A heart-breaking result for the Eagles after a heroic effort on the road in Sheffield saw them fall just short of causing a Cup upset. The 94 – 90 defeat was in some respects one of their finest performances of the season as they took a highly rated Hatters side all the way to the wire.

Going into the game Newcastle knew they faced a tough task. After all this was a Sheffield side that had come to the Vertu Motors Arena at the beginning of January and walked out with a 36-point League victory.

But this Eagles side has a real desire to improve and showed real togetherness and toughness on the night never ever letting Sheffield get too far away from them as they launched comeback after comeback right throughout the game.

Comebacks that so nearly brought them glory and a trip to the Utilita Arena, Nottingham next month for a Cup Final against Oaklands Wolves. But it wasn’t to be and it’ll b Sheffield who will advance to the Final to take on the hottest team in the SLB right now.

For the Eagles everywhere you looked there were heroes. Jada Guinn once again top scoring with 24 points 13 of which came in the final quarter when she nearly led her side all the way back from a seemingly lost position.

Shannon Hatch really found her shooting boots when it mattered knocking down 5 of 7 attempts from beyond the 3-point line on her way to 21 points and then there was always Tierra Hodges battling at both ends as she netted 18 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

Kendall Currence continues to rebuild her fitness and form and had a big first half scoring 10 of her game 11 points in the first 20 minutes until fatigue set in a little. Abby Lowe had 8 points and as always was a bundle of energy.

Although Lauren Saiki only managed 6 points she also had 9 assists as she once again showed her on-court organisational skills to help the Eagles come so close in their quest for glory. Zoe Willis the only other Eagle playing significant supporting minutes and getting on the score sheet as well.

The story of the game was pretty much Sheffield keep making runs early in quarters with Newcastle continually fighting back and not letting the Hatters every get away. One can imagine that Head Coach Chloe Gaynor will be immensely proud of her players but perhaps also wondering what might have been.

Hodges got Eagles off to a flying start and they led 5 to 2 very early before Sheffield’s first run of 8 unanswered gave them their first lead. From there the first ten minutes was tight with the lead swapping several times.

Newcastle in fact went back in front at 22 points to 21 until Hatters again went in front and this time were never headed again even in such a close game. The teams being tied at 25 points all after a hectic first period.

With the scores still tied on 27 points in the second it was Hatters that produced a dominant run of 13 to 2 to hold an eleven-point advantage. But Newcastle refused to lie down and came flying back again. Two Hatch triples meaning there was only five points in the game at the half-time buzzer.

Once again in the third it was the home side that just about held sway. They even got their biggest lead of the night at 69 – 57 and it looked ominous for Newcastle. Their never-say-die attitude though saw them score the last six points of the third quarter and it was a six-point game with ten minutes left.

Hatch and Hodges were initially the scorers keeping Newcastle in the game as they held on just about to a strong spread of points across the Hatters starting five. Sheffield having the better of the early going and as the game entered the last five minutes they were back up by ten at 80 – 70.

That’s when Guinn really took the game over and Newcastle came storming back once again. Guinn scored 13 points personal in a period where Eagles outscored the 20 to 11 and were back to within one point at 91 – 90 with 57 seconds remaining.

They even had the chance to take a late, late lead but Hatch’s triple which would have put them up by two with 14 seconds to play just rimmed out and Hodges fouled out going for the rebound which Shauna Harrison took and then knocked down the two free throws to stretch the lead to three points.

Currence had one final triple attempt with barely a second left on the clock to take the game to overtime but that came up just short as well and this time Georgia Gayle was fouled and made one of two from the line to seal the Sheffield win and crush the Eagles hopes of glory.

In the cold light of day there will no doubt be many ifs, buts and maybes as Gaynor and her players assess the game and where perhaps they could have changed things. But ultimately Newcastle have nothing to be downhearted about after a magnificent effort that only narrowly missed its target.