Demons bid to de-rail red-hot Saints
Tomorrow night Bord Gáis Neptune play Belfast Star at the Anderstown Leisure Centre, the Eagles entertain the defending champions UCD Marian at the UL Arena and the SuperLeague champions 11890 Killester are at home to Moycullen.
On known form one could take a fair stab at predicting the results but nobody would dare do so for Sunday’s clash at the Mardyke Arena which will bring UCC Demons and DCU Saints together for the second time.
When they last met Demons took the points but Saints have gone on to become the best team in the SuperLeague.
“Look, this is a new competition and everyone has the same record,” said Demons coach, Paul Kelleher. I know it’s an old cliché but SuperLeague form goes out the window when it comes to the cup.
“We are working hard and we have done our business. We must make sure we do all the little things right and give ourselves a winning chance. We need to put ourselves in a position to win the game.
“We are playing the best team in the country. We have been unlucky like that in past couple of years but if we do our business we are good enough to advance.”
Defending champions, UCD Marian must travel to the University Arena in Limerick to defend their title against UL Eagles. When they met in a recent SuperLeague game Eagles came out on top but they have gone through a rocky patch since parting with American Johnnie Jefferson.
Coach Mark Keenan may have rectified that problem with the signing of a former player, Robert Taylor, who is expected to line out for tomorrow night’s game.
Bord Gáis Neptune have rediscovered their early season form and while Belfast Star recorded their first win of last weekend.
“This will be a totally different game as Star have just had their first win and signed an excellent American in Joshua Johnson,” said Neptune coach Mark Scannell.
“I was happy in the way we battled to win against Killester but cup basketball can sometimes throw up the unexpected.”
Coming off last weekend’s loss to Neptune, 11890 Killester won’t be taking any chances when they host Moycullen at Clontarf.
“We wanted to win last week to set us up for the cup game but we were never really at our best,” coach Darren O’Neill said.
“It was a close game all the way but we didn’t do the business down the stretch.”
DCU Mercy begin their defence of the Women’s SuperLeague National Cup against Waterford Wildcats, a team with a big Cup tradition, and coach Mark Ingle regards the game as a potential banana skin.
“Wildcats are a very good side and they have played well in their last two games against UL and Team Montenotte and it would be foolish of us to underestimate them,” he said.
11890 Killester host Ulster Rockets and Meteors face a gigantic task against Team Montenotte while SuperLeague leaders, UL, entertain the other Cork side, Singletons Supervalu Brunell.
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