Brunell cruise to Cork basketball derby win over Fr Mathew's
Maddie Cluse, Brunell, looking to shoot from Grainne Dwyer of Fr Matthew's in their Domino’s Women’s Super League match at Neptune Stadium. Picture: Dan Linehan
Gurranbraher Credit Union Brunell continued with their rich vein of form in the Domino’s Women’s Super League when disposing of Catalyst Fr Mathew’s in comfortable fashion at the Neptune Stadium on Sunday.
In a game that failed to ignite at any stage, Brunell were always in pole position as their opponents lacked the necessary firepower to pose them any problems. The Brunell Americans Brailyn Joseph and Maddie Cluse shared 34 points, but their side had steady contributions from all their squad.
The ever-reliable Edel Thornton got Brunell off to the perfect start with a basket and bonus that was quicky responded by a Shannon Brady banked shot. Brunell slowly began getting to grips with their opponents and with Mathew’s Grainne Dwyer having a nightmare in the offence court they trailed 12-4 midway through the quarter.
Thornton, after excelling early doors, was replaced in the fifth minute but they were still in control with three minutes remaining in the quarter. The reintroduction of Thornton yielded a basket and a three-pointer from Katie Walshe increased the Brunell lead to 11 points.
At the end of the quarter Brunell still had an 11-point cushion, 23-12, and Mathew’s needed a far better second quarter to keep them within striking range.
The scoring in this game was below average, particularly on the Mathew’s side as their shooting options bordered on the ridiculous.
Credit to Mathew’s after a bleak few minutes, they responded with some good work by Hannah McCarthy and with Laila Blair nailing a huge shot outside the arc they reduced the deficit to nine points midway through the quarter.
Consecutive Laura Hannigan three pointers settled Brunell back into their stride and with two minutes remaining to the interval they had increased their lead to 18 points. In fairness, Mathew’s could have died but a three-pointer, basket and bonus from Blair reduced the gap to 12 before a buzzer-beating Megan O’Leary jumper saw Brunell go in at the break up 44-30.
Looking at the half0time stats, Brunell shot 13 out of 22 attempts inside the arc and five for 11 outside the paint. Mathew’s were 9/21 (43%) inside the arc but outside the paint, a 3/16 and a poor 19% reading.
On the restart, Brunell continued to dominate and in the 24th minute, they had increased their lead to 20 points with Mathew’s now firmly on the ropes.
The remainder of this quarter was scrappy with both teams continuing to make various substitutions and entering the final quarter, Brunell looked home and hosed when commanding a 19-point lead: 63-44.
There is little doubt Mathew’s were hampered with the injury picked up by American Shannon Brady early in the game and although she played in snatches, she made little impact.
Brady, who had retired, only came back to replace Lexie Givens and it is still unknown whether she will return to Leeside following a family bereavement. Coming down the stretch, Brunell were careless and in seven minutes of basketball all they could muster up was a mere five points.
In the closing three minutes, Brunell responded to the wake-up call and the return of Thornton certainly steadied the ship as they won this game without too much fuss.
On the other side of the coin, coach Liam Culloty will be under no illusions that his side will need to improve big time for Sunday’s National Cup quarter-final against Liffey Celtics.
B Joseph 17, M Cluse 17, E Thornton 10, A Walshe 9.
L Blair 28, G Dwyer 11, S Brady 8, A Murphy 5.
K Sexton, C Downey, L Hannigan, A Walshe, L Homan, M O’Leary, I McSweeney, E Thornton, F Kyamagero, K Walshe, A Lyons, B Joseph, M Cluse, R Bowdren.
D Murphy-O’Riordan, Amy Murphy, Abby Murphy, G Dwyer, M Lukasiewicz, A Price, C McCarthy, L Blair, H O’Brien, S Fitzgerald, S Brady.
Peter James Coughlan (Cork), Stephen O’Shaughnessy (Tipperary).
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