Eager Tigers lying in wait for Ballina
It will be a daunting task for a Ballina side who lost 98-89 to Tigers in their recent NIVEA for Men SuperLeague clash and are coming off two losses. At the best of times the Tigers den which is the Tralee Sports Centre can be an intimidating place for visiting teams and the fact that it will be sold out for this game makes it even more daunting.
Last weekend Ballina’s confidence was bruised when UCC Demons hit 100 points against them.
But Tigers, too, got a wake up call when Neptune took them to the wire in a thrilling SuperLeague tie in Cork the previous Friday night.
“Maybe it was good that it happened the week before the cup quarter final,” club officer Jackie Collins, said. “It was pretty scary stuff but if we were going to have a bad one then this was the time to have it.”
Both Cork teams feature in this weekend’s Cup quarter-finals with Neptune away to in-form DART Killester and last year’s Cup champions, UCC Demons, launching their bid to reclaim the trophy against Hoops in the Mardyke Arena.
Neptune got to the quarter-finals by virtue of a shock result over old foes, DCU Saints, but that later proved not to be so much of a surprise as they were going for a fifth win on the trot against Tigers last weekend.
Michael Bonaparte returned to full practice this week after missing training last week with an ankle injury and Keith Anderson (travel commitments) and Paddy Kelly (shoulder injury) look set to return for Mark Keenan’s side but he will have to plan without the Hungarian Bosman, Tomas Varga who is away.
So much has happened since Tommy Hehir coached Limerick Lions to cup success that it seems like ages ago but there are still those associated with the team who savoured that victory.
The Lions have not had the best run up to their quarter-final clash with UCD Marian but they are hopeful of making it to the penultimate stages of the competition.
“We will need to be focused and concentrate for the full game to have a chance of winning the game,” said their player/coach Matt Hall. “I have been pleased with our performances in the last few games and our Irish players have been doing quite well. However, every Limerick player will have to step up a few gears on Saturday night to give us any prospect of getting a win.”
In Sunday’s sole Cup clash, UCC Demons will be favourites to see off Hoops after a blistering run in the league of late.
In the Women’s SuperLeague Cup, the capital hosts three big clashes with DART facing a difficult assignment at home to UL Aughinish, while Meteors welcome the Wildcats of Waterford to Naomh Olaf. On Sunday, DCU Mercy take on Tolka Rovers in a Dublin derby as all sides look to book their passage in the last eight and join Team Montenotte Hotel, who received a bye into the next round as reigning cup champions.
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