DCU taking nothing for granted

DCU MERCY may have proved too strong for 11890 Killester when the sides met earlier this season in the Women’s SuperLeague but their coach Mark Ingle insisted they won’t be complacent when they meet in the semi-final of the National Cup at Neptune Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Mercy were newly crowned cup champions when Killester delivered a reality check last February and this season they’ve been showing a lot of their old fighting spirit.

“They have improved since the start of the season and they produced a great display against Team Montenotte in their last game,” Mercy coach, Mark Ingle, admitted. “It’s quite an intense rivalry and what happened earlier in the league will mean nothing on Sunday.”

11890 Killester are boosted by the return of Elaine Stone, Ali Maguire and Hannah Fraser, while Kate Gillen, Fiona Ward and Fiona Carrick face a race against time to be fit for the weekend.

“I know we have been written off by most around the league and maybe rightly so if you look at the league form but my players and I firmly believe that there is a reason we play these games,” Killester coach, Mark Grennell, said.

“Mercy have managed to assemble some talented players over the last few years but we have to believe we can put in a performance on the day and who knows.”

Team Hotel Montenotte Cork will command the biggest gallery of the weekend when they take on Waterfords Wildcats in their bid to make a fifth successive final and, with the u18s and u20s defending their titles at the Parochial Hall tomorrow, coach Mark Scannell, is facing another busy weekend.

Glanmire Basketball Club are hosting the semi-finals, joined by the Cork Ladies Board, and Scannell hopes that won’t distract them: “The work is done and we just have to go out and perform. What I hope doesn’t happen is that we lose focus just because the club is running the event.

Scannell paid tribute to his club’s excellent under-age programme: “The reason we are able to survive is because we have been successful in the under-18 and under-20 competitions,.

“It is a credit to the people in the club who put in the work. I get a lot of credit for coaching the teams but they are well coached before they come to me.”

Wildcats’ coach, Sean O’Regan, a former international boxer and a former world kick-boxing champion, coached Glanmire before moving to Wildcats and he’s admitted his side faces an enormous task.