Play-offs are not beyond my girls, insists defiant coach Bunten

BEATEN but unbowed Newcastle Eagles take on Cardiff Met Archers this afternoon seeking to spark one of the greatest comebacks in WBBL history.

However, the struggling Tynesiders will have to come from way behind in this season’s play-off race without any reinforcements.

Head coach Chris Bunten has failed to make a fresh player breakthrough in time to beat this month’s transfer deadline and, as a troubled league season lurches towards the halfway stage, Newcastle’s wafter-thin squad heads to Wales with a woeful 1-8 Championship record.

Bunten, though, is convinced his short-handed roster can upset the odds and claim a top-eight finish in time to crash the post-season.

The Eagles’ playcaller said: “The goal is still to make the play-offs but our performances need to improve at both ends of the court if that is going to happen.

“I cannoy deny this team always brings a ton of effort and commitment to the court but we need that effort to be focused.

“Too many times this season we have taken our eye off the ball and allowed the opposition easy points.”

Every game is must-win for Newcastle now as they seek to claw back lost ground on the teams above them and seal an unlikely top-eight finish.

All eyes will again be on Ali Gorrell in the Welsh capital as Newcastle’s co-captain seeks to set the tone at both ends of the court.

The US guard is the WBBL’s most fouled player by some distance this season — and for good reason.

Gorrell is averaging an impressive 24 points per game during her second spell on Tyneside