sarah Birkett. Fifteen points in only 17 minutes was the X-factor that the Eagles needed to help them get over the line and well beyond particularly given that Kendall Currence was out injured.

Currence has been so often the Eagles ‘third whip’ on scoring but her teammates covered her absence superbly. Credit also to Zoe Willis and Abby Lowe who’s stats lines didn’t garner huge attention but their on-court supporting contributions particularly defensively certainly did.

Next up for this flying Eagles side who now move to 11 wins and 3 losses and consolidated their 4th place in the standings is another tough, tough task as Caledonia Gladiators come to Town nest Saturday the 8th March.

That is International Women’s Day and what better place to celebrate it than in the Vertu Motors Arena with a team of women that are well worth celebrating.