Eagles bid to build momentum for SuperLeague semi-finals
Tony Hehir’s side fell victim to Ulster Elks a couple of weeks ago when Elks were languishing at the bottom of the Northern Conference so the Limerick coach will be extra vigilant going in against Star, who are second to Killester at the top.
“We had a very good win away last weekend against DCU Saints and it also gave us the Conference,” coach Hehir said. “However we must build on this and work on aspects of our game performance in the Star game. We all want to improve and build our game as we head to the league semi finals in mid March.
“Belfast Star’s form of late has been impressive with back-to-back wins over DCU Saints and Hoops. They have an excellent professional in Kevin Ratzsch and he has consistently put up big numbers over the past few weeks. Scott Summersgill is also a player who will need serious defensive attention in this game.
“I am sure UL Eagles want to finish with a win in their home court but they have never played against us with an American so they won’t be taking us for granted,” said Star coach, Danny Fulton
The contest for play-off positions continues this weekend with DCU Saints facing a tough double-header against UCC Demons and Killester while Demons, currently second in the Southern Conference, are also playing UCD/Marian, while Cork neighbours, NEH Neptune, who lie third, are at home clash to HOOPS.
Saints, close to qualification, will be without Eoin Chubb, who suffered a serious ankle injury in Friday’s loss to Belfast Star.
UCC Demons produced a vastly improved display when going down narrowly, 73-70, to Killester last weekend.
“We put in a tremendous performance against Killester but lost,” said Demons’ coach Luke D’Alessio. “We are missing players through injury but we are still capable of making an impact.
“We need to put in good performances to build up the confidence ahead of the play-offs. Players like Joshua Johnson and Niall O’Reilly have stepped up in recent weeks and hopefully we can start building a bit of confidence over the final weeks of the season.”
Demons will be looking to complete the double over UCD/Marian on Sunday after the Cork side recorded a 67-57 win away to UCD in October.
Neptune’s hopes of ending the season in second took a blip away to Ulster Elks last weekend but they will be hoping to return to winning ways at home to HOOPS tomorrow night.
“The disappointment from last week’s performance needs to be put behind us as we head down the final stretch of the season looking to secure a home quarter-final in the playoffs,” said Neptune coach, Pat Price. “Our priority on Saturday is on playing our tempo and being disruptive to Hoops’ half court execution.”
In the IrishSport.TV Women’s Superleague, title chasers UL and DCU Mercy clash, while Killester take a trip to Cork to face the leaders and defending champions Team Montenotte Hotel Cork while Tolka host Bausch & Lomb Waterford Wildcats and on Sunday Meteors take on Sligo All Stars.
UL have bounced back from their National Cup semi final loss to DCU with four wins on the trot to leave them in a great position to finish the regular season in second place.
“DCU Mercy have been excellent all year,” said UL coach James Weldon. “They were very good in the cup final and we were obviously disappointed to lose the semi-final but it was a close game and we have managed to win all our league games since the semi-final defeat has made the team stronger.”
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