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| 15 Apr 2008 |
Under 14's finish 4th at All Ireland |
The first installment of a hopefully annual Under 14 All Ireland club Championship took place in Tralee this weekend, and Neptune were there by virtue of a second place finish in the Cork County Board league. A fantastic weekend finished with Neptune ranked 4th overall out of the 12 teams that took part. The teams were divided into 4 pools of 3 teams, and only the pool winners had the chance to win the overall competition, with the rest fighting out for the lower positions, so 2 wins out of 2 was the only way to guarantee a shot at the title.
 | From left: Denis Gosnell, Aaron Hosford, Asst Coach Niall Cody, Philip Cashman, Cormac O'Mahony, Bryan Murphy, Team Manager Gregory Forde, Gavin Forde, Kevin Garcia, Roy Downey, Zach Urbanek and Coach Michael Hennessy |
Pool games
Our two pool opponents were St. Pauls Killarney and Athlone, who had qualified by winning the Kerry and Midlands regions respecitively. A 10AM start on the Saturday required a 7AM departure from Neptune stadium, but we arrived in plenty of time to get used to the gym and get accustomed to the court. We started fairly well, with Roy Downey opening up Killarney's zone to create a couple of easy scores for the cutting Bryan Murphy. Roy then took on the scoring load, tallying 11 of our 19 first quarter points for a 12 - 19 lead. Our defense kicked in though in the second quarter. Denis Gosnell and Gavin Forde were getting a hand to the ball all over the place, and they did a super job of finding Kevin Garcia on the break. The decisive run came in the middle of the second quarter. In the space of 90 seconds Kevin finished three fast breaks in a row, Gavin Forde added a driving layup and Kevin buried a three for a 19 point lead. The half ended with Aaron Hosford adding another three for a 17 - 39 advantage to Neptune. Neptune's defence held firm in the second half and we ran out 29 - 55 winners. Conor Keane top scored for the home side with 6 while Roy Downey lead Neptune with 13.
With a game under our belts to sharpen us up we started fast against Athlone. Athlone's lack of size made it difficult for them to get many decent looks, and Neptune dominated the boards at both ends. Roy scored the first 6 points of the game as Neptune used a balanced attack to score 23 first quarter points, mostly on fast breaks. Gavin Forde did a fine job of finding his lane runners and Neptune lead 23 - 8 after 7 minutes. Cormac O'Mahony opened the second quarter with a pair of drives to push the lead to 19 and the game was basically over. Zach Urbanek and Philip Cashman controlled the key on defense, and when Philip Cashman got the last bucket of the game it meant all nine players were on the scoresheet, lead by Roy with 14. Kevin, Denis and Aaron all had 10. Kieran Fogarty lead his side with 8, including a pair of impressive threes in the final quarter.
The two wins meant that we were done for the Saturday by 13.30, and wouldn't be playing again until Sunday morning. Maree's win over Swords in pool B put them through as our opponents. On the other side of the draw Ballincollig won their group and Killester came out as their semi-final opponents.
Games in an actual pool
After our game we headed to check into our hotel - many thanks to the (4 star) Meadowlands Hotel in Tralee for looking after us so well, and also for the excellent offer they gave to teams taking part in the competition. A trip to the swimming pool down the road, an attempt to drown a coach that failed miserably, then dinner and a table quiz back in the hotel took up most of the evening, and the players were packed off to bed for plenty of rest before the Maree game in the morning.
Semi-final
Unfortunately the semi-final did not go as well as the previous day had. We'd played Maree in the Cork County Board tournament a few months ago and been on the wrong side of a 5 point margin after surging into a double-figure lead, so we felt confident we could close out this one. However, Maree started like a house on fire, doing an impressive job of finishing off drives to the basket from all angles and beating us down the floor in both directions. Maree's dominance of their defensive boards allowed Eanna Malone to get out early to run the floor, and he chalked up one easy score after another, finishing with an awesome 23 points. Maree had struggled badly with free throws the previous day, but were bang on form on the Sunday, making an incredible 17 of 20 from the line against us. However, the biggest factor in the game was Maree's transition defense. We usually look to run the opposition out of the gym, but did not manufacture a single fast break score all game as Maree's bigger bodies sprinted back on defense every time.
The damage was done during the second quarter. Maree lead by 5 at the end of the first, but pushed this to 38 - 22 by half time as they outscored us 20 to 9 in the quarter. Denis Gosnell had an excellent second half, finishing with 18 to lead Neptune, and Roy Downey gave a solid performance, totalling 13 points, but Maree had too much firepower on the day and were full value for a 70 - 50 win.
Third and fourth playoff
With Ballincoolig taking the other semi-final, we were left with a game against Killester for third and fourth places. We started extremely brightly, Gavin Forde and Kevin Garcia hounding the Killester ball carriers into several mistakes that put us in an early lead. Neptune were up for it on defense and Killester were struggling to create much. Unfortunately, a three point play by Roy Downey (an amazing play that included dribbling the ball between a defender's legs) was credited to the wrong column on the scoresheet, and what should have been a five point lead at the end of the first went down as a 1 point deficit, 16 - 17. Both teams struggled to create much in the second quarter, and as the game slowed down Marcus O'Neill was able to take advantage of his size to score 6 in the quarter. Roy Downey matched it, but O'Neill had more help and Killester led 24 - 29 at the break. Our offense continued to stutter in the third. Killester couldn't do much about Roy, but the rest of the team was having one of those games where the rim looked tiny, and we couldn't generate enough baskets to get our noses back in front. We cut it to 35 - 37 at the end of the third, but as players tired Killester's size told, and big men Mikey Deegan and Marcus O'Neill combined for 13 in the last quarter to edge it for Killester. The game was tight until the last minute, when we were forced to gamble and Killester turned a 3 point advantage into an 8 point win, 47 - 55. Neptune were lead by Roy Downey with 18 (not counting the 3 credited to Killester!), and Denis Gosnell with 12. Mikey Reegan was superb for Killester, finishing with 17 points, and Marcus O'Neill with 15.
Ballincollig had a great win in the final, beating Maree by 50 - 41 in a hard fought match that showcased some fantastic talent.
Weekend a huge success
Although the losses on Sunday were disappointing, overall the weekend was a huge success. All the players had an excellent weekend, and we confirmed that we are there or thereabouts in competing with the best in the country. All the players had a great time over the two days, and the parents who came along thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well. Their support and help through the tournament made a huge difference. Special thanks go to Annette Forde for doing so much of the leg work in organising the trip and making sure everything was in place for us to have a competitive and fun weekend.
Above all, we'd like to thank the players for their commitment over the season, and for conducting themselves so well over the weekend. All have a great future at Neptune and we'll be looking forward to seeing them continue to improve next year. |
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