WIT Waterford Wildcats host DCU Mercy in MissQuote.ie Super League
Unbeaten Tradehouse Central Ballincollig will be looking to make eight wins from eight in the InsureMyVan.ie Super League, when they host defending champions Belfast Star on Saturday. Head coach Kieran O’Sullivan has called for a “quality performance” from his side if they’re to register yet another victory.
“We are looking forward to playing our last game this year at home against last year’s champions. Star have proven pedigree on and off the court and us having their former player, Keelan Cairns, in our ranks adds to this important game. 2021 has been a difficult, but rewarding one, for Ballincollig. It’s important we finish the first half of the season with a quality performance, if we are to keep our unbeaten run going.”
Belfast Star had a 94-85 home win over Grvey’s Tralee Warriors last time out. Head coach Adrian Fulton feels his side are in for a tough test this weekend. “We know we will be up against it this weekend. Ballincollig have only lost in the (National) Cup this year and are clearly playing very well. Andre Nation is the current player of the month and they have multiple threats in multiple positions. Hopefully we can build on last week's win and put in another good performance. Anything less than a very good performance won't get the job done.”
North Conference leaders DBS Éanna host NUIG Maree at Coláiste Éanna off the back of a 92-86 win over C&S Neptune. Darren McGovern, DBS Éanna head coach, said: “Maree are probably the most in-form team at the moment, full of confidence and talent. I am really looking forward to the match-ups. They have firepower all over the court, brilliant Irish talent in Eoin Rockall and many great imports this season. Us on the other hand, I'm delighted how we've navigated the start of the season. We've lost keys parts of the squad, but others have stepped up big time. I'm sure it'll be a great game in front of another sell out in Éanna.”
His NUIG Maree counterpart, Charlie Crowley, has once again called for his team to improve their away form, after their 99-94 defeat at Killester. “Eanna are one of the top teams in the country. Even after dealing with numerous injuries they’re sitting pretty there at the top of the North Conference. They play an attractive style of basketball, along with some very good import and local players, they’re an extremely tough team to beat.”
“We don’t have a good record away from home, and it’s something we need to sort out. Against Killester we would take one step forward and two steps back. We played good basketball to get back into the game, but then players would decide to resort to individual plays to try and play ‘hero ball’. We need to continue to play as a team, as we do at home, if we want to get to where we’re capable of.”
C&S Neptune host Bright DCU Saints on Saturday. The Dublin club picked up their first win of the season, a 72-71 win over Team 360 Financial Killorglin, and Gareth Winders is hoping to follow it with a road victory. “Coming off a good performance last weekend against Killorglin, we know we will have to lift our performance again against a strong Neptune side. They have a good mix of players in their team and again are well coached and organised. We know there is a big challenge ahead on Saturday evening and the fact it’s in Neptune Stadium adds to that challenge. Our players have started to show another level to their game and we want to see more of that, come this Saturday.”
C&S Neptune player/coach Colin O’Reilly added: “It our first home game in a month and the last one before the last weekend of January, so we are looking forward to get out in front of our home fans. We have had a nice week of training, knowing we are going up against a team full of confidence after their win last weekend. Vincent’s always bring an intense pressure style to their play and we will have to match that for 40 minutes to give ourselves a chance of winning.”
Griffith College Templeogue are on a 5-game losing streak and head coach Mark Keenan is eager to end that sequence against Team 360 Financial Killorglin.
“Another big test for us this weekend against Team 360 Financial Killorglin. They have some great individual players, that can score big and really hurt you. We have to start playing more as a team ourselves and try to get that win under our belt before the Christmas break.” Keenan commented.
Team 360 Financial Killorglin head coach Declan Wall has described their 72-71 defeat at Bright DCU Saints last weekend as “our worst performance to date”. He’s looking for improvement for their next trip to Dublin. “Tough game on the road again this coming weekend against a quality Templeogue side. We were really disappointed with how last weekend went, giving what was our worst performance to date. So for us to match a high calibre team like Templeogue we need to get back to what we were doing well in previous games that got us results. Training this week will be a refocus and get ready to put in a hard shift to compete come Saturday. We’ve been on the road now for a month, which is hard on the guys, but hopefully we can give one decent performance in before the Christmas break and look forward to a lot of home games in the new year.”
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors host UCD Marian, with head coach John Dowling highlighting the threat posed by Srdjan Stojanovic ahead of the game.
“We’re looking for a bounce back from our guys at home this weekend after our loss last weekend against Belfast. UCD have a great experience at this level, with one of the best shooters (Srdjan) Stojanovic the league has ever seen. We will have to play at our very best in order to beat UCD this weekend, we’re hoping our home fans will have a big part to play and are looking forward to the game.”
UCD Marian head coach, Josko Srzic, also picked out Aaron Calixte as a player for his side to watch. “We are going to home of one of the top teams in country. Very good offensive team, well balanced on all positions, many options, with the very good (Aaron) Calixte running the show. We know there is no space for many mistakes playing the team like Tralee, at their home court.”
