Last-gasp Neptune edge Killester

BORD Gáis Neptune coach Mark Scannell set his side a target of 80 points against defending champions 11890 Killester in yesterday’s Nivea for Men SuperLeague clash at Neptune Stadium and, while they did not achieve that, a close 73-72 victory was more than satisfactory.

In what was a fiercely contested game, neither side could rack up a comfortable lead. They were all square at 39 points apiece at half-time and the trend continued throughout the second half with defences coming out on top.

Neptune were in danger of surrendering the tie on team fouls but, in the dying moments, their star American Ron Thompson highlighted his class by shooting the game’s winning basket for a one-point victory which pleased coach Scannell no end.

“We got that bit of luck we needed,” he admitted. “Defensively we were excellent. We had a target of scoring 80 points today and were a bit below that. Some days we can be superb in offense and weak on defence. It was the opposite against Killester. We need to figure out a way of getting it to click at both ends of the court — that’s the challenge.”

After losing to basement side Belfast Star on Saturday, Moycullen created their second major shock of the season to upset the odds again yesterday beating UL Eagles 63-61.

After being stung by Star the Galway side bounced back defiantly and Luke Enos, who has been deadly under the boards, hit the game high of 26 points in a display which left UL reeling.

The Moycullen coach, Gerard Lyons, insisted that they were up for this game and it was no exaggeration. “It was close throughout but we were really up for it,” he said. “Luke (Enos) is the man for us — the man for the occasion. He made some amazing shots and was the difference today.”

And things got worse for Eagles yesterday when they lost to Northern Conference leaders, DCU Saints, on the wrong end of a convincing 79-60 scoreline that left Saints’ coach, David Donnelly, singing his side’s praises.

“The guys showed great composure,” he said. “We have a great dynamic in the squad now,” he said. “There are no egos at all in the dressing room. We are a team and everybody here is working hard for each other. It’s great to have a dressing room like that.”

UCC Demons showed that they still mean business when they bounced back from the loss to Killester to defeat the cup champions, UCD Marian, 79-75 in another blistering clash.

“After what happened last week we really needed to ask ourselves some questions,” coach Paul Kelleher said. “When you have a defeat like that, it is important that you go over things — you reassess. To their credit, they have come through that process and come out fighting for each other. Their performance was absolutely superb, and they showed incredible resolve to stick to the task when things got tough. The character they showed was brilliant to see. I’m very proud of my players after that performance.”

In the Nivea Women’s SuperLeague there were wins for table toppers UL, Killester and Team Montenotte Hotel on Saturday, while on Sunday Meteors overcame Singleton’s SuperValu Brunell and DCU Mercy beat Oblate Dynamos.