Men's Super League: Neptune breeze past Killester
Tarkus Ferguson, Energywise Ireland Neptune, battling Alan Casey, Paul Dick and Tomas Fernandez, Killester. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
A stroll in the park for Energywise Ireland Neptune as they easily accounted for a disappointing Killester side in the Men’s Super League at the Neptune Stadium on Saturday night.
In a game that Neptune dominated from start to finish assistant coach Darren Geaney was happy in the manner his side produced a solid display.
Geaney said: “I thought we were outstanding in the first half as we shared the ball well and to score 68 points in one half showed the accuracy of our shooting.” Winning the remaining games of the season is a priority for Neptune and next week’s clash with Belfast Star is another huge game for the team.
Geaney added: “We must remain focused and remain unbeaten and this win is bound to give the lads a huge boost going forward.”
Killester were quickest out of the blocks with a three-pointer from Lucas Fernandez and a Paul Dick basket giving them the perfect start.
Neptune were sluggish in the opening three minutes and when Dick produced a slammer following a turnover coach Colin O’Reilly decided a time-out was needed.
Credit to Killester they were playing smart at both ends of the court and deservedly commanded a six-point lead midway through the quarter.
Gradually Neptune began playing to their potential and when Cian Heaphy made a dazzling drive to the hoop a minute later he banked a neat shot.
For some strange reason, Killester went into meltdown and helped by a stunning Jordan Evans' three-pointer Neptune surged into a nine-point lead.
The Dublin side were suddenly playing little or no defence and at the end of the opening quarter, they trailed 34-21.
On the restart, the play became scrappy from both sides but Killester did manage to open up with three consecutive baskets.
A brace of three-pointers from Jordan Blount settled the home side back into a 13-point lead and when Tarkus Ferguson nailed a similar shot suddenly Neptune looked in total control.
Killester were basically in serious trouble as Neptune were scoring for fun and with two minutes remaining to the interval the Blackpool outfit had increased their lead to 26 points.
In the closing minutes, it got worse for Killester and with American Ferguson nailing his fifth three-pointer the game looked over as a contest with Neptune commanding a 29-point interval lead.
There is a serious shortage of referees in the sport at this present time with every Men’s Super League this weekend restricted to two officials. On this occasion, the veteran Cork referee Stewart Joyce came to the rescue and I think people that consistently criticise referees should take a deep breath as the bottom line is that without them there are no games at local or national level.
On the restart, the tempo of the game dropped with Neptune using various rotations and midway through this period they still commanded a healthy lead.
When a team has so much dominance at the break games can often fall flat and that’s exactly what happened in this clash.
The home side were now attempting silly shots and with Killester unable to punish them they looked a side waiting for the final buzzer to sound.
In the closing minutes the game got scrappier and with technical and unsportsmanlike fouls dished out Neptune took an 86-59 lead into the final quarter.
It was an opportunity for the Neptune coaching staff to use their fringe players coming down the stretch but in truth, Killester’s understrength side looked well out of their depth.
On a final note let's salute the dedication of Stewart Joyce who ensured this game actually went ahead as scheduled.
