UCC Glanmire v DCU: 'The rivalry between the clubs is one of the biggest in Irish basketball'

Address UCC Glanmire head coach Mark Scannell predicts an epic battle against the might of DCU Mercy

Gianna Smith, UCC Glanmire in action in the MissQuote.ie Superleague at the Mardyke Arena, Mardyke, Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Address UCC Glanmire head coach Mark Scannell has described their rivalry with DCU Mercy as “one of the biggest in Irish basketball”.

The sides have finished top of the regular season in four of the last six years, while DCU Mercy are the current MissQuote.ie Super League champions. DCU Mercy are joint-top of the division with a 5-1 record, alongside WIT Waterford Wildcats, while The Address UCC Glanmire are just behind with a 4-2 start to the season

The two superpowers go head to head on Sunday at the Mardyke Arena (2.30pm).

Scannell said: “Every year when the fixtures come out DCU is the first game we look at. The rivalry between the clubs is one of the biggest in Irish basketball. They have started the season very well and will be very difficult to break down. The focus this week in training will be very narrow, with everyone knowing how important it is to perform to our best next Sunday. I hope we get a great crowd in the Mardyke next Sunday, for what we hope will be a great advert for women’s basketball.”

His counterpart at DCU Mercy, Mark Ingle, is also eagerly anticipating the game. “Everyone in our squad is looking forward to the challenge of playing (The Address) UCC Glanmire in Cork and all that it entails. A great rivalry has built up between the two squads over the past few years and we will prepare with our best focus, for what should be a very exciting game.”

Elsewhere, WIT Waterford Wildcats head coach Tommy O’Mahony thinks Fr Mathews will be a “tough nut to crack” when they face off on Saturday. His team will be looking to extend their five-game winning run in the league.

“They have been quite unlucky with results thus far. They have an outstanding coach and high quality players, which makes them a tough nut to crack. We showed great fight to claim a win last weekend, but we have plenty of things we need to get better on, in order for us to be in with a shout of winning this weekend,” O’Mahony said.

Singleton SuperValu Brunell will be looking to bounce back from their 70-67 overtime defeat at home to WIT Waterford Wildcats when they travel to Killester. Head coach Tim O’Halloran is expecting a reaction from his players. “The game at the weekend is another big game on the road, especially after our defeat to Waterford. The best thing about this group is that they don’t like losing and came into training wanting to train and work on how we get better. Hopefully we can get it right on against a good Killester team.” 

Both sides have a 4-2 record going into the game and Killester head coach, Karl Kilbride, believes his side will need to be at their best to emerge with a win. “Brunell are going to be a really tough match-up. They have two excellent Americans, a bunch of really talented young players and the co-captain of the senior national team running the show, in Edel (Thornton). We were happy with our performance last week, bar our turnovers. But we will really need to up it a notch this week, if we’re to come away with a win. We need to take care of the ball better and keep making the improvements we’ve been making at the defensive end and we’ll hopefully get a good performance.”

Ireland international Dayna Finn returns this weekend for Trinity Meteors who are away at winless IT Carlow Basketball while Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics host Team Garvey’s St. Mary’s.