Aherne praises charges as depleted Neptune leave Tolka trailing
But the happiest man around was Neptune Coach, Martin Aherne, after he watched his depleted side beat visiting Tolka Rovers by 102 pts to 85 at Neptune Stadium.
He admitted afterwards that it was a game he feared because it was a game that everyone expected them to win convincingly.
“In that kind of situation you always have the big fear that the team will become complacent. We suffered a huge blow during the week when Marcus Wally and Kieran O’Brien were injured in that horrific attack and while Marcus had surgery on his arm during the week and will be out for the end of the seasons I can only praise Kieran for his bravery in making himself available if needed yesterday.
“But that was after Gordon Fitzgerald had to limp off the court without even completing the warm up. He had his ankle strapped up before the game but he could not even warm up and he was going to be a huge loss to us both as a player and a leader.”
Tolka Rovers arrived with a new American since the sides last crossed paths and they got off to a flying start to lead by two points at the end of the first quarter. It continued basket for basket throughout the second with Neptune just edging ahead to lead 48-47 at half time.
“We got a great run in the third quarter,” Martin Aherne said as he reflected on how they turned the game in their favour. We played a good defence and got some fast breaks to open up the opportunities and were able to exploit them.”
They hit 10 points without reply to leave the visitors struggling. In fact Tolka were kept to seven points throughout the third quarter and trailed 74-55 going into the final quarter when it was clear they had far too much to do against a side that may have been depleted but was rampant.
“We got the win and that is the important thing,” Martin Aherne said. “Dave Langrell went into the game without having trained for two weeks and he contributed 24 points. Steve McCarthy led by example, Michael McGinn came up trumps and Charron Watson and Kenny Gamble did what they had to do. It was a team effort.
“Our postponed game against Frosties Tigers will not now take place until March 6 but we have a difficult game against BurgerKing in Limerick on Friday night as they are one of the in-form teams right now.
“We have to play Marian after that. We beat them in the first round but they have a new American since them. What we need is for Notre Dame to beat Star.”
Star remain favourites following another victory over Mardyke UCC Demons at the Maysfield Leisure Centre at the weekend but it was not so easy this time as the newly crowned Cup champions who, in fact, beat them in a thriller to win that coveted piece of silverware held them to four points, 91-97 as Star struggled to contain their sharp shooting new signing, Shean Hampton, with Charles Mason sitting out much of the third quarter in foul trouble.
When Mason returned they reclaimed control of the boards and Campolieta and Adrian Fulton scored the baskets to clinch victory as Demons, with Sean Hampton, Bill Romano and Shane McCarthy on form, missed the forceful presence of injured Brian Clernon.
Notre Dame had to pull out all the stops when their game against Dart Killester went to double overtime, before they landed a 129-120 victory to keep their SuperLeague hopes alive.
Waterford Crystal moved off the bottom of the table with a dramatic last second one point win, 79-78 - over Gleneagle Lakers.
Irish Travel Partner Saints went down by four points (92-96) to Hibernian UCD Marian despite a good start which saw them lead 23-19 at the end of the first quarter and had them still a point in front at half time.
In the Women’s SuperLeague, the battle for the top four intensified with victories for Meteors and Drimnagh.
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