Tralee Warriors 89 – 63 Moycullen

By Steven Heaney

AFTER securing a valuable home win against Dublin lions last weekend, Moycullen’s Superleague side were hoping to cause an upset when they travelled to Kerry to take on Tralee Warriors this past weekend.

In truth, it was a one-sided affair. Tralee, the league champions from last year, have been one of the league’s best sides since they re-entered the Superleague a few years ago, and this game was no exception.

Moycullen’s task was made all the more difficult given that they were without a couple players who couldn’t travel to the game, and that they were limiting the minutes of one or two players who are dealing with injuries.

Tralee led the game from start to finish, and never really looked like they would relinquish their lead.

After a very poor first half, Moycullen found themselves 17 points adrift entering the third quarter.

Behind by such a wide margin, Moycullen coach John Cunningham altered his usual rotation, and gave some valuable playing time and experience to some of his younger players.

If Moycullen are to take anything positive from this game it might be the fact that some of the younger Moycullen contingent looked confident and assured, even when matched up against the league’s top team.

James Lyons, James Connaire and Josh Marvesley each played well during the third quarter, as they tried in vain to get their side back into the proceedings.

On the whole, Tralee just had too much for Moycullen to handle defensively – the combination of their size inside and the shooting of their guards caused Moycullen a host of matchup problems.

This, combined with some poor decision-making on their offensive possessions, meant Moycullen never really threatened Tralee, who came out on top by a margin of 26 points.

Speaking after the game, Moycullen coach John Cunningham tried to remain optimistic despite a somewhat disappointing performance:

“While Tralee are top of the league and playing really well, it was frustrating that we didn’t give a better performance than today,” he said.

“We started very flat and were chasing the game from the beginning- it was never going to be easy for us to get back in it.”

“I’m happy that some of the lads who got minutes looked so solid- that’s something that can only help us going forward,” he added.

This coming Saturday Moycullen will be back at home for a match against C & S Neptune in Colaiste Iognaid (The Jes) at 19:30.

Moycullen: Patrick Lyons (11), Kyle Cunningham (9), Joseph Tummon (6), James Conaire (5), Grant Olsson (5), Daniel Vila (5), Conor Curran (4), Josh Marvesely (4), James Lyons (2), Dylan Cunningham (2), Dara Kenna

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