Lions aim to get claws into Demons
Back to back victories on the road their most recent a very impressive win over Merry Monk Ballina have earned Tom Hehir's side new respect and the Limerick coach will be looking for more of the same to launch their Cup campaign.
This year there is a escape route for teams beaten in the first round as all five will go into the second round along with MDS Star, who got a bye, to contest three places in the quarter-finals.
"I don't think anybody really wants to take that route," Demons coach, Pat Price, insisted. "Everyone is going out there to win and to have something like that on your mind just would not make sense."
He has groomed the most experienced and exciting side in the SuperLeague with a depth that goes right down to the 10th man and five or six have already won two cup medals.
Like Limerick they have two SuperLeague wins behind them but they still strive for perfection.
"I know this is a cup game, but we will be focused on the game rather than the cup," Price said.
"Limerick are a dangerous team, capable of streaky scoring and Jonathan Steven has been running wild. He will get more attention on Saturday night.
"We have a lot of depth. We have players like David Murphy, Tim O'Halloran and Colin O'Reilly making major contributions off the bench. We have scored more than 40 points off the bench and that makes us a dangerous team."
"They have massive depth," Limerick coach, Tom Hehir, admitted. "But we have a bit of depth ourselves this year. Eight of our 12 players are from Limerick and that goes down really well with the fans."
Of those, Robert Lynch, is the most spectacular. He was just a teenager when he won a cup medal with Limerick that was before Demons took over and he returned this season to make a big impression.
The holders, Abrakebabra Tigers, will have to make the long trip from Tralee to play Merry Monk Ballina.
Tigers had their first game of the season last weekend when they beat Hoops by just two points Australian Luke O'Hea grabbing the limelight with 28 points and seven rebounds. The 2005 Player of the Year, Kieran Donaghy, dominated the boards with nine rebounds and six points.
They have a new coach, Joe Quirke, and will be without the services of Micheál Quirke who will be a loss under the boards.
Neptune had some new faces last weekend when they bounced back from the big loss to Demons in the Nivea for Men SuperLeague derby game the previous week. They took the points against Killester who were leading by a point when the game had to be abandoned in overtime due to condensation on the court.
They must travel back up to Dublin for their Cup tie with UCD and will be without one of their new signings, Dajan Smith, who suffered an injury against Killester that could keep him out for three weeks.
UCD, too, have injury problems. Ian O'Boyle broke a bone in his foot last weekend against UCC Demons and will be out for five weeks but Damien Morbley, who hit 34 points against Demons, Nate Lufkin and Lorcan Precious form a formidable force.
DART Killester play host to Roma St. Vincent's, beaten finalists last year, while Shamrock Rovers Hoops are hoping to sign a new American, Reuban Statum, for their game against Gleneagle Lakers, who lost to Vincent's in the semi-finals last year.
Coach Mark Scannell has signed the Irish senior women's captain, Michelle Fahy, at Vienna Woods Glanmire and she will make her debut against Killester tomorrow when the game will be played as the curtain raiser to the Hoops/Lakers Cup tie at Greendale.
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