When you are playing a side that has won all five games they have played in the SLBW Championship so far this campaign and already beaten last season’s clean sweep champions, the last thing you want to do is face them short-handed.

Unfortunately for Newcastle Eagles that’s exactly what they had to do when Manchester Basketball arrived at the Vertu Arena. Cordasia Harris and Natalie Cernohorska still on the injured list were joined by Grace Rae leaving Head Coach Chloe Gaynor with a seven-player rotation.

It was never going to be enough and so it proved although for twenty-eight of the forty minutes they gave the ‘magnificent seven’ gave their all. In doing so they also probably up to that stage gave Manchester as tough a test as they have had this season.

But with the score at 57 – 54 in Manchester’s favour and the Eagles right there, the visitor’s cranked it up a notch or two. Defensively they shut Newcastle right down and offensively were relentless in their execution.

It all added up to a final twelve minutes of the game straddling the final two quarters when the visitor’s scored 38 points to the Eagles 13 to end up with a victory and score line that was perhaps more comfortable on paper than it was in actuality.

Maaya Bratka opened the game’s scoring with her first two points of a game where she went on to record a very impressive double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead all scorers and rebounders that helped Manchester significantly for the win.

Following that score Polly Storie and JK Johnson netted back-to-back triples for Newcastle that gave them a 6 – 2 lead. That was to prove Newcastle’s biggest lead of the night although not their last. Manchester though replied with two triples of their own to re-take the lead.

Enter Raven Thompson for the Eagles to tie the game up at 8 – 8 and for a while although Manchester regained and remained in the lead it was tight until at 14 – 13 up the visitor’s scored eight unanswered to surge into a nine-point lead.

Eagles rallied slightly but Manchester held sway and took the first period 26 – 20 and looked well organised and primed to push on. But they did not consider the fight in this Newcastle side who produced a huge defensive effort in the second quarter.

Restricting the SLB’s second top scoring offence to only nine points in that ten-minute stretch they managed to net seventeen of their own to not only reach parody but actually take a two-point advantage at 37 – 35 into the half-time locker room discussions. A great effort from Newcastle.

Scoring contributions across the board from Maddy Hinton, Johnson, Thompson, Storie, Nala Williams and Captain Alex Campell combined to give Manchester plenty to think about and gave everyone a second half to really look forward too.

Manchester struck first in the third and turned the advantage to their favour to the tune of a four-point lead as the game re-started. But the Eagles and Hinton in particular were not going away as they hung in for long periods and did not let Manchester get away.

But Manchester were showing signs particularly on getting defensive stops and then converting them into scores. Inside the last two minutes of the quarter, they still only led by three. However, they produced a 7 – 2 end to the period to give them a 66 – 58 lead to take into the final period.

That is when once again it all went wrong for Newcastle as ‘Groundhog Day’ took effect and they just could not withstand the fresher deeper roster of Manchester. With Bratka scoring for fun and getting support deep down the roster they simply in the end over powered the Eagles.

A 29 – 9 final ten minutes period saw them blow Newcastle away in a manner that perhaps the home side did not deserve. The Eagles players having given of their all for so long did not have enough left in their tanks to stem the Manchester flow as the visitor’s ran out deserved victors.

There is a worrying statistic that Coach Gaynor all her staff and the players are very conscious of. In the 12 quarters played in the second half of their opening six SLBW games the Eagles have struggled. They have won only one tied another and lost the other ten quarters.

That is a statistic that they have to turn around if they are to make real impacts on the SLBW this campaign. They are well aware of that fact and will continue to draw positives of how hard they compete and for how long they are in games.

A full healthy roster giving them space and support to execute for forty minutes now has to be their goal. Their record is now 3 wins and 3 losses. They have won three games they were expected to and lost three games to sides where they knew it would be tough.

They now have to continue to believe that with a little more growth, attention to detail and more players healthy they can compete for longer and longer in each game and look to get the results their talent and determination deserves.

Tickets for the Women’s next home game on Saturday 21 November against Oaklands are available now from the box office.