BASKETBALL UCD & UCC set for second leg thriller

UCC Demons were given an almighty scare away to UCD/Marian last weekend and their Head Coach Douglas Leichner is expecting another difficult assignment this Sunday at the Mardyke Arena.

"We must bring defensive intensity and focus to our clash with UCD Marian," said Leichner. "We have prided ourselves on defending our home court and will not allow opponents to celebrate on it. In our last regular season game with Marian, they brought a physical style of play to the game and felt it was effective against us. However, it is more about what we can control. Defensively, we must fight through screens and not allow uncontested shots.

"UCD Marian and Coach Cormac Connor will be bringing a lot of confidence to the game because of their ability to tie us on their home court," added Leichner. "David Ryan and Michael Parker have shown the ability to be very effective in the SuperLeague. However, the progression of UCD's Irish players and Luke McCrone have been the key to their success. McCrone is a strong powerful rebounder with a nice touch around the rim. Sharp shooter Daniel James, versatile Conor Meany, rugged Niall Meany, and Peter Finn all have proven the ability to play at this level."

UCD/Marian managed to claw back a 13 point deficit to earn a 78-78 draw and their head coach Cormac Connor is delighted they are still in the reckoning against a highly fancied Demons.

UCD will travel with a full quota and in hope after a superb comeback in their first leg clash at UCD's Sports Centre.

"It was a great advertisement for the game," said Connor. "It looked like we were going to be bringing a deficit to their place but I can't praise the team enough for fighting their way back into the game.

"UCC Demons have been brilliant all season so it's still a big ask," he added. "The Mardyke Arena is a difficult place to go but we are delighted to be still in the contest at this stage of the season."

Meanwhile, DART Killester have revealed they have let Michael Bonaparte return home after a serious leg injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season, while February's Player of the Month Michael Westbrooks is extremely doubtful ahead of their second leg clash with Neptune.

The Dublin giants have one foot in the final after an excellent 85-63 win away to Neptune last Saturday. "It's a new game, we are taking nothing for granted," said DART Head Coach Mark Keenan. "We want a good performance at home and to win in front of our own fans."

Neptune face an uphill struggle and are set to be without Michael McGinn, who is struggling with an ankle injury. "Obviously it's a massive task seeing we are 22 points down," said Neptune Head Coach Stephen McCarthy. "We just have to forget about last weekend, put in a huge effort and give it our best shot."

In Basketball Ireland's Women's Superleague semi finals second legs, DCU Mercy and Team Montenotte Hotel Cork hold healthy first leg leads after wins away to Bausch & Lomb Wildcats & UL Aughinish respectively.

Mercy hold a 21 point advantage ahead of their second leg tie at home to Wildcats but Head Coach Mark Ingle is refusing to let complacency creep in.

"We have to be cautious," said Ingle. "We can't go out there thinking this game is won. They have players capable of turning on big displays and if they get a bright start they will feel they can claw some of the deficit back. We can't be complacent or otherwise we could be caught out."

UL Aughinish's preparations last weekend weren't helped by the departure of their Head Coach Sasa Punosevac last Saturday and their stand in coach Des O'Sullivan will have to turn a 13 point defeat around away to National Cup champions Team Montenotte Hotel Cork in their second leg clash.

"We have a good record at home and hopefully we can produce in front of our home crowd," said Montenotte Head Coach Mark Scannell. "We have to improve on last week's performance but we also managed to get a result and the players deserve a lot of praise for that."

Shane Whelan
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