Waterford duo off
to a winning start
Waterford Crystal's bid to get their second
successive top two finish got off to a winning start but only by a narrow
68-67 margin over an improved Dungannon side.
Hosts Crystal went 8-0 up until Dungannon
started to hit back with Smullen and newcomer Brad Wedel scoring most of
Dungannon's 21 points to bring the game to 21-17. Crystal seemed to be
searching for a balance in the second quarter, which resulted in Dungannon
going further into the lead at 40-33. David Cunningham and Eamon Sheehan
of Crystal fought back in the third quarter scoring 13 points between them.
At the end of this quarter Dungannon were still holding onto the lead at
55-54.
The fun really began in the fourth quarter
with both teams fighting it out, each getting alternative baskets. With
11 seconds to go Dungannon were ahead at 67-66. Crystal got a turnover,
with Cunningham going up for the shot. Trevor Smullen went for the block
and Crystal got the foul, putting Cunningham on the free throw line with
all to play for. Under extreme pressure Cunningham sank the two shots putting
Crystal in the lead with 11 seconds to go. Dungannon came back putting
up two shots but Crystal's defence stood up to it.
D Cunningham 17
T Smullen 16
K Porter 14
B Wedel / C Pagan 16
E Sheehan 12
M Collins 12
Hibernian UCD Marian 68(29) 70
(31)Esat Telecom Demons
N Charles 18
J McKenny 19
P Glover 14
J Estick 19
D Jones 12
M Cambridge 9
The first home game in UCD was another
close cracker - with Marian agonizingly on the wrong end of the result
yet again in losing 68-70 to Blue Demons.
The game was basket for basket from tip-off
with both teams evenly matched and it wasn't until the last three action
packed minutes that either team could take control of the game. With just
under three minutes to go, Marian trailed by 5pts. Neville Charles
scored a basket inside and drew the foul which he made to cut Demons lead
to just 2pts. Demons responded quickly at the other end with a quick
drive from Dave Lehane to extend the lead to five points entering into
the final 1.30 of the game. Gary Edge, who has rescued Marian on
many occasion scored one of his trade mark three pointers to make it a
2pt game. At this point all the Marian fans had their hearts in their
mouth as Demons had possession with under a minute to play. Joseph
McKenny of Demons was fouled by Duane Jones and coolly converted 2/2 to
put Demons up by 4. But Duane Jones was himself fouled at the other
end and he also hit 2/2 to make it a decisive 2 point game again
with less that 20 seconds to go.
Team Sligo Dairies 59(32)
76(37) St Vincent’s
H Sykes 26
B Tonkovich 28
J Womack 17
S McGuirk 14
D Marsh 7
T Henderson 10
Sligo started very poorly and never really
got off the mark in their first home game. The first half of the
game was relatively close with both teams settling in and learning to play
with new signings. But Vincent's began to dominate during the third
quarter with Tonkovich and McGuirk linking up well and giving the Dublin
side a 15pt advantage going into the fourth quarter. With Vincent's
on a roll, Sligo never looked likely to close the gap. Sligo led
only once in the game, midway through the second half.
Tolka Rovers 78(43)
81(42) Team Kerry Spring Water
R Thweet 20
R Turner 27
M Quill 20
T Smith 23
G Haffner 13
V Daly 14
This was an exciting and close game throughout
with both teams eager to put the ghosts of last season behind them.
There was little dividing the teams in the first half, with Tolka just
shading it by 1pt going in at the break. It was not until the last
2 minutes of the game that Kerry Spring pulled away through Terry Smith.
Smith had two superb steals which he quickly converted to give Kerry Spring
a four point advantage going into the final minute - and despite Tolka's
best efforts they were unable to bridge the gap.
Tolka were missing their new signing SuperLeague
veteran Lennie McMillan who was taken ill suddenly at the weekend and is
likely to be missing for the foreseeable future.
Burger King Limerick 65(32) 84(35)
Killester
A close game all the way with the third
quarter ending at 52 points all. Killester took off at the beginning of
the fourth quarter scoring 10 points straight off. After that they never
looked back with the 19 point margin at the end not reflecting the earlier
excitement of the game. D Weaver scored the winning basket for Killester.
A clean game with nobody fouled out. Last years Junior Player of
the Year Paddy Kelly was outstanding for Killester both Joe Crumby and
Dave Weaver had excellent starts for their new clubs.
Joe Crumby 24
D Weaver 28
Brock Winston 20
P Kelly 18
Mick Norris 12
M Trimmer 12
ESB Women's SuperLeague
Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats
104 40 Crusaders
J Hayes 27
H Taylor 9
C White 23
S Doyle 9
M Fitzpatrick 13
C McDermott 7
Wildcars started where they left off last
season - in convincing style - thanks to avery one-sided game from tip-off
with the League champions punishing the SuperLeague newcomers.
U19 players Kim Fitzpatrick, Kate Maher,
Jenny Coady and Emma Griffen all got their first outing at SuperLeague
level with Kim playing alongside her mother Mary for the first time and
both Fitzpatricks getting on the score sheet for the victors.
Univ. of Limerick
49(18) 52(33) Meteors
N Whalmsley 16
K Hennessy 17
U Kyne 11
O Nolan 14
N Clancy 8
Limerick started slowly with Meteors totally
dominating the opening half of the game and leading comfortably by 15pts
at the break. Limerick finally woke up and started the second half
with fight, cutting the deficit to just 8pts 39-31 at the end of the third
quarter. Noreen Whalmsley, formely of Lee Strand Tralee, was the
hero of the Limerick side when she cut back their deficit to 2pts and Ursula
Kyne was also outstanding for Limerick. But Limericks lack of discipline
early in the game was to haunt them as they lost three of their starting
five to foul trouble three minutes before the end of the game - Eimer Kyne,
Ursula Kyne and Nicola Farrell. Meteors took advantage of Limericks
foul trouble, scoring their last five points from the free throw line.
Tolka Rovers 59(28)
53(33) Killester
N O'Brien 16 S
Vaughan 14
R Kelly 12
G Ennis 12
R Dixon 10
J Blount 11
The big Dublin derby did not serve to
disappoint the fans with a thrilling encounter between the two teams.
The game was basket for basket up until the start of the last quarter when
Irish International Nikki O'Brien put Tolka ahead by 4pts - Tolka were
to maintain this lead until the end with Killester missing Gillian Ennis
who picked up an eye injury towards the end of the third quarter.
