A disastrous final ten minutes condemned the Newcastle Eagles to an eighth consecutive defeat in all competitions. In a game where they won the first three quarters it was the one last period that the Sharks won that made all the difference.

In losing the Eagles slipped to a 2-win 8 loss in the League standings with Sheffield improving to 6 – 4 and consolidating their top three position. It was also the visitors second win of the campaign over Newcastle. With a big SLB Trophy game coming soon between the two sides it’s also an ominous sign.

Head Coach Marc Steutel must be scratching his head as he continues to search for answers and solutions to arrest is side’s slide. At the moment his players don’t look like they have the confidence nor self-belief required to get that win over the line which will be a worry to him as well as his players.

It also did not help his and their cause that they had Marco Anthony and Emanuel Kanwei join long-term injury absentee Josh Ward-Hibbert on the sidelines with injuries. However, Steutel is not the sort of Coach that uses that as an excuse as he adjusted his side’s make-up in an attempt to compensate.

All that being said for the first three quarters it looked as if the players had bought into each other and their Coach’s game plan. They moved the ball well on offence sharing the scoring load throughout. They took care of the ball too and were up by 13-points at 62 to 49 midway through the third period.

What followed in those final 15 minutes no-one could have really seen coming. Sheffield with Rodney Chatman III pulling the strings and finding the likes of Dirk Williams and Nick Kern Jr on a consistent basis merely rocked the Eagles back as the game got out of the claws of Steutel’s Eagles.

The Sharks bit deep and hard and managed to pour 50 points into those final calamitous minutes. Eagles were still scoring but not at the level they needed to slow Sheffield down and in the end analysis were frustrated with themselves and the overall game management that cost them.

In the early going it was Newcastle with new signings Gus Okafor and Deion Hammond prominent that enabled them to turn a free scoring opening ten minutes in their favour to deservedly lead 30 to 25 after both side’s looked to be in explosive offensive vein.

The second period saw both side’s switch things up a little defensively and stem the flow a bit although again with Okafor doing well. Newcastle in particular were shooting well from long-range but the question wasn’t about scoring it was about whether they could play enough defence.

They shaded the second by two points to take a seven-point lead into the half-time locker room at 50 – 43 and then with Cole Long and Ray’Sean Taylor joining the party they were strong in the opening half of that third period. That’s when it all unravelled.

The game got bitty on both sides of the ball and the foul count both physically and technically ramped up. It undoubtedly affected the Eagles more than the Sharks who seemed to revel in the fact that the game and their opposition was slowed down at a crucial period.

Certainly, the fourth quarter was their ally as Newcastle’s offence finally slowed and adding in the fact that their ability to effect stops defensively was impaired, Sheffield took full advantage of an Eagles side that at this moment are showing lots of ability and promise but not converting that into wins.

Eagles had all five starters in double figures and another one from the bench in Mitch Clarke. But it wasn’t enough as the high-flying Williams and Kern Jr plus the guard play of Chatman III and ex-Eagle Rodney Glasgow Jr got the Yorkshire outfit over the line.

Steutel and his players now have a clear seven days at home to work together and look to right the wrongs. It’ll be a tough week of practice and analysis no doubt before they return to the court at The Vertu Arena next Friday night to take on the Surrey 89ers in another SLB Championship clash.