Price insists Neptune will focus on league clash
A week later the sides face up to each other in the quarter-final of the National Cup at the National Basketball Arena. HOOPS are still something of an unknown quantity in the SuperLeague – ask UCC Demons. They met the champions on the back of a dismal early season run and beat them hands down at The Mardyke Arena.
Since then they have been on something of a run that included a first round cup victory over Moycullen until they lost to UCD Marian last weekend.
“Look, this weekend is about collecting SuperLeague points – it’s got nothing to do with the cup and I’ve been telling the guys that all week,” Neptune coach, Pat Price, insisted. “Next week we’ll talk about the cup.”
Since their narrow overtime loss to neighbours, UCC Demons, in the derby thriller Neptune have gone from strength to strength. Up to the derby game we gave up 89 points a game and since then we have given up 69 points a game – an improvement 20 points a game,” Price said.
“There have been a lot of breakthroughs in training since then. We demonstrated going up against a club as good as Demons we can compete and you have to be able to compete, to fight, to go hard, to do your best. We need a big game on Saturday night.’’
HOOPS coach, Ahmad Smith, is pleased with his side’s current wellbeing but he wants more.
“Two out of three wins is not bad and at least we are heading in the right directon,” he said. “We are getting a little bit of consistency and we are not turning the ball over as much as we were doing at the start of the season.’’
The flooding at The Mardyke has caused UCC Demons to return to their old stomping ground at Gurranabraher for Sunday’s renewal with DCU Saints in the SuperLeague.
Last time they met was in the first round of the cup when Saints were on the receiving end of an almighty backlash from Demons who had suffered their first defeat at the hands of HOOPS a week earlier.
Now all that is history and it is back to the real business of defending their SuperLeague title so Demons can’t be expected to take the foot off the pedal.
“In our last match, they (Saints) demonstrated that they are an excellent physical team,” Demons’ coach, Luke D’Alessio, said. “We learned that we must rebound well against them and limit our turnovers throughout the match in order to win this game.”
Ulster Elks’ Irish international Ian O’Boyle is hoping Sunday’s clash with Moycullen will mark the end of their miserable start to the season.
“We are at a loss to how we haven’t won a game yet,” said O’Boyle. “We have to turn things around quickly. We have to keep believing that we can get back on the right track.”
Tony Hehir’s UL Eagles have been the epitome of consistency all season and are now the only unbeaten side in the SuperLeague. They had another impressive win over DCU Saints last weekend and there is nothing to suggest that Belfast Star will inflict any real damage on them this weekend.
“DCU were very good but great teamwork saw us through in the end and thankfully we got the win,” said coach Hehir.
In the IrishSport.TV Women’s SuperLeague UL and Team Montenotte Hotel Cork will be defending unbeaten records against Killester and Meteors respectively, while DCU Mercy make the short trip to Tolka Rovers.
UL are boosted by the return of April Cahalane, but the league leaders will be without the services of Lorraine Scanlon and Rhiannon McNulty as they face a potentially tricky clash in the shape of Killester.
Tolka Rovers continue to be without the services of experienced campaigner Emma Dyer ahead of their clash at home to DCU Mercy.
Meteors are without long term injury absentee Nicky O’Brien (achilles), while Lorraine Scully is a doubt (back injury) ahead of Sunday’s tough clash with Team Montenotte Hotel Cork.
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