Team Loftus Recycling maintained their unbeaten home record in Ballina Sports and Leisure Centre on Saturday night when they recorded a hard earned 85 to 74 victory over Titans from Galway in the league. On Saturday, Loftus Recycling are at home again, in the National League, when they host Maree, Oranmore, in repeat of the epic Cup battle between the sides in the Cup quarter final, tip off is down for 7.30pm and it is sure to be a hard fought encounter between the two Connacht sides. In the National Cup, Loftus Recycling will have to travel to Cork on the weekend of January 16/17 for their semifinal. Standing in their way of a cup final appearance is UCC Demons. The cup semifinals for both the Super League and the senior men’s cup are being brought back to Cork this year to celebrate 25 years of the Neptune Stadium. The old hall has seen many a great night down through the years and this year’s semifinals will surely bring back some of those memories.
In last weekend’s game the Ballina side had 11 points to spare in the end but, despite having a full squad available, including Ronan McGarrity, they struggled for long periods against a strong Galway side that landed no fewer than 10 three-pointers compared with just three for the home side. McGarrity hit a game high of 35 points for his side, while his younger brother, Dara, who appears to be improving with every game, landed 19 including three shots from outside the arc. Once again, however, it took the experience of Ballina coach, Liam McHale, who joined the action early in the game, to tilt the balance in favour of his side as he directed play all over the court.
