They say that it’s not how you start it’s how you finish. At Maiden Castle, Durham that proved to be true for Newcastle Eagles although to be fair they did start well before powering through the final quarter to complete a league double over their derby rivals.

In doing so the Eagles ended the regular season with a superb 15-win 5 loss record and will take real momentum into next weekend’s play-off quarter final tie against Essex Rebels. That game will be on Saturday night and will be no doubt played in front of a packed Vertu Motors Arena.

But for now, Head Coach Chloe Gaynor will take great satisfaction that a little over 15 hours after defeating Manchester in a titanic affair her players somehow found the energy to get over the line against the Palatinates.

Going into both games without star forward Tierra Hodges and in this game barely using rookie sensation Jada Guinn shows the all-round strength and togetherness of a team that has a togetherness and belief that has served them so well all season.

Gaynor showed her faith in her squad by taking Guinn, Kendall Currence and Shannon Hatch out of the five that started against Manchester. She promoted Zoe Willis, Rachael Bland and Alex Campbell from the bench. Campbell getting a first ever start for her hometown Club.

Those three joined Abby Lowe and Lauren Saiki in the starting five that made a good start to the contest with Willis captaining the side for the second game of the final regular season weekend. A 9 – 2 start which was exactly what Gaynor ordered.

The Eagles went up by as many as eight during the first quarter that they controlled well throughout and closed out the opening ten minutes with a 20 to 13 lead. Bland, Lowe and Skipper Willis all contributing in that period.

Hatch and Currence from the bench kept the momentum as the second opened and the Eagles were still in front by eight before the Palatinates launched an excellent 13 points to 4 run that rocked Newcastle and suddenly Durham were in the ascendency.

The home side with Sarah Wells, Shanique Lewis, Eliza Brault and ex-Eagles Captain Marina Fernandez Pardo all in good form continued to be the more dominant force and turned their 8-point deficit into a 6-point before Newcastle hit back with a 6 – 2 burst of their own.

It was nip and tuck thereafter but Durham just held sway in a very competitive encounter and were able to take a two-point lead into the locker rooms at half-time with the score standing at 39 to 37. No thoughts at that stage from either side that this was a ‘dead rubber.’

The third again was Durham’s as they looked to avenge two losses to Newcastle earlier in the season in the Trophy and League. With only two points between the side the Palatinates made a strong finish to the third and took a good 59-to-51-point lead into the final quarter.

That was when the Eagles began to soar and show the all-round togetherness and ability as a team even without Hodges and by this time Guinn as well. A 13-point to 5 run topped off by back-to-back triples by Hatch brought them level at 64 points apiece.

From there it was a real back and forth tussle with neither side giving an inch or backing down and with no-one being able to predict which way the game was going to go except that overtime was a possibility and it was going to the wire.

A Currence deuce and two free-throws from Saiki earned the Eagles a 3-point lead at 73 to 70 with only 14 seconds left on the clock and Palatinates Coach Lee Davie took a time-out to draw up a play. It worked beautifully as Wells nailed a triple with only five seconds left to level the scores again.

This time Gaynor called for time to draw up one final play and the response from her side was superb and even more dramatic than Durham’s final play. Currence finding enough room and space to nail the winning bucket virtually on the buzzer to give Newcastle another road victory.

What an effort from Gaynor’s team and what a way to finish the regular season. The Coach was brave enough to spread the minutes across the roster and throughout the forty minutes and her charges were good enough and brave enough to answer her call.

It meant a Derby double for Newcastle and the bragging rights in the North East for the Eagles as they completed their record-breaking regular season and can no look forward to and prepare for the Essex game at the Vertu Motors Arena on Saturday night.

Eagles were led by Currence who had 16 points and 9 rebounds to complete an excellent personal weekend. Lowe was though the MVP on the day with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals whilst Hatch had 11 points and 4 rebounds from the bench.

But there were all round contributions from the others particularly Lyric Swann who had 9 points, Willis who had 7 points and 10 rebounds, Princess Adeogun with 7 points, Saiki with 4 points and an incredible 15 assists as she pulled the strings all game and Bland had 4 points and 5 rebounds.

For Durham Eliza Brault led the way with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and Shanique Lewis also had 15 points. Fernandez Pardo an excellent double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds with 4 assists dished out and Sarah Wells had 14 points, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Not quite enough support for the Palatinates as Gaynor’s tactics of using Hatch and Currence from the bench to supplement her chosen starting five was enough to just, just get the Eagles over the line in a great Derby clash.

Tickets are on sale now for next Saturday’s historic home SLB Play-Offs Quarter-Final as our Eagles go into the post-season as the higher seed for the first time ever – book now on the box office.