Killester put title on the line

MARK KEENAN, coach to 11890 Killester, is hoping his team will return to form for Sunday’s National Cup semi-final against UL Eagles at Neptune Stadium in Cork after two disappointing losses in the lead up to their most important assignment of the season.

Killester had not lost a game since winning the National Cup last January and were on a run of 10 consecutive wins this season when Dublin city neighbours, DCU Saints, halted their momentum a couple of weeks ago.

Then Belfast Star came to hit them on the eve of their Cup semi-final.

“I just can’t put my finger on it,” Keenan admitted. “Maybe it was because of the combination of the Christmas break and the bad weather which disrupted our training that we did not get our rhythm back. We did not perform in those games.

“But we were coming off 10 wins on the trot and we have been playing some great basketball. You don’t go from being a really good team to being a bad team overnight and that’s what I have been trying to impress on my players.

“Eagles are a tough team — their 10 and 2 record shows that — so even though we have beaten them already this year we can take nothing for granted.

“The cup is a one-off game and it is all about what happens on the day.”

Eagles, who lost just two games all season, go into this game on the back of a five-game winning run. Killester have been the thorn in their side for the past couple of seasons. They lost to them in the SuperLeague final last year and suffered a 93-81 loss this season.

“They (Killester) have proven year in and year out that they are a team that will always compete well in this competition and at this venue,” Eagles coach, Mark Bernsen, said.

“Preparing for the match we emphasised the utmost importance that both our offensive and defensive concepts be installed correctly so that we will be able to deal with Killester’s overall approach to the game.”

Ulster Elks, coming off an indifferent SuperLeague campaign, are the surprise packet of this year’s National Cup — making it to their first ever semi-final against UCD Marian on Sunday.

Coach, Deirdre Brennan, believes they can make it to their first final despite losing to UCD Marian three times this season already.

“We appreciate that we are underdogs and will have our work cut out against one of the oldest and best established basketball clubs in the country and one that was in the Superleague cup semi-finals on a number of occasions,” she said. “But we are looking forward to the occasion and to another crack at DCU.

“They have great depth and can call on any number of players to score for them at any point in the game. But we believe that if we perform we can win the game despite our record against UCD this year.”

Coach Fran Ryan is hopeful UCD, currently in the third play-off spot in the Northern Conference, will benefit from the experience of making last year’s semi-final, which they lost to the eventual champions: “We have huge respect for Elks who have had some marvellous results this season — Belfast Star in the Cup and DCU Saints and Neptune in the league and hitting over 100 points against Saints was something of a rare occurrence.

“The two teams are very familiar with three games already played this season and the fact that Elks have two former UCD Marian players, Barry Drumm and Kevin Foley, in their line-up means they know our players inside out.”