Team Montenotte of Glanmire ready for shot at history in Premier Women’s National Cup

Team Montenotte of Glanmire will be hoping to become the first team in Irish basketball to win the Premier Women’s National cup six times as they step up their defence with a semi-final this evening against Dublin side Meteors.

The Cork side will be without influential point guard Niamh Dwyer who has been sidelined with a damaged ACL, but coach Mark Scannell is confident his side can rise to the challenge.

“Any team in the country would miss a player with the outstanding skills that Niamh Dwyer possesses but it’s a case of other players now being asked to step up to the plate,” Scannell said. There’s other worries too — Casey Grace suffered a foot injury at training this week as is rated very doubtful to play in this crucial game.

“We haven’t had the rub of the green with injuries of late but there is tremendous camaraderie in our team and we are hoping that everything will drop right for us on the day,” the new Irish international coach added.

Glanmire played some high tempo basketball before the Christmas break that saw them demolish Killester, and Scannell believes a similar performance will suffice.

“We are facing a team that are capable of putting up the numbers but if we show high intensity in defence that’s required at this level, we should be good enough to do the business.”

Meteors one of Ireland’s oldest ladies basketball clubs, dominated at this level for many years in the 70s and 80s and coach Mark Byrne is hoping his team shows their true form against the might of Montenotte.

“The club have continued for many years to have good structures and I think we have shown in many games this season we are capable of mixing it with the best,” Byrne said.

In their league campaign to date, Meteors’ American duo of Emily Leer and Meaghan McGuinness have shown impressive shooting skills, and the Cork side will be acutely aware their defence will need to be switched on.

Coach Byrne believes they have nothing to lose, with pundits rating them a big outsider.

“Nothing to lose and everything to gain, that’s how we like it and at the end of the day , I am confident we have players that will pose the champions problems,” added Byrne.

The first semi-final on court will be the clash between Killester and Waterford IT Wildcats that is sure to have fans on their feet from start to finish.

Wildcats shocked the Clontarf outfit when the teams last met in the league but coach Karl Kilbride is hoping his side will be better prepared on this occasion.

“No excuses — Wildcats played very well at our gym and deserved to win, but we made silly errors and hopefully we can learn from that experience,” Karl said.

Killester will look to the shooting skills of American Rae Contreras but also have excellent Irish players in Mimi Clarke and Aisling Sullivan.

The Déise side are coached by Michael Evans who experienced success when coaching Waterford in the Men’s Premier League and is enjoying his first season in the women’s equivalent.

“I am very happy I took the job as our team are very committed but this is a game that will test our credentials and one I am hoping my players will enjoy the experience of winning,” Evans said.

No doubt Evans will be banking on the shooting skills of American Jasmine Boone in a game too close to call.