Winless Moycullen host Killester, John Cunningham outlined the challenge his team faces on Sunday. “Some of our better performances since I took over have come against them - although I have to counter by saying some of our worst performances have come against them as well!.
“Brian (O’Malley) has them playing with tremendous pace and intensity and Ciaran Roe, Paddy Sullivan, Johnny Behan et cetera, fit that game perfectly, as does their American, Kason Harrell. There’s no room to celebrate made baskets against them, as they have the ball in and down the other end like lightning. They will really test our transition defence.
Having worked hard on our defence for a few weeks, we’ve been good in that area over the last two games. However, we’ve really struggled to put offence together lately and we have to hope that a focus on that this week will bring similar rewards. We’ll need to be better if we’re to have a chance on Sunday.”
Brian O’Malley missed last weekend’s win over NUIG Maree due to Covid-19. Assistant coach Mark Grennell will step in again this week, O’Malley said: “It's a big game for us as we look to build on a great win last week. Obviously I'm not around the team this week and just checking in from afar, but Mark (Grennell) plays a huge role in team prep every week, so it hasn't been much different. Moycullen and ourselves always is a good tussle, we have to be really accurate on offence and match their phenomenal workrate to be in position to win the game.”
WIT Waterford Wildcats head coach Tommy O’Mahony says his team will to be “a lot more clinical and eliminate some of our mistakes” if they’re to overcome DCU Mercy in the MissQuote.ie Super League this weekend.
DCU Mercy beat WIT Waterford Wildcats 77-57 on the opening day of the season, before WIT Waterford Wildcats went on a six-game unbeaten league run, which was halted by Killester last weekend, losing 109-100.
“DCU Mercy is another tough contest for us, we were disappointed of how we played last weekend and the last time we played DCU we were no match for them. I feel we have progressed since then, but so have DCU. We need to be a lot more clinical and eliminate some of our mistakes and hopefully we will be closer to them than we were last time. We are eagerly awaiting this tie, so we can test ourselves against one of the best teams in the league.” O’Mahony said.
DCU Mercy head coach Mark Ingle added: “DCU Mercy are looking forward to the challenge of playing Waterford Wildcats this Saturday in Waterford, in what should be a great game and a close game. We are very aware that Waterford were missing some key players when we defeated them in October at DCU Arena, so it will be a much closer affair this time."
The Address UCC Glanmire are on a six-game league and cup winning streak and currently lead the standings in the MissQuote.ie Super League on points difference. Four sides have a 6-2 record at the top of the division, next up for Mark Scannell’s side is a trip to Team Garvey’s St. Mary’s.
“It’s the last game before Christmas, against a team coming off a good win last weekend. We’re looking forward to a tough test, but it’s going to be nice to play in Kerry, where people love their basketball. We’re on a good run of form, but picking up a few injuries and with exams and stuff going on this week, we need to stay focused and make sure we continue to play well.” Scannell said.
Liam Culloty, Team Garvey’s St. Mary’s head coach added: “We are very aware of the size of the task ahead of us this weekend. Glanmire have been playing really good basketball over the last couple of games especially and they are probably the deepest squad in the league. We are coming in to the game off a really gritty win last weekend, so we will focus on our own performance and try to build on that win. We are really looking forward to the challenge.”
Killester, no doubt buoyed by their win over WIT Waterford Wildcats, face Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics next. Head coach, Karl Kilbride, is wary of the threats posed by this weekend’s opponents, having lost 65-53 to them on day one.
“This weekend will be a really tough match-up for us. Liffey are really well coached, they have so much firepower all over the court, along with perhaps the best young Irish backcourt in the league. They beat us in the first game of the season and will no doubt be coming in well prepared and - having lost a close one last weekend - highly motivated looking to get a win on Saturday”, he said.
“Our “process goals” are far more important than our “outcome goals” at the moment. So we’re looking to keep improving our defensive performances. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball on offence. If we can do those things consistently, we’ll give ourselves a shot of being in with chance to win most games.”
Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics head coach, Ioannis Liapakis, added: “Heading into Christmas with the way the league stands, this is a hugely important game for both teams. We were able to take advantage at home and get the win in the first game of the season, but this will be completely different and we need to be ready for that. It’s always enjoyable to play against Killester, I always look forward to the basketball battles against very good teams like them, with great Americans and great coach like Karl. I expect this game to be no different.”
IT Carlow and Trinity Meteors face double headers this weekend. Both sides have had their issues with Covid-19 this season and Vincent O’Keeffe says it’s something his group of players are still contending with ahead of their Friday night’s game at Carlow IT, followed by their home contest against Fr. Mathews.
“We are still recovering from our Covid situation. Chronic exhaustion was one of the main symptoms, so a late away game in Carlow on Friday night, followed by a home game on Saturday afternoon against Fr. Mathews, is far from ideal. Still, it provides us with a great opportunity to bounce back after our heavy defeat to Glanmire. Both games are particularly important, as they give us the chance to separate ourselves from them in the league standings. Carlow are playing better than their results suggest and are due a win, hopefully not against us, and Fr. Mathew's have put some impressive wins together and are playing their best basketball of the season.” O’Keeffe stated.
