Celebrations cut short as Demons target double

UCC DEMONS, the Men’s SuperLeague Cup champions, are not resting on their laurels.

Coach Pat Price whose side had a narrow win over Limerick Lions in Sunday's final has the team back training tomorrow.

"At the weekend it's back to the bread and butter when we play Roma St. Vincent's in the SuperLeague at Glasnevin," he said.

Yesterday, he watched the final on video "just to make sure we really won it."

"I think our Irish players showed a lot of character," he said. "We went 14 points down and could have dropped our heads but I told them to go out make a few big plays, let them know that we had not quit and the fans would jump in behind us and that's what happened.

"The Demons fans are the best in the country. They travel in numbers, will stay overnight and will get behind you regardless of the cost. There is a great spirit within the club and it filters right down to the bench. I had almost 600 assistant coaches with me on Sunday."

With the prospect of a league and cup double, there will be little time for celebrations.

"When you win a trophy it is very easy to get distracted. I don't think it will happen because those guys are very mature. The Irish guys are very experienced and showed that down the stretch. That's what I'll be looking for the remainder of the season."

Lions' Coach, Tom Hehir, can't wait for the weekend after next when they will host the new Cup champions at UL Arena.

"Sunday was so disappointing," he said. "But it is over now and you can't be sad about it forever thinking of what might have happened if you took this chance or that chance. Lads will be remembered for the mistakes they made in the last three minutes. The mistakes we made in the first three minutes are already long forgotten. Unfortunately, nobody remembers the beaten finalists. But we made it to the final and nobody can take that from us.

"We had our chances to win it, even when we went behind in the last seconds. Robert Taylor gave us 44 minutes of magic but, unfortunately, everybody on the court did not play to their potential. If they all had we would have won by 20 points. We called time out to try to change things but it did not happen.

"But that's behind us now. We travel back to the NBA at the weekend to play Hoops and the points are very important to us so I want them to be focused. Personally, I would take the league over the cup if I could get it."