Cork basketball teams struggling as Neptune return to revamped stadium on low note

A dismal weekend for Cork clubs in the Domino’s Men’s and Women’s Super-League’s with Gurranbraher Credit Union Brunell the sole winners of the six games played courtesy of their 72-55 victory over Cavan Eagles.

The newly-renovated Neptune Stadium certainly caught the eye of the basketball fraternity on Saturday but on the playing front their performance against Belfast Star left an awful lot to be desired.

Over the last decade Neptune have gone through various coaches but just like my beloved Manchester United in football the end result hasn’t changed. Neptune are steeped in basketball history in this country and one of the few clubs in Europe that own their own stadium.

Their last success was winning the National Cup 2013 in and before that a Super League success in 2003 so that’s a total of two titles over a 22-year period.

Credit to the club they have been to the forefront of looking after children in the community and like many other sporting clubs on Leeside do an excellent job. 

The two problems that Neptune presently have is the lack of quality among their Americans but it gets worse with their Irish squad of players as with the exception of a couple the rest are simply not at the races.

On the professional front selecting quality Americans has been a major problem as in truth it’s hard to name one special player to don the jersey since the good old days of Ray Smith and Terry Strickland. First home game of the season is one that your fans look forward to, but Neptune looked a beaten side six minutes into the opening quarter.

On Saturday, the same venue will host an intriguing derby against Ballincollig and with their Cork rivals also losing their opening two games this now becomes a game of huge significance. This scribe hasn’t seen Ballincollig in person to date but reports from Saturday’s loss suggest their Irish players were shy in putting up the required numbers.

Ronan O’Sullivan and Dylan Corkery haven't featured yet but Ballincollig will need them for the remainder of the campaign. Player-coach Ciaran O’Sullivan is a good game planner and no doubt knowing the importance of this game will have his troops primed.

UCC Glanmire’s poor start to the season continued at Clontarf on Saturday when they lost to Killester 78-50. Hard to believe the Cork side only amassed 18 points in the second half but it was their fourth quarter display that will worry coach Mark Scannell when they were outscored 26-7.

Claire O’Sullivan was a huge loss as she was the one shining light in their opening league defeat to Brunell and the team will need her experience to be competitive in this campaign.

Fr Mathew’s were another side on the wrong end as they lost at home for the second week on the bounce this time to Trinity Meteors 75-57. 

UNDERACHIEVING

There was a slight upset at the Mardyke Arena on Sunday when they lost a 16-point lead in the third quarter before eventually going down to Flexachem Killorglin 87-81.

For the second week running the Demons American pairing of Shariff Black (16) and Zach Hinton (9) underachieved but it was the ridiculous shooting option of their Irish players that should also worry coach Danny O’Mahony.

In the case of Hinton, he is certainly a professional under the microscope and maybe should be reminded that his club are never shy to pull the trigger in times of need as his 19 points in two games is simply not good enough.