When a romantic cup run gets serious for St Anthony’s

WHEN you’re the cup minnows, and Hollywood’s just over the horizon, the road turns into a dirt-track, littered with mines and moments of dread.

St Anthony’s of Cork would know. The tiny basketball club has been nurturing a group of girls for the best part of a decade with the express intention of one day basking in the glow of National Cup final weekend.

Now that they’re Saturday’s cup semi-final away, the pressure’s almost off — if you are to believe coach Carol Diggin. She reckons last month’s quarter-final round was the real nerve-shredder for her team.