Ingle happy to shout for Mercy

DCU MERCY coach Mark Ingle added a new dimension to this week’s training sessions in the form of noise in preparation.

They play 11850 Killester before the local clash of Bord Gáis Neptune-UCC Demons at Neptune Stadium which will be rocking as the rival fans assemble.

“The whole occasion will make this a different type of derby. From playing before 40 or 50 people we will be playing before a full house and we have been planning for that. We have had plenty of noise at our training sessions this week,” he said.

Ingle makes no secret of the fact the National Cup has been their priority all season.

“The cup has been our goal all year, I’m not going to lie to you,” he said.

“For the first few years we were concentrating on the league, not realising the importance of the cup as regards exposure. DCU asked us to reassess and we did that.”

And he is relishing the return to Neptune Stadium, not just because it was where they made their breakthrough on that icy day two years ago but because it’s where he cut his teeth in basketball.

“I have very fond memories of Cork,” he said. “It’s where I learned my basketball from great players like Mark Scannell and Francis O’Sullivan. From my association with Cork I brought it back to Dublin — even the club colours which I associated with Neptune or Burgerland as I knew them then.

“They set the trend with the red, black and white, their two Americans and even down to the blazers and that’s the way I wanted it.”

The past couple of years have brought more than just the cup to DCU. The club has succeeded in bringing through its own young players highlighted by the fact that, for the first time in their history, they will have an U20 team in action this weekend.

“Going into this weekend UL are already favourites to win the cup on their league record and how they are playing,” said Ingle.

“But we are there as well and this game will tell us a lot about ourselves. It is virtually a derby game and the girls know each other well. In fact I have players from both clubs on the college team so they will have played together as well. It is a rivalry that you could compare with the Neptune-Demons rivalry in Cork.”