Galway League U'14 Boys
Moycullen V Corrib January 17th 2009
Tigers winning run continues

Tigers win third straight with victory versus last year's champions The U-14 lads defeated last season's U-13 Galway League champions with a comprehensive win over Corrib on Sunday evening. Inspired by a blistering start by Padraig Doran whose strong moves from the high post caused the Corrib defence constant problems throughout the game, the Tigers continued improvement was on display for all to see, winning with 20 points to spare. After a bit of a sluggish start at the defensive end, Moycullen found their rhythm midway through the first quarter and put in another fantastic overall defensive effort. Led by Aidan Claffey and Loirgnan McDermott who were charged with marshalling Corrib's dangerman, the Moycullen defence caused countless turnovers, frustrating the Oughterard side. Offensively, Moycullen moved the ball well, and while they did not have a fantastic day shooting from distance, they kept taking the good options and crashed the boards to great effect. One of Moycullen's biggest strengths is the talent available on the bench and Sunday was a perfect example with all 12 players contributing during the contest. Most importantly the lads are developing a bit of a killer instinct and were more than willing to put last year's champions to the sword when the opportunity arose. The coaching staff will hope the improvement continues as this team has all the tools to make a real challenge on a Galway league and cup double. Final score of 50-36 with Padraig Doran top-scoring on 19 points and Peter Cook also contributing 10.                    Some action from the start of the game can be seen on the video

Galway League U'14 Boys
Moycullen V Titans December 17th 2009
Tigers defeat Titans for second win

Coming off a strong performance against Claregalway on Sunday, the Moycullen side started Thursday's game a little flat, perhaps believing that another 30 point win would easily be attained again. Titans had clearly not read the script and came out extremely motivated. The difference in intensity was evident throughout the early phases of the game as Moycullen found themselves trailing 10 points to 6 early on. The fantastic defensive display by Ciaran Murphy off the bench steadied the ship and Moycullen fought their way back into the contest as the quarter developed. Led by an in-form Padraig Doran, Moycullen picked up their general effort and smothering full court defence eventually caused the turnovers which helped lead to some easy baskets. As a result the lads went in to the break leading. It was a lead they were never to let up throughout the game. Darren O'Donnell, Kyle Cunningham, Aidan Claffey and Daragh Mulkerrins were constant threats on offense and with no one Titans player able to contain Doran,

Moycullen had some spectacular attacking moments particularly when they could move the ball and isolate there defenders in a one on one situation. On the far side, the opposition were finding it extremely difficult to break down the lads stingy half court defence with every Moycullen player more than a match for his man. Titans were forced to really on difficult shots and some excellent individual shooting to keep in touch. In fairness to Titans they never dropped their heads even when it looked like Moycullen might pull away. Moycullen's biggest failing point so far this year has been an inability to move fluidly on offense without the ball and it came back to haunt them down the stretch as the contest tightened. Titans managed to steal some lazy Moycullen passing and ran in a couple of fastbreaks, bringing the game back to as close as 3 points. However, the lads refocused well and broke the Titans full court defence to secure a well deserved 3 point win, with Kyle Cunnigham and Padraig Doran getting the key buckets at the end.

The season has started well for the Moycullen Tigers. They lost in a heart breaker to Oranmore in overtime in their first game, but should be confident of being able to overturn than result should they continue to train hard. Other than that they have secured two good wins over two of the tops teams in Claregalway and Titans. What is more the team is developing a hard working, defensive minded personality and are without a doubt playing the best defence in Galway so far. It is turning out to be a very strong squad with all 13 players more than capable of contributing. The coaching staff will be hopeful that this strength in depth will stand to the team throughout the season as they deal with injuries and illness that are inevitable in sport. .