The end analysis will show a loss in the L column for Newcastle and a third successive SLB Championship defeat in a row. A statistic no-one involved whether it be coaching staff, players or even fans. What needs to be addressed is how to reverse the trend and quickly.

Especially as The Eagles face another tough away trip on Sunday when they go to Cheshire a place where it’s always hard to come away with a win. They then have the little matter of an opening European North Basketball League home group game against Dziki Warszawa this coming Tuesday.

A brutal schedule indeed and one that Marc Steutel and his short-handed side have to quickly re-group to face and attempt to get their season quickly back on track. It is not an easy ask nor task that they face.

Eagles went into The Mattioli Arena to face a Leicester side that had lost all four of their opening four games and were sitting at the bottom of the standings only averaging 69.8 points per game. Numbers that had seen Head Coach Rob Paternostro shake his roster up.

Out had gone Duke Shelton and Mike Mitchell Jr. and in their places came GB International Centre Aaron Menzies and new USA Shooting Guard Donald Carey Jr. Both were acclimated enough after a week’s practice to go straight into Riders starting five.

Newcastle meanwhile had taken the decision to release Centre Brett Reed and bring in Shooting Guard Deion Hammond. Unfortunately, Hammond was not able to make his first appearance for his new Club although he was on the bench.

He was joined there by injured Captain(s) Darius Defoe and Josh Ward-Hibbert. The former getting ever closer to fitness and being able to help his side out whilst the latter is almost certainly out of action until the New Year. Both are big misses for Newcastle.

But Steutel will never use that as an excuse for a loss. He accepts it’s part and parcel of any professional sport that injuries and unavailability will happen and that you have to work with what you have available.

It meant that Manny Kanwei after a very promising performance against London Lions was promoted to the starting five as Newcastle looked to compound Leicester’s early season woes and deal them another loss. It didn’t though turn out the way Newcastle planned.

Menzies and Carey Jr. were certainly the catalyst and spark that this Riders side had needed as Leicester ripped off the first 11-points of the game and immediately put the Eagles behind the black ball and on the back foot.

It forced Steutel into his first time-out after only two minutes and ten seconds but coming out of the tactical discussion they didn’t really improve although Mitch Clarke and Malcolm Smith coming off the bench did at least get help their own scoring going with Marco Anthony and Maceo Jack netting.

Carey Jr. was having a dream debut, RayQuen Battle joined the party and skipper Spencer Johnson joined the party as Riders ran riot inside the opening ten minutes. The hungry for that first win home team hit seven triples in the period and poured the pressure on a shell-shocked Eagles side.

So much so that at 39 points to 16 down at the end of the first period the game was already effectively beyond Newcastle’s reach and control. However, Steutel’s men did rally in the second quarter after at one stage being down by 27 points.

Ray’sean Taylor finally got going managing ten points in the period with his teammates and he slowing down the runaway Leicester juggernaut to at least have a level quarter at 20-points each. It still meant though a 23-point gap at 59 to 36 as the team’s headed for the locker rooms.

Perhaps the damage done in the first period changed the mindset of a rampant Riders side. Or perhaps the half-time locker room discussion installed some pride and purpose into Newcastle.

It was certainly a much better second twenty minutes for the visiting outfit despite them initially falling behind by 30 points twice in the third quarter. They showed some character and heart to at least put themselves into a position that concerned Paternostro into finally calling a time-out.

Taylor continued to probe and drive. The bench players Clarke, Smith and Sauver Kande all produced positive numbers and stand-in captain Cole Long led from the front with 17 big second half points. It enabled Newcastle to win both the third and fourth quarters and the second half by nine points.

But in essence it was too little too late as they were just too far behind after that opening ten minutes to greatly effect the final result although they did manage at least to make the final score line a touch more respectable.

Coach Steutel was brutally honest after the game taking the defeat very personally and taking full responsibility for what happened on the night.

“The game was lost in the first ten minutes. To be at 39 – 16 when I’d said to the guys all week that this team was fighting for their lives 0 – 4 and we had to know that they were going to come out with some fire power and had made changes.”

“I’m really disappointed that I wasn’t able to find a way to get the group in the place where we needed to be. I need to do some reflection on what I can do better to make sure the group comes out and fights.”

“To win the remaining 30 minutes of the game by +9 obviously tying the second quarter and then the third quarter + 4 and the fourth quarter +5 it’s not good enough when you’ve conceded 39 points in the first quarter.”

“That’s my reflection on what I can do better to help my group get better get better prepared and we figure that out from there.”

Strong words indeed. Steutel will hope that he can find answers to his own queries and be able to impart some words of wisdom and tactical insight quickly.

He and his team head for that tough match-up on Sunday against a Cheshire Phoenix side looking to avenge a loss at Newcastle where the Eagles were victorious at home last month 88 to 70.