Cup possessed by Demons

Mardyke UCC Demons 86 TTH Neptune 83

The sides had not met at this level since 1985, when Terry Strickland stole the ball from John Cooney to give Neptune the first of four victories. Yesterday's drama will surely rank alongside that amazing ending for, while it was always going to be close, nobody could have predicted the spellbinding finish that matched last year's.

It had been a game of nip and tuck and when Charron Watson levelled the scores with one from the free-throw line, Neptune appeared to hold the initiative. Watson retreated to intercept, found Dave Langrell and he sent Stephen McCarthy racing through. McCarthy was fouled by Tim O'Halloran ­ his fifth foul - and went to the free throw line with 5.9 secs on the clock to win the cup. It appeared to be all over.

But it had been bad afternoon for Neptune from the line. Kenny Gamble and Watson had a succession of double misses with just 13 out of 31 attempts and there were gasps when McCarthy missed one narrowly.

The second was even closer, but not close enough. They tore up the script and went into overtime with the sides locked on 76 points.

Then followed five thrilling minutes. DJ Harrison gave Demons the lead, Gamble replied from a Dave Langrell lay-off and then put Neptune two in front. But the Neptune fans were still on their feet when Harrison landed a lights-out three pointer to bring the house down. Torrey Butler consolidated the lead with Langrell on the floor with an injured ankle.

Charron Watson landed one of two from the free throw line and when Neptune unleashed another piercing attack Shane Coughlan was back to steal the ball.

He was fouled and there was a touch of deja vu about the whole thing when he strolled to the free-throw line - only this time Demons had the game won when he dropped one from two.

It had been the typical game of two halves ­ the first tense and physical with Neptune coming out best to lead 22-18 at the end of the first quarter. Neptune still held the upper hand in the second quarter but they failed to exploit the possession and Demons fought back to take the lead with three minutes on the clock. But Neptune hung in and led 33-32 at half-time.

Then the game opened up. There were flurries of fast passing, piercing running and some spectacular scores as Demons surged clear by 11 points. But Neptune came back to lead 60-59 at the end of the third quarter with the fans ecstatic, setting up the finish to match all finishes.

"It lived up to its billing more than worth the price of admission," insisted Demons coach, Pat Price. "This is another game that will be talked about for years."

He admitted to being worried when Stephen McCarthy went to the free-throw line. "I said things have come the full circle. Here we were with their star point guard on the free throw line with a chance to do it..

"I felt this was his moment, but, unfortunately for him, it did not work out. But it was not about that for Stephen. He had made such a lot of big plays to put the game into overtime."

"It was a bit of an epic all right," said Neptune coach, Gerry Fitzpatrick.

"We had our chances. It was always going to be anybody's game. But it was everything you would want in basketball and while it is always disappointing to lose, it was great to be a part of it."

Top scorers for Mardyke UCC Demons: D. J. Harrison 25, Torrey Butler 24, Shane Coughlan 18.

Top scorers for TTH Neptune: Kenny Gamble 26, Charron Watson 24, Dave Langrell 13.