BASKETBALL Irish duo continue European Trail

Ireland's Senior Women's Coach, Mark Scannell, is aware of the task that faces his side in the Netherlands on Wednesday but is confident after three successive wins. Ireland have left themselves with a great chance of making the top two places in their Group after wins over Slovenia (home), Switzerland (away) and Iceland at the National Basketball arena on Saturday. Despite their 68-59 success over Iceland, the 'Girls in Green' endured some nervy moments and Scannell was hugely relieved to emerge from the contest victorious.

"It was a great win," said Scannell. "We really had to dig deep in the second half but it's great the run continues. "We have a really tough game in the Netherlands but we have worked extremely hard over the last few weeks and we will travel confident in our own ability. Ireland's cause won't be helped by the absence of the hugely influential forward Susan Moran, who has had to return to the USA due to her coaching commitments with St Joseph's.

Meanwhile, Irish Senior Men's coach, Jay Larranaga, is hoping the side can enjoy better fortunes on Wednesday when they welcome Georgia to the National Basketball Arena. Ireland suffered an 82-63 loss to Sweden on Saturday but they managed to keep in close proximity of the Swedes for the majority of the contest. Georgia will provide a serious test on Wednesday but Larranaga is hoping home advantage will provide the side with a much needed boost.

"We have to forget about Saturday and now look to the game with Georgia," said Larranaga. "We enjoyed some good passages of play in Sweden but just fell away at the end. We have put in some good performances at the Arena in the Emerald Hoops International Series and hopefully having a big crowd behind us will help us put on a good show." Ireland are expected to be at full strength for the visit of Georgia.

WEAR GREEN AND WATCH IRELAND FOR FREE

Basketball Ireland will allow people wearing green on Wednesday free admittance to Ireland's Senior Men's clash with Georgia at the National Basketball Arena. (19:30). We ran a similar initiative for the Senior Women's game and we got an outstanding response and it certainly helped in creating a carnival atmosphere in Ireland's 68-59 success over Iceland. There will be a number of half time competitions so you could also be in with a chance of winning some cool basketball prizes. Wear green and roar Ireland to success in this latest European encounter.