Éanna gear up for a fight for survival in the top ranks

COMMERCIAL.IE Éanna face possibly their biggest challenge in recent years when they play host to KUBS this Saturday in Coláiste Éanna, hoping to avoid a Men’s Super League relegation play-off.

KUBS’ three-point victory away to Belfast Star on Saturday, coupled with Éanna’s 89-75 point defeat at the hands of National Cup finalists Pyrobel Killester, means that both teams are now sitting level on points heading into their final regulation league match this weekend.

With UL Eagles well-rooted to the bottom of the table and already relegated, both Éanna and KUBS will be eager to avoid joining them in the drop.

Having themselves beaten Belfast by 15 at the start of the month, Éanna were buoyed up coming into their match against Killester, but they were unable to defy the odds.

And with KUBS certainly benefitting from the recent arrival of new American Corbin Jackson, they bolstered their hopes of survival.

Éanna player Ciaran McEvilly, while disappointed with the team’s run of form, believes they can preserve their Super League status despite the KUBS having generated that bit more momentum.

“We’ll be well up for this match although the confidence is a bit low after some disappointing results” he told The Echo.

“The team had been shaping up to be quite strong, but a couple of signings we had lined up in the summer fell through and then we lost Conor Gallagher, who’s an Ireland international to Swords Thunder.

“So we were almost in shock by the start of the new season and from there it was just damage limitation.

“But I still feel we have underachieved. We really shouldn’t be in this position.

“We lost a few close games and then didn’t really compete in others, but if we could win this game [against KUBS] we could potentially go from finishing ahead of just one team to finishing ahead of three.

“If we lose it we still have to play a team from Division One, but we really don’t want it to get to that point,” he stressed.

Éanna will be turning to the likes of Neil Lynch and Aidan Dunne for another of the big performances they have been delivering in recent weeks along with their Australian signing Nathaniel Musters.