UL coach is taking cautious approach

UNIVERSITY of Limerick go into the semi-finals of the ESB Women’s National Cup this evening as the red hot favourites to retain the title they won last year. Since then they have won just about everything and are already defending their SuperLeague title from the front

Coach Tony Hehir knows nothing can be taken for granted in the cup so it’s hardly surprising he is taking a cautious approach.

“You never know with the cup. It depends on who performs best on the weekend,” he insisted. “It is so different for us this time around. Last year nobody expected us to do anything. Now everyone expects us to win and the girls expect a lot of themselves. But, make no mistake about it, UL are the team to beat.

Michelle Aspell is the heart and soul of the team. Before joining UL she won two Cup medals and just about everything else with Gerry Fitzpatrick’s Wildcats and gets better with every season.

Gillian Aherne is one of the league’s leading rebounders while Dearbhla Breen is just 21 but plays with a maturity beyond her years. Carol Fennell, Niamh Mullally, Sinead Leahy and, of course, Bethany Schott fit the various roles perfectly.

They put a shaky spell behind them last weekend with the performance of the season against Peugeot Meteors.

“I must admit I was really happy with that,” Hehir said. “We have a very strong bench and we have been very consistent. But, let’s face it, we cannot take anything for granted. Killester have an excellent team on paper. They have great depth and they have a lot of international players. Suzanne Maguire gives them great strength from the outside position. The only thing they lack is consistency.”

Dart Killester Coach Maeve Coleman admitted that their lack of consistency has been a problem all season. They met UL earlier in the season and lost by just five points after making a lot of errors.

“Our problem has been a lack of consistency. If we can just be consistent this weekend then I know we can be competitive.”

Not so very long ago Bausch & Lomb Wildcats were a dominant force - six times SuperLeague champions and three times national cup champions - but so much has changed in Waterford as the balance of power switched to Limerick.

Tonight they will face newcomers, Scruffy’s St Paul’s, in what promises to be an exciting semi-final and they would be favourites were it not for the fact that their sharp shooting American, Nicole Conway, dislocated her shoulder last weekend and will be out of action for the next three weeks.

Last weekend Scruffy’s had a very significant victory over Dart Killester to put the finishing touches to their cup preparations.

“It was a big win for us,” Coach James Weldon said. “And we did it the hard way - we missed 19 free throws and still won by 11. Killester beat us by 30 points earlier in the season.

“At the moment everyone is taking it for granted Wildcats will win this one and maybe that’s how it should be viewed. It is our first appearance at this level and I would be hoping the occasion won’t get to us.

“Right now our girls are playing very well. The positive thing from last weekend was the intensity of our defence and the all round effort that was put in. If we can repeat that then I will be very happy”

John Hayes, the Wildcat’s Secretary, said Coach Dermot Jacob will be looking for something extra from the other players tonight to make up for the absence of Nicole Conway.