On the back of two much improved performances, SSE Renewables Moycullen hosted Killester from Dublin in the Premier League of Irish Basketball in Colaiste Iognaid on Saturday night. Currently sitting joint top of the table, the Dublin team came to Galway full of confidence with the longest winning streak in the country. While they left with a victory and the winning streak still intact, SSE Renewables really put it up to the league kingpins and the Moycullen team while probably not feeling satisfied with the loss will certainly feel that they gave a good account of themselves against probably the best team in the country.
Sean Candon back from injury contributes 5 points
In truth Killester’s class was really evident in a scintillating 3rd quarter display, where they pushed out a hard fought half time lead of 6 points to make the game a lot more comfortable in the 4th quarter.
The first half was end-to-end stuff with the Dublin team looking to push the fast break with every opportunity and SSE Renewables Moycullen giving as good as they got. With Mike Callaghan once again proving to be a real handful on both ends of the court, Moycullen were getting good looks at the basket, which they converted. By the end of a high scoring up-tempo quarter, the visitors lead was at 5 points.
The home team knew that while this tempo is great for the fans, they needed to slow the potent Dublin side’s offence down if they were to have any chance in the game. Some excellent defense from Eoghan Maxwell and Dylan Cunningham, who finished with a combined 8 steals, really helped the cause and although the lead had grown slightly, Moycullen were right in the game.
While the 3rd quarter starting evenly enough, Killester really turned the screw after 3 minutes, when they went on a 10 – 0 run to create some breathing space for themselves and while Moycullen stopped the rot through some Paul O’Brien scores, the damage had been done. The very welcome return of Sean Candon, back from another lengthy absence helped Moycullen on the scoreboard but the lead was maintained for the remainder of the 4th quarter.
While they ultimately lost, SSE Renewables will take some positives from the performance at the weekend. It was a much better showing from them compared with their visit to Killester earlier in the season and they continue to improve individually and collectively as the season progresses.
Next up is a visit to DCU Saints, probably the most physically tough team in the league in Dublin on Saturday night. They will be hoping that their much improved performances and form of late continues as they play their last away game of the season.
Mike Callaghan 27, Dylan Cunningham 14, Paul O’Brien 12, Sean Candon 5, Ronan O’Sullivan 2, Ian Burke 2, Eoghan Maxwell, Darragh Mulkerrins, Stephen O’Brien, Tomas Gilson, Gerald Lyons, Nollaig Cunningham.
Categories: Men's Superleague
CC Mhaigh Cuilinn 