As the days tick down to the festive season the Newcastle Eagles produced another joyous road win to go five and oh, oh, oh for the Championship season. A 75-66 victory over a Riders team that were 3-1 going into the game a moment to celebrate and savour for sure.

It wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. Once again short-handed the Eagles had to dig deep and show real resilience and determination throughout 40 very tough minutes. Riders were right there for most of the game but the power of the Eagles finish down the stretch got them over the line.

A really tight game that was swaying back and forth was blown open by the Eagles and their ‘big’ three Andrea Daley, Alyssa Marin and Shanique Lucas in particular. With a couple of ticks over seven and a half minutes to go in the final period Newcastle made he decisive run that took them to the win.

It had been a real battle up to that point and no-one perhaps could see where the final result was going. But the togetherness belief and confidence this Eagles side have in each other was once again evident to see.

Daley led the way with another magnificent double-double with Marin and Lucas showing they are one of the most potent backcourts in the league as they both went deep into double-digit scoring. But in reality all the players that stepped on to the court played their parts in full.

Superb support from Captain Zoe Willis, Maria Mongomo, Alex Campbell and Sarah Birkett were crucial to the cause and much needed. As was the support both from injured players and coaching staff all guided and led so well by Head Coach Chloe Gaynor.

Eagles jumped out early in the first period with Marin in particular showing her scoring skills as Newcastle took a 12-6 lead. But Leicester replied with eight unanswered to take the lead and it was game on. The Riders taking a tight first ten minutes by 20-18.

Into the second quarter and the game swayed one way and then the other. Eagles led 31-27 on the back of a Marin triple but Leicester finished the half the stronger. They produced another eight unanswered points to ride into the locker rooms with a four-point advantage at 35-31.

They made that a 10-0 run with the first bucket of the second half to take a seven-point lead and just about held control for a long period in the third until Daley, Mongomo and Lucas combined to give Newcastle a 49-48 advantage.

Riders though rode the storm and scored last basket of the period to take a one-point lead into the final stanza at 50-49. The sides swapping scores as that last ten minutes opened until at 55-55 Leicester hit a triple to move in front.

It was then with 7:32 to go in the game that the Eagles swooped. Marin started the run with two from the charity stripe where she was a perfect eight from eight during the game. Daley ended an electric 10-0 burst on the five-minute mark that forced a Rider’s time-out with the home side now down 58-65.

The time-out did galvanise the home side a little and they came back to within four points at one stage. But time was against them and they tried to low the clock by fouling and sending the Eagles to the line to test their nerve.

The nerve held. Daley knocked down two free-throws, Marin another couple and even though Campbell missed one of two it was too late to make any difference as those five from six sealed the deal for the table topping Eagles.

With Sheffield Hatters losing a thriller 103-102 at Essex Rebels on Saturday it means that Newcastle are now the only team in the SLB Championship with a 100% record. That record though will be severely tested in the last game before Christmas next Sunday up in Scotland.

The Eagles fly into East Kilbride to take on a very strong Caledonia Gladiators side that are second in the standings with a four-win one loss record. It’s going to be some contest with both sides in such excellent form.