After a break for the cup semi-final weekend, Moycullen were back in Superleague action against Neptune in Cork on Saturday, but came out on the wrong side of a 89-74 scoreline.
Heading to Cork is always a difficult task and this was no different with Neptune coming off a huge emotional win against their arch Cork rivals in the cup semi-final the previous weekend.
Moycullen started off slowly, struggling to deal with Neptune’s pressure as the home side opened up an early 10-2 lead. Better execution towards the end of the quarter gave Moycullen some better looks, with Patrick Sullivan once again providing the main scoring threat. And, with Paul O'Brien doing a great job on the boards, the prospect of a blow-out was stopped.
The gap was still nine points at the end of the first quarter, but the early portion of the second quarter proved to be much better for Moycullen as they slowly began to eat into the Neptune lead with Salva Camps doing an excellent job at the guard spot. With two minutes to go before the half, the lead was down to three, but from this point, Moycullen took some bad options on the offensive end which resulted in the Cork side getting easy looks at the basket and some transition scores to leave the gap at 10 at the half.
The third quarter was similar to the second as Moycullen continued to eat into the Neptune lead, only for a two-minute spell during which Moycullen lost their concentration slip, allowed Neptune to score a number of easy points on the fast break. It gave the home side a convincing lead which Moycullen could not bridge.
Moycullen: Patrick Sullivan 22, Cian Nihill 11, Patrick Lyons 9, Paul O'Brien 6, Nollaig Cunningham 6, Salva Camps 5, Dylan Costelloe 4, Rory Gilson 3, James O'Brien 3, Ian Burke 3, Stephen Tummon 2,
In other club action the Moycullen u-18s will play Belfast Star in the National Cup final on February 26 in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght.
Moycullen will be looking to reproduce their superb team performance in the semi-final against Neptune when they face Star - an outstanding team with quality all over the floor and depth on the bench.
