Neptune eye revenge on bitter rivals Demons

IN NORMAL circumstances it would be just an opportunity to recover from a National Cup semi-final, but UCC Demons and National Event Hire Neptune will sweep into Neptune Stadium on a wave of adrenalin for another derby game tomorrow night.

The massive attendance at Neptune Stadium last weekend provided ample evidence that basketball is alive and well in Cork. UCC Demons had already provided that proof last year with a full collection of silverware from the major competitions.

Demons are expected to achieve similar success this year and appear to be getting there. After last Sunday’s semi-final victory over Neptune they face their old foes again tomorrow night before heading to Limerick on Sunday to play UL Eagles who are eight points clear in the Southern Conference.

Neptune were severely wounded by last weekend’s cup semi-final defeat and will want to exact revenge.

“We appreciate expectations were high last weekend but, let’s face it, we are a team and club in transition and our focus is on team development,” Neptune coach, Pat Price said.

“Yes, our guys were disappointed but they have come to terms with it now. I know it is very difficult to play down a derby game but it was back to basics this week. We identified some things that we need to address and some things that we need to do better.”

“I took them right back to late October. Since then we have had just three losses. Before we write ourselves off it was important to identify the common denominator in all three losses which was the fact that we the gave up 30 points in the first quarter.”

This is something they will address tomorrow night but they could be without their American, Juwann James, and Michael McGinn, both of whom came down with flu this week.

UCC Demons’ coach Luke D’Alessio is wary this week. “We will have to counter Neptune’s intensity from the outset,” coach D’Alessio said. “We will need to limit the amount of ball being fed to Juwann James because he is a very powerful player.”

Tony Hehir’s UL Eagles will provide another tough test on Sunday. When they met at the Parochial Hall, the Limerick side came away with an 81-73 victory.

Hoops return to action against DCU Saints while Moycullen have an opportunity to get back on the winning track against Belfast Star. Star, second in the Northern Conference, possess a real scoring threat in Kevin Ratzsch, who is averaging 31 points per game.

Ulster Elks’ won away to DCU Saints last weekend. It could be just what they needed to turn a disastrous season around but they face a Killester side who overwhelmed UCD Marian in the other semi-final last weekend.

Team Montenotte Hotel Cork appear to have a comparatively easy assignment against Sligo All-Stars in the IrishSport.TV Women’s SuperLeague, while their cup final opponents, DCU Mercy, make the trip to Shoreline Leisure Centre to face Meteors.

Bausch & Lomb Wildcats will look to build on their first win of the season at home to Killester. UL, who have to get over their cup disappointment travel to Tolka Rovers.