Cup competitions are the place for dreams, and for Maigh Cuilinn basketball it might serve as a timely getaway from the nightmare of a cruel injury-ravaged Superleague season so far.
The cup draw has pitted them against Ballincollig of Cork, with the men from the rebel county getting home advantage. The sides met at the same venue in the opening round of the league a few weeks ago when Ballincollig were deserving winners by 82 to 49 scoreline.
That league encounter was a poor harbinger of things to come. In the opening minutes Maigh Cuilinn’s floor general James Loughnane went down with an injury and the star American was mostly sidelined (through foul trouble ).
Olsson would in subsequent games pick up an injury that has kept him sidelined since where he has been joined by fellow starters James Connaire and James Lyons.
Already with one of the smaller squads simply due to the fact of having considerably the smallest budget in the league, Maigh Cuilinn have not handled losing four of their five starters well, struggling mightily on offence in every game since.
A bright spot has been their defence, outstanding at times. They will need that in abundance come Saturday against a Ballincollig team flying high at the top of the Superleague (four wins from five ) who are brimming with confidence but must surely be at risk of overlooking what will, at the very least, be a Maigh Cuilinn side willing to put in the hard work and force the opposition to earn what they get.
Scoring will be what will be needed for Maigh Cuilinn and head coach John Cunningham, planning without the four starter still likely to be sidelined with injury, will look to Kyle Cunningham, Ayberk Taylan and Joseph Tummon all to have huge games if they are to pull off the upset and progress.
Last weekend, away in Dublin to Killester in league action, Maigh Cuilinn put in a trademark strong defensive performance but left the capital on the losing side 59 to 37. The Galwegians' failure to find consistent scoring meant they lingered but never truly appeared to be capable of taking what would have been a first win of the season.
The game started positively with Maigh Cuilinn centre Ayberk Taylan, knocking down a three pointer from a deceptively smooth-looking initial first offensive possession. Unfortunately, it was to prove the high point for Maigh Cuilinn's attacking efficiency on the day.
Some good attacking moves by Joseph Tummon and Dylan Cunningham did yield scores, but they were too few and far between. The individual quarter team totals tell their own tale, Maigh Cuilnn lost each of the quarters, by seven, eight, two and five respectively, never managing to score more than 14 points in any single period.
If there was to be a positive take away for the men from the west, aside from the always admirable individual effort put in by the players in tough conditions, it would be that given the injury woes facing the team, a number of younger players are seeing extending minutes and proving capable, which will hopefully serve the team later in the season.
The game saw Dara Kenna play a personal career high 29 out of 40 minutes, while Brian Gaffney and Rory O’Sullivan also featured for extended periods, the former connecting with an impressive three-pointer while on court.
Maigh Cuilinn will take a welcome break from league play next week before returning to league action the weekend after with a home tie on Saturday November 12 at 7pm in University of Galway Sports Arena when they take on Tralee Warriors.
