Neptune hammered by Sligo and now face an away trip to UCC Demons in play-off quarter final

It will be a mouth-watering UCC Demons and Energywise Ireland Neptune Men’s Super League quarter final play off next Sunday in the Mardyke at 3pm following the final series of games.

Neptune travelled to play Sligo All Stars hoping for a win but with Belfast Star narrowly losing to Killester it meant the northerners were out of contention.

Luckily for Neptune despite putting in a poor display in Sligo and going down to a 30-point defeat 98-68 they held out to snatch the eighth and final play-off berth.

The one plus for Neptune is that American Tamyrik Fields put in another solid performance with a 31 point tally but his fellow countryman Chance Hunter could only manage a paltry nine points in 36 minutes of action.

All in all, Neptune’s quarter final is a one off game and Demons would be foolish to underestimate them with so much at at stake.

Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig were also under pressure going into their way game to Templeogue, but they had few problems in disposing of the Dublin side who were already relegated following their midweek defeat to Eanna.

Ballincollig were quickest from the blocks and with Jake Wolfe giving another exhibition in the offence court they raced into a nine point lead entering the second quarter.

The game was put to bed on the restart as Ballincollig began to score at will and with Joshua Tomaic having a solid game at both ends of the court, they surged into a 27 point interval lead.

In the second half, coach Antonio Lopez could afford to give his fringe players court time as Templeogue offered little as the Cork side by virtue of finishing seventh in the regular season will now face a trip to play Killester on Saturday.

In the Women’s Super League all three Cork sides lost on the road with Catalyst Fr Mathew’s losing out on a play-off slot after losing at St Paul’s Killarney 64-59.

After getting a good start Mathew’s led 24-16 entering the second quarter but some solid defence by the Kerry side saw the teams go in at the break on parity.

On the restart both teams continued to play solid defence and heading into the final quarter St Paul’s led by the minimum.

Coming down the stretch both sides went for the jugular, but it was the quality of St Paul’s American Alexandra Wittinger that proved the difference between the sides finishing with a game high 28 points.

This will be a huge disappointment for the Cork club and coach Keith Daly in his first year at the helm with the investment made and been unable to make the top eight out of the ten competing teams doesn’t auger well for the future of this team.

By virtue of this win St Paul’s prize next weekend is a trip to play Waterford Wildcats.

The Address UCC Glanmire put in a huge performance against Liffey Celtics before going down 86-76.

Glanmire had only one American as they parted company with their latest signing Trinity Oliver on a mutual agreement and they must now head back to the same venue for a quarter final play off.

Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell also lost on the road going down to Killester 86-81 in a thrilling game at Clontarf.

Brunell led for the majority of the game but ironically, they go back to the same venue on Saturday next to play Killester for a bid to make the last four.