All-action Fab is back in business.

Byline: PAUL NILSEN

NEWCASTLE Eagles fans were in buoyant mood last night as they toasted the return to action of the inspirational Fab Flournoy and watched his team grind out a hard-fought 88-82 win over arch-rivals Everton Tigers.

After some rotten defeats of late it was highly improbable that anybody had forgotten what the team had been missing during his time on the sidelines, although just to make sure, Flournoy kindly reminded everyone with a typical allaction display.

Initially his presence seemed to unnerve his players a little as the dynamic of the team changed, but eventually his incredible defensive influence became infectious and was a key factor in the win.

As was the hugely important contribution of captain Andrew Bridge, who produced some terrific plays at both ends of the floor to help dig the Eagles out of a hole after they found themselves eight points behind early in the second half.

Everton really shot the lights out from the perimeter and, according to Bridge who fired 19 points, combating the three-point threat was how the momentum swung the way of the home team.

He explained: "Without their big guy and main inside presence Dzaflo Larkai, who was injured, we ended up giving up the baseline far too much.

"Since their kick-outs to the shooters were pretty good, a lot of their guys were just knocking down threes, which made it difficult for us.

"In the second half we had to really look at that, and in the end we stepped up our help defence and we took away much of their three-point threat.

"As usual, it was stepping up our defence that made a big difference, and the only threepointers they did hit were all lastsecond shots that we weren't unhappy with them taking."

It was midway through the third quarter when the hosts made their game-breaking run, taking control at 73-64 after a dazzling five minutes of action.

It was a lead they kept until the final buzzer, albeit after a nervous last minute or so when they briefly threatened to gift Everton an unlikely way back.

While stalwarts Bridge and Flournouy led the way, new boy Joe Chapman was also impressive, while Darius Defoe threw down a spectacular tipdunk to rack up his doubledouble of 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Eagles face the talented Leicester Riders tonight at the John Sandford Sports Centre, recognised as one of the toughest venues in the league, and with the Riders playing at breakneck speed all season, even the Eagles defence could buckle.

Bridge said: "It's going to be a very high-scoring game.

"Even if our defence is as good as it has been in the last couple of weeks we may still end up giving away over 90 points.

"That is the nature of any game against Leicester this season.

"We just have to take good shots and, even if we miss, we have to work hard to stop their fast break because it will be another tough game that we want to win badly."

NEWCASTLE - Bridge 19, Chapman 15, Defoe 12, Jackson 12 EVERTON - Jones 20, Bell 16, Babalola 14

CAPTION(S):

SLAM DUNK: Lynard Stewart gets things going; inset, Fab''s back