| Venue: Utilita Arena, Birmingham Date: Sunday, 30 January Tip-off: 12:00 GMT |
Newcastle Eagles are in a “good place” going into Sunday’s WBBL Cup final against London Lions despite a change of coach, says centre Chloe Gaynor.
Chris Bunten left the Eagles Women in mid-January after eight years.
He has been replaced by Newcastle University play-caller Noelia Cacheiro, who is familiar to many of the squad.
“You don’t often see a change like this in the middle of a season and it’s not one you want going into a final,” Gaynor told BBC Radio Newcastle.
“She coaches and has been coaching the Newcastle University’s BUCS teams, so we’ve seen her coaching and some of the girls on the team were under her.
“It’s where we’re at right now and we’re fortunate we’ve got a good group of girls and we’re in the right place now to do the best we can on Sunday.”
The Lions are undefeated this season and top of the WBBL, winning all 11 of their games, while the Eagles have suffered six defeats in 10 league games.
Having lost to the high-fliers in the 2020-21 play-offs and recently in the Championship, the pressure is on Newcastle to find their form on the big stage.
Their last match at Cardiff had to be postponed, but that break has given the squad time to regroup and recharge for the trip to Birmingham’s Utilita Arena.
“We couldn’t play last weekend through pure numbers, Covid or injuries,” Gaynor added.
“It gave us enough time to allow people to recover and to find ourselves in this phase.
“It’s put us in a better situation to give it a real shot on Sunday.”
While the Eagles saw off Caledonia Pride, rivals Durham and holders Leicester Riders en route to the showpiece, the Lions have defeated Essex Rebels, Sevenoaks Suns and Sheffield Hatters on their way to their first final.
The dreams of a clean sweep remain alive for the Lions, who will enter the Trophy at the quarter-final stage and can record the first part of a quadruple with the cup.
“One of our goals this year is to win everything we can, everything that’s put in front of us and that includes the WBBL Cup final,” Lions player Kennedy Leonard told the WBBL website.
“This is an opportunity to stamp our names this season on something in the WBBL and we don’t want to let this opportunity pass.”
