Neptune fall to surprise loss on home court against Templeogue
Energywise Ireland Neptune's Kelvin O'Donoghue scores over Templeogue's Kyle Cunnningham during the Men's Super League at the Neptune Stadium. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
A shock defeat for Energywise Ireland Neptune as they went down to Dublin outfit Templeogue in the Men’s Super League at the Neptune Stadium on Saturday.
No excuses Neptune after a reasonable start were dreadful in the second half and it was no surprise that Templeogue eventually wore them down and deservedly secured their first win of the season.
Neptune went into the game without their star Bosman player Jaksa Sola who picked up a toe injury in the build-up to this clash and the Dublin side began with a Callum McGrail slammer.
The home side rallied and started with a fabulous assist from Roy Downey to Nil Sabata that was followed by two unanswered baskets. There is little doubt this was a run-and-gun game in the opening five minutes with both sides taking every opportunity to run the floor.
Cian Heaphy, who produced a Man of the Match display against UCD Marian, also sat out the opening exchanges with a slight injury but was introduced in the sixth minute. Sadly for the Neptune star he picked up a leg injury a minute later and with brother Adam replacing him, though his first attempt at the basket saw him hit a three-pointer.
In the next possession, Conor O’Sullivan nailed a three as the Templeogue coach Mark Keenan immediately called a time-out.
Scrutinising the Templeogue side they look a shadow of the teams that represented this club in recent years at this level as they basically have little depth in their squad.
In this period the Neptune coach Pat Price could afford to use various rotations and entering the second quarter they had established a 12-point lead.
The Dublin outfit began with a monstrous effort outside the arc from Immanuel Allen, but Owen Connolly responded with a similar shot.
The standard of basketball was poor, particularly from the visitors, but Neptune without excelling still had a 13-point cushion in the 14th minute. Despite Neptune looking in complete control a three-minute drought brought Templeogue back in the game and a basket and bonus from Allen reduced the deficit to five points 33-28 with three minutes remaining to the interval.
Before the break, the visitors kept battling and when Allen nailed two free throws with 12.8 seconds remaining to the break the deficit was reduced to the minimum 37-36. Credit to the Neptune point guard Kelvin Donoghue he went coast to coast and a late lay-up ensured his team went in at the break leading 39-36.
Allen tied the game on the restart with a big shot outside the arc but consecutive baskets from Nil Sabata steadied the Neptune ship. Neptune’s shooting was wayward in the opening five minutes but Armond Davis kept his side in the groove with a couple of long-range shots.
Darragh O’Sullivan had a tough night at the office in the shooting department but a stunning three-pointer with four minutes remaining in the quarter gave his side a nine-point lead, 59-48.
Credit to Templeogue their never-say-die attitude continued and three consecutive baskets from careless Neptune turnovers reduced the deficit to three points. The home side led 64-60 entering the final quarter but they were immediately punished with a stunning Allen three-pointer.
Coming down the stretch Allen who finished with a game-high 42 points and his American partner Tavias Fagan took the game to Neptune and amazingly the home side folded under pressure.
The loss of Jaksa Sola and Cian Heaphy definitely impacted Neptune’s performance, but their overall display will give their coaching staff food for thought before they head over the county bounds on Friday to play Tralee Warriors.
A Davis 34, N Sabata 13, J Wright 13.
I Allen 42, T Fagan 20, C McGrail 13.
Emma Perry (Dublin), Yifan Ni (Dublin), Peter James Coughlan (Cork).
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