Champs UL remain favourites

DEFENDING champions, University of Limerick, go into the ESB Women’s Cup as raging hot favourites to retain the title.

They have an easy first round assignment away to Firhouse Notre Dame while the leading challengers are also in against Division One sides - Bausch & Lomb Wildcats at home to Longford Falcons, and Scruffy’s St Paul’s awaiting Sligo Warriors in Killarney. The only all-Superleague clash is the meeting of Vienna Woods Glanmire and Tolka Rovers at Little Island and the home side should win on the back of their big win over the Dublin side in the ESB Superleague last weekend.

“But it is not a foregone conclusion,” Glanmire Coach Sean O’Regan insisted.

“We beat them by 20 points, but they were without Nicki O’Brien, and she is worth 20 points to them. God only knows what she will take off us. “Their Superleague has ended so they will be looking to salvage something from the season. We have won four of our seven Superleague games and it is very important to get that winning habit. This is a team with potential and they could go far.

“My greatest fear is over-confidence. I want the girls going into the game with their feet on the ground. Last weekend Glanmire’s American, Adriana Spears, played her best game since arriving and O’Regan will be looking for more of the same. Sarah Jane O’Connell is also in superb form and Donna Buckley had a big game last week. April Cahalane is playing superbly with remarkable leadership qualities, while Aoife O’Dwyer is another in fine form. Donoughmore could be the team to cause an upset against XLR8 Drimnagh Dynamos; last week their ladies football team won the All-Ireland club title and captain, Juliet Murphy, also leads the basketball team.

They have an astute coach in Dommie Mullins, who won three national cups, three national leagues and two top four championships with Blarney, and coached the men’s junior international squad as well as the girls’ cadette squad and junior women’s squad.

This year they took a major step when they joined the Division One League and are unbeaten in the regional league. Another top player is Niamh O’Sullivan, and they have Sonia Robinson, a 6’2” player, who got a US scholarship but has returned to Ireland. “We are not going up to Dublin to make up the numbers,” Mullins insisted. “We are not going to get hammered. We have a very good team here - a team capable of matching up to the best.”