Killester and Tigers primed for battle
Big weekend wins saw Killester win the battle for Dublin’s Northside in their derby game with Roma St Vincents, 102-106, and Tigers overcome Limerick Lions, 104-97.
After Friday night’s tense derby game in Cork, in which Neptune emerged victorious over UCC Demons, all attention was focused on Glasnevin yesterday when a huge crowd turned up for another tense and absorbing game.
Killester went into yesterday’s game as red-hot favourites but were somewhat taken aback when St Vincents went ahead at the end of the first quarter.
The visitors rallied, however, and went into the half time break 53-46 up. They kept extending their lead but were repeatedly hauled back by a dogged Roma St Vincents.
Vincent’s were within four points of the leaders when a disputed foul was called with less than one minute remaining. Killester scored the resultant free throw and, with the home side unable to register another score, they went on to take the points and consolidate their position on top of the Northern Conference.
“It was an exciting game and the crowd loved it,” Roma St Vincents press officer Ciaran Dunne said. “But it was a harsh call on Mike Trimmer and it gave him his fifth foul and we lost our impetus as a result.
“He was in foul trouble with four minutes remaining in the third quarter and came in with four-and-a-half minutes to play and immediately scored five points as we came back from a 15-point deficit.
“It was unfortunate but it has to be said DART Killester are playing very well at the moment. But we stopped them from scoring for three minutes and there was just 32 seconds on the clock when the foul was called. We had cut it back to four points. It was a very harsh call.”
The game produced 24 three-pointers, 14 to Killester. There were also plenty of three-pointers in Tralee on Saturday night as Abrakebabra Tigers beat Limerick Lions 104-97 - Limerick with a total of 19 three-pointers.
Tigers, the defending champions, have not lost a SuperLeague game since the start of last season. They led 53-47 at half-time on Saturday night but Limerick Lions came roaring back at them. Tigers were just one point up going into the final quarter when Limerick’s Neil Campbell got into foul trouble and was eventually fouled out with three minutes to play.
Tigers grabbed the initiative, took seven points from seven free throws and won by seven in the end but Tom Hehir won’t be despondent about the performance.
MDS Star bounced back from their midweek loss to Killester with a 112-93 victory over Merry Monk Ballina. They led by nine points at the end of the first quarter and maintained that lead throughout the game.
The return of Scott Summersgill was a big bonus for Star but Ballina still had impressive performances. Laurence Young was particularly impressive with a game high of 44 points that included four three-pointers in the last two minutes to put a respectable look on the scoreboard.
After back-to-back wins the previous weekend, Michael Evans was hoping for more of the same from Waterford Crystal but UCD proved too good, coming away with a 85-107 win after capitalising on a poor third quarter from the home side. Jarron Jones was outstanding for the winners.
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