Eagles’ young stars beat the Scots in border skirmish.
Tuesday, 1st June, 2010
NEWCASTLE EAGLES SELECT…… 74 (Neilson 18, Glen 15, Defoe 13)
SCOTLAND…………………………… 66 (Leven 29, Campbell 14)
This hastily arranged game, at Scotland’s request, at Benfield Sport’s Centre, was preparation for Scotland for their summer campaign in the Euro Championship Division C in Malta, this July. Scotland are no rabbits and indeed they had the nights star turn in Great Britain International and ex – Eagle Steve Leven, the Australian born shooting guard. Leven, qualifies for Scotland through his Edinburgh born father, who I am sure Eagles’ fan remember, has a reputation for being a bit of a firebrand, seems to have found a team that can maximise his shooting abilities to the full, as the 29 points showed he has not lost too many of these skills and if Scotland are to proceed in their Euro Campaign they will have to rely on him a lot. Still, as fans will attest, Leven always had an eye for the big play and it seems that it is suiting him. We wish Steve and the rest of the Scotland squad all the best for July.
Still that is as maybe, most fans would be more interested in the Eagles squad and how they did. The fact that so many fans turned out to see this game is a testament to the fans loyalty and they were rewarded with a young energy packed side that took the spoils in a highly competitive game. The Eagles kept their side under wraps until match day, and they fielded a first five that all had BBL experience. Head coach Fab Flournoy was joined in the back court by the immensely physical Darius Defoe, whilst bench members, forward Jamie Glen and Aaron Neilson, both made starts in a game that would bring them invaluable experience. Completing the starting five the Eagles welcomed back Brian McCotter. One area that the senior side has seemed a bit light is at guard and with this in mind Fab entrusted those duties to Aaron Neilson, and he was also made captain for the evening. This seemed to pay real dividends as Aaron’s play calling and confidence grew the longer he played. In fact he led all Eagles’ scoring on the night with 18 points. Hopefully Aaron can now kick on and be able to present Fab with a viable alternative at guard in this coming season. Aaron was ably assisted by Jamie Glen, with 15 points, another young player who is starting to come along well, and Darius Defoe, with 13 points, who was particularly strong and aggressive inside during the first half.
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These are all players that Fab is aware of and although it was encouraging to see how well these young players are developing, it was the performance of another youngster that will have the Eagles management smiling. The Eagles’ organisation is wholeheartedly committed to the developing of young local talent through the School of Excellence. The youngsters have excellent coaching and are schooled in hard work, so it must be very pleasing when lads start to make the step up. 17 year old Ross Wilson, who was the very first recipient of the Eagles School of Excellence Player of the Year, back in 2008, turned in a performance, 11 points, which just might hint of that he has a future at this level, as long as he continues to listen and work hard.
It was the trademarks of teams prepared by Fab, hard work, energy, hustle and above all solid aggressive defence that set the foundations for the select side’s win over their international opponents. The young Eagles showed that Fab is indeed creating a dynasty in the North East, as the whole team played their part in this tremendous victory An extremely competitive first quarter saw the Eagles head into the first break leading 24 – 22, however the Scots lead at the half by 7 points, 42 – 35. That should have heralded the Scots kicking on and winning the game, but one forgets the power of Fab’s half time pep talk at your peril. And it happened again as the young Eagles stormed back, restricting the Scots to just 24 second half points, 12 in each quarter. The third quarter was competitive with the Eagles outscoring the Scots by just 2 points but still going in to the final period 5 points adrift. The fourth quarter was decisive as the Eagles powered to a 25 – 12 quarter lead that saw them home by 8 points.
So once again the border Reivers repel the pesky Scot, just as it was throughout history, so it was on Saturday night, and the invading Scot was sent home to lick their wounds. For the Newcastle Eagles the future does indeed look good and in some ways the quest for the clean sweep in British Basketball during the 2010 – 2011 season has started well
