Demons on fire for birthday boy Coughlan
Demons were awesome at times and what a day it was for birthday boy and captain Shane Coughlan who was celebrating his 35th birthday. His wife Allison also had cause for celebration as her birthday falls on the same day.
Now in his 17th consecutive season with the Sunday’s Well club, Coughlan reflected on his team’s 10th consecutive win of the campaign: “I have played with many great Demons teams over the years but I honestly feel this is one of the best.
“This group of players are multi-talented and with a great leader and player coach in Colin O’Reilly we are playing great ball.”
For the Templeogue coach Mark Keenan it has been a tough five days as Swords Thunder eliminated them midweek in the National Cup. However, he still found time to praise his players.
“I was happy with the performance but let’s be honest we were facing a team with so much in their armoury they are frightening to play against.”
Keenan pointed to the fact he targeted Colin O’Reilly but other players then stepped up to the mark.
“The manner and speed they move the ball is frightening and although my players competed well, sometimes you have to be gracious when you are defeated by a class outfit.”
Travelodge Swords Thunder continued on the heels of C&S UCC Demons when defeating BFG Neptune at the Alsaa complex.
Incredibly the Cork side commanded a healthy 13 point interval lead 49-36 but wilted in the second half as Swords restricted them to a mere 19 points.
In the end Swords ran out 83-68 winners as coach Dave Baker reflected on his team’s mixed performance.
Baker said: “I honestly felt we looked a very tired team as this was our third game in a week but credit to the players they responded to my half time wake up call and got among Neptune in defence when the game threatened to run away from them.
“We are now off until January 4 when we play UL Eagles and then it’s off to Cork for the National Cup semi final against C & S UCC Demons.”
The mood in the Neptune camp was naturally sombre after player coach Ger Noonan watched his side collapse in the second half under the Thunder roar.
Noonan said: “We went in at the break with a 13 point lead and it should have been more but once they played three big men on the restart they murdered us on the boards.
“The break is coming at the right time as a little bit of family time will hopefully recharge the players for the Cork derby in January.”
Killester had to dig deep before eventually seeing off the stern Dublin Inter, winning 83-74.
The Clontarf side led 45-45 at the break before American Jermaine Turner chipped in with a 29-point tally that finally gave them breathing space coming down the stretch.
UCD Marian had a double engagement when they hosted DCU Saints on Saturday where they ran comfortable 88-63 winners.
A top class first half performance set the tone for this win as the students surged into 54-29 interval lead.
American Preston Ross was once again impressive as he finished the game with 21 points.
Yesterday UCD travelled to Limerick to play UL Eagles and completed a good weekend when running out 78-71 winners.
In a tense first half the Shannonsiders led 37-35 at the break but the shooting duo of Daniel James and Conor Meany proved crucial as they shared 40 points in this vital win.
It has been a controversial week for the UCD as they were deducted points for playing an illegal player against BFG Neptune.
Looking back on the week captain Conor Meany had mixed emotions.
Meany said: “I prefer not to talk about the Neptune saga only that we are a very proud club in how we conduct our business both on and off court.
“It was great to get two wins and now we can look forward to 2015 with a National Cup semi final looming against UL Eagles but I think they showed enough today to suggest this game is not a foregone conclusion.”
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