| |
| 10 Jan 2008 |
Neptune make it two in a row with John Coughlan win |
The Cork County Board Tournaments have generally been good to Neptune this season, with wins already at Under 11 and Under 12. The John Coughlan Under 15 Tournament provided an opportunity to bounce back from the Under 16 tournament semi-final loss to Ballincollig the previous weekend.
With Claregalway a late withdrawal from Neptune’s group, it seemed we had the easier side of the draw – a single win from games against Tramore and Killester would be enough to go through. The other pool initially looked far tougher, with Ballincollig, Blue Demons, Delta Notre Dame and St. Brendans all fielding strong teams. The win required to go through was never in doubt against Tramore, as Neptune ran out to a 15 – 4 lead in the first quarter. Baskets came from all over the floor, lead by Gavin Forde’s drives to the basket and sharp passes to cutters, especially Philip Cashman and Anthony O’Callaghan for easy scores. Brian Murphy controlled the back of the paint through the second half and Neptune ran out 40 -16 winners.
Killester beat Tramore by a similar margin, so Neptune and Killester would play for the group winners spot, the prize being a marginally easier semi-final. Killester looked far sharper in the first half, opening a 10 – 2 lead in the first quarter that Neptune were slow to cut into. Both sides were a bit scrappy, but baskets from Denis Gosnell and Roy Downey managed to pull Neptune to within one by half time, 21 – 20. Neither team managed to establish control over the game in the second half. Craig Forde and Darragh Clifford did an excellent job of battling inside with Killesters numerous big men from dominating, keeping the game close with offensize rebounds. Roy Downey knocked down a free throw with 7 seconds left to tie the game, but Killester managed to push it up for a lay-up as time expired and a 45 – 43 win.
That meant that Killester would square off against Blue Demons in one semi-final and Ballincollig would provide Neptune’s opponents. There was no doubt that Neptune would have improve their sharpness to take on Ballincollig, who had powered through the other pool with no shortage of skill to go with plenty of height and strength.
Neptune looked in trouble early, as Craig Forde, our only centre on the day, picked up three fouls in the first quarter. He stayed in the game though, and showed superb discipline to play every minute while picking up only one more foul and doing a superb job of anchoring the back of the defense at the same time. Neither team managed to break out into any kind of lead through the first three quarters. Both sides were playing tight defense, and there were very few easy scores to be had. Neptune’s Kevin Garcia and Ballincollig’s Adrian O’Sullivan both knocked down some long three’s and Adrian was proving a real handful on drives to the basket as well.
A couple of times Ballincollig looked like going 5 or 6 up, but Roy Downey consistently came up with vital scores on drives to the basket. The critical move was made by Neptune with less than 2:30 to go, as Craig Forde and Roy Downey made driving layups and Gavin Forde made what turned out to be a killer jump shot for a six point lead. Adrian O’Sullivan answered with a three, but they couldn’t cut the lead any further as Roy controlled the game from the point and Neptune ran out 48 – 54 winners.
Killester had an impressive 58 – 49 win over Blue Demons in the other semi, so the final was a rematch of the very tight pool game. Killester though lost point guard Paddy Sullivan to a knee injury, and Neptune would take full advantage, with Kevin Garcia, Darragh Clifford and Denis Gosnell doing an excellent job all game of making it difficult for Killester to get their offense set up by putting pressure on the ball handlers. This time Neptune jumped out to a lead, going up 10 – 3 after only 4 minutes when Kevin Garcia buried an open three. However, this seemed to wake Killester up and send Neptune to sleep, and sloppy play for the rest of the first half allowed Killester to get within a point by half time. Killester showed an impressive ability to switch quickly between different zones and man-to-man that had knocked Neptune out of stride in the first game and again in the first half of the final.
Neptune’s defensive pressure was stepped up though in the third quarter, and Craig Forde used his strength well inside, scoring on drives and off offensive rebounds. He controlled the defensive boards as well, and Killester were finding it very difficult to score. From the end of the third through the fourth Neptune slowly built into a 13 point lead. Roy Downey did a superb job of balancing his attack between distributing the ball and slashes to the basket from the point guard spot and Kevin Garcia was a constant threat from deep. When foul trouble started to hit the Killester starters and force them out inside the last three minutes of the game, Neptune were able to look forward to securing a second John Coughlan in a row. The final score was a deserved 37 – 49 win for Neptune.
Captain on the day Craig Forde was presented with the Cup by Billy Coffey of the Cork County Board. Coach Michael Hennessey was delighted with the win, particularly with how Neptune were able to raise their intensity again for the second half of the Killester game after such a difficult outing against Ballincollig. He also praised the way Craig Forde had played, considering he has only been back in training for slightly over a week after a string of injuries that cost him the entire first half of the season. Congratulations to all the players and thanks to all those who came to the Parochial Hall to support the team. The full Neptune line-up for the day was:
Craig Forde (Capt.),
Brian Murphy,
Kevin Garcia,
Roy Downey,
Philip Cashman,
Anthony O’Callaghan,
Denis Gosnell,
Gavin Forde,
Stephen Barrett,
Darragh Clifford |
|
|
|
|
More...
New Website
Neptune Nippers Academy tips off for 2009/10
Open Day A Huge Success
Allihies Photographs
Pat Price announced as new Head Coach
Each One Teach One coaching seminar, July 15th - 18th
Photo's from France trip in new Gallery section
Under 14 Clubs All Ireland
Trophé Val d'Europe Team
|
|
