Demons seek cup redemption
It is highly unlikely that result will have any major bearing on the proceedings when they arrive at the business end of the tournament, but Demons must get it together on Sunday afternoon when they take on DCU Saints at The Mardyke Arena in defence of their National Cup title.
This promises to be an intriguing contest as both sides always lift themselves to new heights for the cup. Until Hoops battered down their fortress, The Mardyke Arena has been a safe haven for Demons for the past two seasons.
Now they must get over that shock to the system and buttress their defences, while coach Luke D’Alessio may not be all that familiar with Saints he is well aware of the challenge that lies ahead and knows there can be no slip-up this time.
“The Saints are a talented team with a deep bench,” he said “They are a very physical and intelligent group and they play hard every game. With a record of 5-1 in the SuperLeague, they will be tough and we must start the game with the intensity I know we need to win.
“Our focus will be on defence and rebounding, minimising our turnovers throughout,” he added. “We need to pass the ball effectively on offence, always looking for the right shot. If we execute our plays, the shot will always be found. We must have the patience and awareness to get the ball inside as much as possible before shot selection.”
Demons captain Shane Coughlan is a renowned cup specialist in his own right – he has won finals with the last throw of the dice – and he knows what they have to do to get back on track.
“It was very disappointing to lose the unbeaten run,” he admitted. “The only positive thing to come from it is that it might just give us a chance to re-focus and see where we are as a team.
“It was a great feeling to win the cup last year but that’s history now, and this is a whole new ball game. We have some new players in and we need to forget about last weekend and kick on and get our season going with a good cup run.”
DCU Saints are enjoying a superb run of form with five wins from their first six games, but coach Vinny O’Keeffe is warning against complacency.
“Demons have a fantastic pedigree in the cup and will have a real partisan crowd behind them at the weekend,” he said. “Demons don’t need too many reasons to motivate themselves – particularly when it comes to the cup – but the fact that they lost to Hoops last weekend will fire them up.
“We have been enjoying decent form with the only real disappointment coming in our loss to Killester when we didn’t do ourselves justice, but in the cup we can’t be complacent because it’s a one-off game.”
Hoops take on new opposition in Moycullen. The Galway side may be SuperLeague rookies but when it comes to the cup they know what it takes to win. They have quite a pedigree in cup basketball, with their U20 success in 2008 followed by further glory in the senior men’s title last year.
Cian Nihill, who starred in both those adventures, is hoping home advantage will swing the pendulum in their favour at the weekend.
“We have had some great crowds but unfortunately we haven’t been able to give them a win just yet,” said Nihill. “Hoops come here on the back of a huge win but we are also due a win and hopefully it will come this weekend.
Hoops’ coach, Ahmad Smith, heaped praise on Eoin Chubb and Joey Haastrup, whose return from injury last weekend coincided with their first win of the season. Now Haastrup wants more of the same.
“It was a great win against Demons,” he insisted. “We travel to Galway with belief and we know we are capable of producing results. Moycullen are looking for their first win of the season and we don’t want to be on the receiving end.”
Moycullen are still without the services of Garnett Griffin (ankle injury) and Paul O’Brien (shin splints).
In the Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague, Killester are another side seeking a bounce back to winning ways after their loss away to UCD/Marian.
This weekend they take on a Belfast Star side also reeling after two successive defeats to DCU Saints and Neptune respectively.
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