The basketballers of Maigh Cuilinn face one last road trip before the Christmas break as they head to Cork this weekend to play Neptune.
These teams have met once already this season when the Leesdiders were deserving winners by a comfortable margin in October.
However, that game was soon after Maigh Cuilinn had suffered a number of injuries, forcing head coach John Cunningham into a sudden change to his rotations. While still without the key trio of James Loughnane, James Lyons and James Connaire, they at least have had time to get used to the reality and establish a new style of play.
That style has been a more deliberate and slow pace on offence with a renewed determination on defence, cleary cognisant that they will need to hold teams below their scoring averages to compete as Maigh Cuilinn are lacking somewhat in that attacking department.
The key men for Neptune who will need to be marshalled are Irish international Jordan Blount, quick shooting dangerman from the United States Jordan Evans, and the versatile inside man from Spain, Nil Sabata. That trio combined for 59 points when these teams last played, and another scoring outburst like that will likely mean a loss for the visitors.
Coach Cunningham will be encouraged, however, by his side’s recent form. In their last home game, Maigh Cuilinn defeated the other Cork city powerhouse UCC Demons, and while they suffered defeat last weekend to DBS Eanna on the road in Dublin, Cunningham described it as their “best performance of the season”. It was a one basket game with just four minutes remaining and an upset away from home looked very much on the cards.
“We just needed to reward our efforts by knocking down a few more shots, “ said Cunningham afterwards, who is looking ahead to Saturday’s clash with some optimism.
“Neptune away is another huge challenge, but, if ever there’s a gym to make shots, Neptune Stadium is it, so we’ll hope to continue improving, and see where it gets us.”
Last weekend, a fast start and early lead was not enough to earn the victory as a resilient DBS Eanna, playing at home, rallied well to win 74 to 63.
Maigh Cuilinn, clearly inspired and playing with confidence after their recent win against UCC Demons, had hit the ground running as baskets from Joe Tummon, Grant Olsson and Dara Kenna gave them an eight-point cushion in the first quarter.
A purple patch for DBS Eanna midway through the second quarter brought proceedings back level, and from there to the dying minutes, the gap between the teams was rarely more than a couple of baskets.
Given their shortened bench rotations due to a long injury list, the clear tactic from the visitors was to slow the pace of the game and this was something they largely achieved despite a full court press by DBS Eanna occasionally speeding them up and causing some costly turnovers at times.
With their deliberate style on offence and another outstanding performance by Grant Olsson, who finished with a personal tally of 27 points, Maigh Cuilnn were able to keep the home crowd from generating much momentum. And there were good offensive displays also from the Cunningham brothers Dylan and Kyle, who combined for 22 points.
The nice spread of scoring combined with a typically dogged defensive display meant that with four minutes to go the Galway outfit were in with a great chance of an upset win on the road.
Two unfortunate turnovers followed by an extremely difficult ‘step back’ three-pointer under pressure by the impressive Krisrijan Andabaka for DBS Eanna gave the home team the bit of breathing room they had lacked for the majority of the evening.
In the end, Maigh Cuilinn's gambles in the closing possessions did not come off and what had been a three-point gap with four minutes left stretched to a flattering 11-point winning margin for DBS Eanna.
Maigh CUilinn are at home next on December 30 when they play UCD Marian in a rare Friday night match which tips off at 7pm in the University of Galway Sports Arena.
