Emotional Donaghy hails family club after Tralee Warriors secure double
Garveys Tralee Warriors' Kieran Donaghy with C&S Neptune's Aleix Tarradellas
A magical Garvey’s Tralee Warriors final quarter ensured they retained the Men’s Super League title and completed the double following a thrilling win over C & S Neptune at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday.
In a game that could have gone either way, Neptune’s failure to produce baskets when the game hung in the balance proved crucial.
Speaking after the game an emotional Kieran Donaghy couldn’t hide his delight before reflecting on a tragedy in Sligo.
Donaghy said: “I said to the lads this is a game of ball and all we can do is give it our best shot and see where it takes us.
“I must convey my condolences to the family of Red Óg Murphy in Sligo on the death of their son whose sudden death has shocked the GAA world.”
Defeating Neptune was always going to be tough according to Donaghy but he praised all concerned at the club for their incredible dedication.
Donaghy added: “This is a great family club to be part of and we knew coming up here it would be a dogfight and in the end we just shaded a superb final.”
Neptune were simply awesome in the opening quarter as they raced into a 19-point lead.
The Cork side were hitting shots inside and outside the arc as the Warriors looked bewildered.
A timeout by the Warriors coach was a wise one as his side gradually matched up to Neptune in defence and the introduction of Kieran Donaghy brought stability to the side as they reduced the lead to four points with a minute remaining.
The Tralee side now looked the dominant team but a late Roy Downey three-pointer helped Neptune lead 28-25 following a pulsating first half.
On the restart, the tempo of the game remained at fever pitch but the big difference now was that the Warriors' shooting had improved immensely.
Neptune did use various rotations but Sabata, after a solid start, was now struggling to make an impact in the offence court.
Despite the fact that Tralee had only made 7/22 from outside the arc they did manage to execute key baskets, with Eoin Quigley playing superbly.
Neptune were struggling to get shots off as they simply were being denied clear looks by some wonderful Tralee defending.
In the closing minutes, both sides missed easy tips but after another stunning 10 minutes of wonderful basketball Neptune were just about still in control when commanding a 42-38 interval lead.
On the restart, a spin from Nil Sabata pushed it out to six but he followed up by picking up a silly third foul.
The tension was clear to see as both sides began making elementary mistakes but Neptune continued to struggle in the scoring department as the Warriors continued to chip away at their lead.
All season Neptune’s American duo of Miles Washington and Richaud Gittens have struggled in the scoring charts with the latter only contributing two points in the opening 28 minutes.
Cian Heaphy picked up his fourth foul in this period but the game was still on a knife-edge with a minute remaining with Neptune holding a three-point lead.
The Blackpool outfit finished stronger and a stunning Washington block on Daniel Jokubaitis ensured they had a six-point cushion, 60-54, heading into the final quarter.
Sabata once again started well with a neat drive to the hoop followed by a stunning dunk.
The Warriors coach John Dowling called a timeout with 7:52 with his side trailing by seven points but it was still game on as Darragh O’Hanlon nailed a three on the resumption.
Neptune missed some easy tips coming down the stretch and following a Niko Rosa basket the Kerry side edged ahead by the minimum.
Neptune still had a number of good looks that failed to find the target as the Warriors Super League and Cup double became a reality.
N Sabata 21, R Downey 14, R Gittens 12.
A Calixte 21, N Rosa 13, E Quigley 12.
G Walsh, J Hannigan, R Downey, K O’Donoghue, D Varma, C Heaphy, M Washington, N Sabata, C O’Reilly, A Tarradellis, A Heaphy.
B Cotton, N Roso, A Calixte, Z Kaletka, F O’Sullivan, O Michalczuk, D O’Hanlon, K Crowe, K Donaghy, D Jokubaitis, J Fernane, S Bowler, E Quigley, A Fleming, R Elksnis, P Fleming.
N Nazimek (Dublin), E Perry (Dublin), J Dooley (Portlaoise).
Aaron Calixte (Garvey’s Tralee Warriors).
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