Nugent confident UL will prevail

BEFORE the semi-finals two weeks ago, few would have predicted Team Montenotte Hotel from Glanmire would challenge UL Aughinish for the national cup title.

The teams are poles apart in the Women’s SuperLeague with UL streaking ahead at the top of the table and the Cork girls languishing second from the bottom.

On their respective semi-final performances UL Aughinish go into tomorrow’s televised final as the overwhelming favourites. They beat Bausch & Lomb Wildcats 84-62 in a free flowing final while Glanmire upset the odds when they beat DCU Mercy 46-45 in a comparatively dour affair.

What a lot of people forget is that Team Montenotte are the reigning SuperLeague champions and they were at full strength for the first time this season when they beat DCU, themselves hotly tipped for the double at the beginning of the season.

As a result of that upset one would be reluctant to write Glanmire off, going into this final and the UL coach, Jim Nugent, insisted yesterday that he is not taking anything for granted.

“We are obviously favourites and we don’t have a problem with that,” he said. “It is not reflected in their position in the league right now but let’s not forget what Glanmire have done in the past year.”

Nugent, who replaced Tony Hehir as coach to this season, won two cup titles as a player and coach with Neptune and knows what has to be done.

“I am lucky to have inherited a very good team,” he said. “But we lost two very good players. I mean Michelle (Aspell) is impossible to replace and the under-20 player of the year last year, Rachel Clancy, went to the US on scholarship.

“But the others stepped up big time — Cathy Grant, Fiona Scally, Eileen Lyons — are all very young players. Dearbhla Breen is playing very well and we are very lucky to have Courtney McDaniel back for another year. It would be unfair to single out anybody because this is a very good team and they have worked very hard — I have 11 and 12 players at every training session since I took over — and hard work is always going to be rewarded.”

Mark Scannell is another coach who knows what cup basketball is all about and insisted yesterday that Glanmire are not fazed by the strength and reputation of the opposition.

“We are the underdogs and we don’t mind that. In fact we enjoy it,” he said. “We were the underdogs going into all our cup games this season and, each time, my girls have stepped up when the challenge was put to them. They have beaten very good teams in the cup.

“We have a game plan and we will play to that. In the past they have been up against it and there were times when they might have hung their heads and nobody would have blamed them a bit. But this team has a lot of character and the tougher the task the tougher they will be. They will hang in there.

“We are very lucky to have Michelle Fahy in the team. She is a real inspiration. So, too, is Denise Walsh. She has been one of the best players in the country for the past 10 years and she deserves a cup medal.

“There is a great spirit throughout the club — we have teams in three finals at the weekend — and I think spirit and support will be an important factor.”

He admitted that tradition was a huge factor and this time it favours UL. “They remind me of the old Neptune teams of long ago,” he said. “Our team does not have that tradition. You have to win more than one title to become a power in basketball and I would hope that this will happen on Sunday — that we will win the league and the cup inside 12 months. But we are under no illusions.”

With three teams in finals over the weekend Glanmire are heading in the right direction and the coach’s daughter, Jessica Scannell, is on all three teams — U18, U20 and SuperLeague.

Marie Breen is spectacular with plenty of support from April Cahalane, Amanda O’Regan and Donna Buckley complemented by their impressive new American, Maverly Nettles.