Martin Conroy, IT Carlow Basketball head coach, said: “The Trinity Meteors game is our last game at home before Christmas and we are looking forward to it. We played awesome down in Castleisland last weekend and were extremely unlucky not to come away with the win. Our performances are getting better every game. That all being said, Vinnie has done a fantastic job with his side since gaining promotion. There is some excellent talent in the Meteors squad with the two senior Internationals Dayna (Finn) and Sarah (Kenny) leading the way. It should be a super game and even with limited numbers allowed in Tyndall College, the atmosphere should be great.”
IT Carlow then face a trip to Cork on Sunday to take on Singleton Supervalu Brunell
“We’re going to one of the most inform teams in the league. Tim (O’Halloran) has done an amazing job, both recruiting and coaching this year, and it’s always a massive help when you can call on one of our best female players ever in Edel (Thornton). Brunell have done a great job bringing through young talent and it’s working for them. It’s going to be another tough game.” Conroy added.
IT Carlow are still searching for their maiden win of the season and Tim O’Halloran, Singleton Supervalu Brunell head coach, isn’t underestimating their upcoming challenge.
“This weekend we welcome IT Carlow to the Parochial Hall. I think this is a very tricky game, as their record does not reflect the quality they have, so we need to be on our a game from the tip and try to go into Christmas break on the back of a win.”
In the MissQuote.ie Division 1 Limerick Celtics host LYIT Donegal on Friday night. On Saturday South Conference leaders NUIG Mystics are away at Swords Thunder and Tipperary Knights welcome Phoenix Rockets. There are two games postponed due to Covid-19, North Conference leaders Ulster University were due travel to Limerick Sport Huskies, while Marble City Hawks were set to host Griffith College Templeogue.
In the InsureMyVan.ie Division 1 South Conference leaders UCC Demons take on Killarney Cougars on Saturday, while second placed Limerick Sport Eagles are away at Portlaoise Panthers on Friday night.
Grand Hotel Malahide have the chance to go level on points with North Conference leaders McGowan’s Tolka Rovers if they win at EJ Sligo All-Stars. Elsewhere Titans BC host Drogheda Wolves, WIT Vikings entertain IT Carlow Basketball, Abbey Seals Dublin Lions play Ulster University and Scotts Lakers Killarney take on Limerick Celtics.
InsureMyVan.ie Super League Fixtures
Saturday 18th December
Tradehouse Central Ballincollig v Belfast Star - Ballincollig Community School (16.00)
C&S Neptune v Bright DCU Saints - Neptune Stadium (18.30)
Griffith College Templeogue v Team 360 Financial Killorglin - Nord Anglia International School (19.00)
DBS Éanna v NUIG Maree - Coláiste Éanna (19.00)
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors v UCD Marian - Tralee Sports Complex (19.30)
Sunday 19th December
Moycullen BC v Killester BC - Coláiste Baile Chlair (15.00)
MissQuote.ie Super League Fixtures
Friday 17th December
IT Carlow Basketball v Trinity Meteors - Barrow Centre (20.00)
Saturday 18th December
Trinity Meteors v Fr. Mathews - St. Teresians (16.00)
Killester BC v Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics - IWA Clontarf (17.00)
WIT Waterford Wildcats v DCU Mercy - Mercy SS Waterford (18.00)
Team Garvey’s St. Mary’s v The Address UCC Glanmire - Castleisland CC (18.30)
Sunday 19th December
Singleton SuperValu Brunell v IT Carlow Basketball - Parochial Hall (14.45)
InsureMyVan.ie Division 1 Fixtures
Friday 17th December
Portlaoise Panthers v Limerick Sport Eagles - St. Mary’s Hall (20.30)
Saturday 18th December
Titans BC v Drogheda Wolves - Ballinfoile Centre (18.00)
UCC Demons v Killarney Cougars - Parochial Hall (18.00)
WIT Vikings v IT Carlow Basketball - Carrickpherish Sports Hall (19.00)
Abbey Seals Dublin Lions v Ulster University - Coláiste Bríd (19.15)
EJ Sligo All-Stars v Grand Hotel Malahide - Mercy College (19.30)
Scott’s Lakers Killarney v Limerick Celtics – Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre (19.30)
MissQuote.ie Division 1 Fixtures
Friday 17th December
Limerick Celtics v LYIT Donegal - Coláiste Chiarain, Croom (19.30)
Saturday 18th December
Limerick Sport Huskies v Ulster University - UL Arena POSTPONED
Marble City Hawks v Griffith College Templeogue - O’Loughlins GAA Club POSTPONED
Swords Thunder v NUIG Mystics - ALSAA Sports Complex (17.30)
Tipperary Knights v Phoenix Rockets - Presentations Secondary, Thurles (15.00)
