Moycullen Superleague Match Report

Date: 24^th November 2018

Venue: ALSAA, Dublin

Swords Thunder 108 (52)

Moycullen 88 (46)

Defensive frailties once again proved Moycullen’s undoing as they slumped to a fifth successive defeat in Basketball Ireland’s Superleague, losing Saturday evening in Dublin to Swords Thunder 108 to 88.

Similar to what happened to the Westerners the previous weekend in Belfast, the opposing team’s professional American player proved unstoppable. This time, it was Thunder’s Elijah Mays, who poured in 33 points and consistently terrorised Moycullen’s interior defence with his speed off the dribble.

Behind Mays, ably helped by his Spanish teammate Adrian Fernandez, Thunder shot out to the perfect start and quickly established an eight points to nil lead within the first two minutes.

Moycullen were chasing the game from that point onwards but it was a task they took to well, clawing themselves back into the contest through some gritty play.

A fine shooting display from Moycullen’s Isaiah Harris Winn and Joe Tummon kept the Galway outfit in touch and at the half time mark, they were only six points down, trailing 52 to 46.

The core issues for Moycullen remained however, and while they were able to find scores on offence, they struggled mightily with both the significant height and size advantage of Thunder and Thunder’s greater athleticism on the perimeter.

It meant that repeated excellent Moycullen defences were not rewarded when Thunder would recover missed shots or tipped passes to convert morale defeating baskets at the death of the shot clock.

Moycullen never managed to take the lead and a key stretch mid-way through the fourth quarter saw Thunder finally put the challenge to bed, as they stretched the lead in the closing minutes to run out winners on a score line of 108 to 88, which in the end, was probably a fair reflection of the gap on the day between the squads.

Moycullen now take a welcome break from action with a weekend off duty before they travel to league champions Templeogue on Saturday the 8^th of December.

The return of team captain Paddy Lyons, whose defensive presence was sorely missed Saturday, will be a boost to Moycullen who will hope that a tough couple of weeks training in preparation for the closing stretch before Christmas can aide them in rediscovering a winning formula.

Moycullen Scorers: Isaiah Harris Winn 27, Joseph Tummon 22, Dylan Cunningham 13, Cian Nihill 10, Kyle Cunningham 7, Paul Kelly 6, James Lyons 5

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