Templeogue are back in National Cup showpiece
TEMPLEOGUE are back in the Hula Hoops Men’s National Cup decider after hitting the turbo button in the fourth quarter to win their semi final against UCC Demons in Cork 77-98.
Mark Keenan’s men, who won this prize back in 2016, were determined to book their place in this year’s showpiece, but they were made work for it.
Indeed Templeogue were just four points in front by the close of the first quarter, thanks in no small measure to scores from Lorcan Murphy, Luke Thompson and captain Stephen James.
Yet with Lehmon Colbert keeping the scoreboard ticking over for Demons, the homeside were just a point adrift heading into the second half.
Two points were all that separated the sides at the end of the third quarter, but the superior energy reserves of the deeper Templeogue squad told in the fourth as they netted 34 points in this period.
The victory sets them up for a title clash with current Super League leaders UCD Marian in the National Basketball Arena on Saturday, January 27.
Delighted with their win over Demons, Templeogue Coach Keenan pointed out “We didn’t make a whole lot of changes ourselves [during the match].
“Both Stephen James and Jason Killeen played the whole of the second half. I couldn’t afford to take them off.
“But they got a bit of a break in the first half and that stood to them coming down the stretch.
“We know semi finals can be tricky and it’s a horrible stage to go out at. It was just a case of let’s get back there [to a final] and now we’re there. It’s a 50/50 game now.
“I’ve seen them [UCD] a few times this season and they’re a very solid team. They have a very good structure and are very controlled with a good bench and they’re worthy leaders at this point.
“Both teams match up well in every position and it’s really about who can win those individual battles to give the team control.”
Keenan’s side will meet UCD first in the league this Saturday and he fully appreciates the importance of a victory here.
“We have to win this match to keep the league alive, but we’ll be coming into it off this cup win.
“We didn’t play great. We had some quiet patches, but I think that was down to the fact that we didn’t have a game over the Christmas.
“But we’ve now got that match under our belts and we finished it very strongly,” he added.
Templeogue Centre, Jason Killeen, who coach-ed the club’s Under 18s to the final of their respective National Cup the following day, was delighted at helping his side progress to the cup decider.
“It’s great to be back in the cup final especially after going out so early last weekend.
“We’ve great depth in every position and we really have that ‘next-man-up’ mentality. We hold each other accountable in training and that helps us push each other more.
“Mark [Keenan] has done a great job in trusting his players and that has allowed us to develop a very deep bench.
“The Red Army was out in force again last weekend. We love to see our supporters travel and we’re delighted to be back in the final, but we’re going to have to park that now because we have a big league game against UCD this weekend,” he stressed.
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