Double-chasing Ballincollig book Super League final with comfortable win over Eanna

The Cork side were simply awesome in the second half and with their Irish players also stepping up to the mark they can now look forward to a trip to the National Basketball Arena on April 12

Sat, 28 Mar, 2026 - 19:15

John Coughlan

Men's Super League semi-final: Ballincollig 98 Eanna 77

Ballincollig qualified for the final of the Domino’s Men’s Super League final following a comfortable win over Eanna at the MTU Arena on Saturday.

The Cork side were simply awesome in the second half and with their Irish players also stepping up to the mark they can now look forward to a trip to the National Basketball Arena on April 12 for the decider against the winners of Belfast Star and Killester.

There was an incident in the first half when Ballincollig had only one Irish player on court for approximately 90 seconds (rule states two Irish players on court at all times).

After the game Eanna signed the scoresheet in protest.

Both sides came out playing man to man defence with some easy tips missed before James Gormley got Eanna up and running in the second minute.

Neil Lynch who broke Neptune’s hearts in the final game of the season then came up with a stunning three pointer only for Dylan Corkery to respond with a similar shot.

Some of the defence played by both sides was right from top drawer but Corkery was doing savage work also in the offence court tipping in a rebound that gave his side a 7-6 lead in the fourth minute.

The introduction of Ciaran O’Sullivan yielded an immediate shot outside the arc and when he followed up with an identical shot in the seventh minute the home side surged into a seven- point lead.

Ballincollig coach Ciaran O'Sullivan celebrates with his players. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Credit to Eanna they responded in style and 12 unanswered points saw the Dublin outfit move into a five- point lead with 1.43 remaining in the quarter.

Neil Lynch continued to hurt Ballincollig with his slick shooting outside the paint and Eanna took a 23-18 lead into the second quarter.

On the restart consecutive Ballincollig baskets and bonus tied the game in the opening minute.

Credit to the home team after a sluggish three minutes they responded and when Adrian O’Sullivan banked a shot and got the bonus and followed up with a three pointer, they surged into a six- point lead.

The opening five minutes was scrappy with both sides struggling on the scoring front and Latavious Mitchell was having a tough evening at the office with only five points behind his name with the American missing many opportunities close to the hoop.

Mitchell drained one free throw with 3.30 remaining to the- interval and suddenly Ballincollig looked in control when commanding a seven point lead.

The closing minutes to the interval were scrappy but Ballincollig without having their best 20 minutes of the season went in at the break commanding a six- point lead 41-35.

On the restart Mitchell banked an easy tip before before Gormley responded with a similar basket.

Mitchell was now coming into his best and when he produced a back- door slammer in the 23rd minute the complex erupted and gave his team a seven- point lead.

Jossell also looked to be increasing the tempo and he followed up with a monstrous three pointer that gave his side a 10 point lead before he increased it to 13 points following free throws.

The biggest problem for Eanna was their inability to break down the stringent Ballincollig defence and when Adrian O’Sullivan drained a three pointer with 3.58 the home side looked to be on the money when commanding an 18- point lead 64-46.

In the closing minutes Eanna huffed and puffed but they managed to reduce the deficit to 13 points 69-56 entering the crucial fourth quarter.

Adam Charles opened with consecutive three pointers on the restart and suddenly it was a seven- point game.

Credit to Ballincollig responded in style and consecutive three pointers from Keelan Cairns and Josh Steel gave them back control and they saw out the game with an exhibition of shooting that Eanna couldn’t contain.

Scorers for Ballincollig: L Mitchell 23, A O’Sullivan 21, L Jossell 16, J Steel 11.

Scorers for Eanna: J Gormley 20, M Blackwell 19, N Lynch 15.

BALLINCOLLIG: A O’Sullivan, J Steel, L Jossell, D O’Herlihy, A Rodriguez, C O’Sullivan, R O’Sullivan, C Blount, L O’Sullivan, D Corkery, K Cairns, L Mitchell.

EANNA: C O’Sullivan, J Richardson, D Kiernan, C Dikcius, K Andabaka, S Desnica, N Lynch, M Blackwell, A Charles, J Gormley, H Lynch, M Christal.

Referees: M Nazimek (Dublin), J Dooley (Portlaoise), L Aherne (Limerick).