SuperLeague weekend preview
Last Updated: 27 November 2008 17:22
The latest Nivea For Men’s SuperLeague fixtures sees unbeaten DART Killester travel to in-form Neptune, while UCD/Marian and UCC Demons clash on Sunday.
Belfast Star entertain Limerick Lions with Abrakebabra Tigers meeting Ulster Elks in a repeat of their Men’s Superleague Cup clash two weeks ago.
DART Killester are on a run of nine successive wins since the start of the season and their latest jaunt sees them make the trip to Cork to face Neptune.
Their good run has been in no small part to the performances of 6’7” Jim Grabowski, a former star with Southwest Baptist in the NCAA 2.
‘It’s another tough game on the road,’ said Grabowski. ‘They are on a good run, including a massive win away to Hoops so it could well be a tricky test.
DART Killester’s run of victories comes as no surprise given the summer signings head coach Mark Keenan managed to acquire.
‘We feel that if we manage to play to our capabilities then we have a great chance of winning every game,’ said Grabowski.
‘We have been almost caught on a couple of occasions so we won’t be taking anything for granted. There is real quality in the squad and it is also great to have someone like Michael Bonaparte in the squad. He played in a college just an hour away from me in the US and I enjoy playing alongside him.’
Neptune will be at full strength and will be looking to maintain their run which includes three wins on the trot.
DART are boosted by Kieran O’Brien’s return to training, who has fully recovered from his knee injury.
UCD/Marian will definitely be without Peter Finn ahead of their clash with UCC Demons on Sunday, while Niall Murphy is a doubt for the Cork giants.
UCD/Marian head coach Cormac Connor has admitted he would have jumped at the offer of where his club currently sit in the Northern Conference.
‘We are making great progress this season,’ said Connor. ‘If you told me in September we would have six wins from eight and were in second in the table I would certainly have taken it.’
‘Colin O’Reilly is rightly getting a lot of the praise for Demons’ position in the league but they have talent all over the court and they are an ambitious club who look to the honours table at the end of the season to deem how well they have done.’
UCC Demons head coach Douglas Leichner said: ‘Offensively, we must attack their changing defenses. Defensively, we must be disciplined enough to defend their well-conceived offensive sets. Under the leadership of Michael Parker, UCD Marian does a good job of controlling the tempo.’
Abrakebabra Tigers will definitely be without Michael Quirke but are likely to have Kieran Donaghy as they look to pile further woe on Ulster Elks.
The Tralee giants eliminated the Elks from this season’s Men’s SuperLeague National Cup and come up against an Ulster side suffering with a number of injury problems.
Paddy McGaharan is ruled out with torn ankle ligaments sustained in UU’s college game with DIT and is likely to be out for the next eight weeks. There are also worries over Connor O’Dornan (knee), Ian O’Boyle (bug), Connor Gallagher (bug) and Matt Betley (bug).
‘We will travel and battle for our first win,’ said Elks Head Coach Deirdre Brennan. ‘It is a long journey and the fact it is in Tralee will make it a tougher than in the cup game. I still believe if we can go healthy and play well we can win. We just need to keep believing that the win will come.’
Limerick Lions will be keen to get their season back on track when they make the long journey to Belfast Star on Saturday evening.
Limerick had a free weekend after losing the previous week to DCU Vincents in the national cup.
Coach Sasa Punosevac will also be keen to get back on court but he is very aware of how tough the game will be against Star.
‘We will need to play competitively for 40 minutes to be in with any chance of getting a result in Belfast. Star at home will be a really tough challenge and Limerick have struggled in Belfast in recent years. I am keen that we play our own game, and if we do that and compete hard then we will give ourselves a chance.’
Belfast Star will be at full strength and head coach Darren O’Neill is desperate to get a win in front of their home crowd. Star are expected to bolster their ranks in the next couple of days with the double signing of Jermaine Washington and Pierre Thomas.
‘There are no easy games in the league, Limerick will be no different, we want to win badly but it won’t be easy against a side with the likes of Scott Kinevane in their ranks.’
Meanwhile, in Basketball Ireland’s Women’s SuperLeague, Team Montenotte Hotel Cork host DCU Mercy in a repeat of last season’s league final.
Montenotte won on that occasion to confirm the treble and Mercy head coach Mark Ingle believes the game will be a serious test for his charges.
‘Montenotte have been the most consistent team over the past year and winning the treble is certainly evidence of that,’ said Ingle. ‘Mark Scannell is a very experienced coach but the game will be decided by the players on the court.
‘We were disappointed to lose last weekend but the aim is to make the Play-Off’s so there is no-one panicking just yet.’
Montenotte head coach Mark Scannell is hoping there won’t be too many repercussions from their clash with DCU with their quarter final cup clash with UL Aughinish just a week away.
‘It will be a very intense game on Saturday and I just hope we don’t pick up any injuries,’ said Montenotte Head Coach Mark Scannell. ‘A win against DCU would give us some breathing space at the top but it should be a hugely entertaining contest.’
‘It will be a very good test, DCU are a fine side and it represents another big game in a bumper week.’
Tolka Rovers travel to the University of Limerick on Sunday to meet in-form UL Aughinish, while Meteors and DART Killester face tough assignments away to LeisureWorld Churchfield Iona and Waterford Wildcats respectively.
