Ballincollig aiming for National Cup breakthrough but Tralee will be tough final opponents

All roads will lead to Dublin tomorrow for the fans of Ballincollig basketball club to take in the Pat Duffy Men’s National Cup basketball final when they take on the might of Tralee Warriors.

Ballincollig did suffer their first Super League defeat last weekend to St Vincent’s but hopefully for all concerned, that was a blip.

The Cork side started the cup campaign with an impressive home win over Eanna before facing and defeating the might of Belfast Star at the MTU Arena.

The semi-final against Limerick Celtic a fortnight ago at the Neptune stadium was a dogfight to the wire with Ballincollig prevailing 70-67 after overtime.

Looking back on the game player-coach Ciaran O’Sullivan was delighted but relieved that his side managed to grind out the win.

“I was happy in the manner we defended, restricting them to 66 points in regulation time and one in overtime, but offensively we were a little bit tight with some of professionals getting good looks and failing to knock down the shots."

The performance of American Latavious Mitchell came in for special mention from his coach though.

“I thought Latavious was incredible in our semi-final win scoring 31 points and getting 20 rebounds. Cork clubs have had great Americans over the years but those stat lines are really impressive."

The attitude of Mitchell as a professional has really impressed his coach.

“What I really like about him is the fact he can pick up two fouls and he never grumbles to referees. 

His temperament is superb as he just gets on with what he does best.” 

Tralee Warriors are known to be always bring a large fanbase to the capital when involved in a final and Ciaran knows it will be a battle.

“I think both teams match up well on the professional front as they have a good big man in Irshad Hunte and a clever guard in Jordan Perkins so we are sure to see a great tussle at both ends of the court.” 

THREAT

The one player that stood out for the Warriors in their semi-final win over UCD Marian was the 27-point contribution from Lithuanian Daniel Jokubaitis and he will have an interesting battle with the Ballincollig bosman Josh Steel.

“I think this will be a fascinating duel with two quality players going at it and there is little doubt the Jokubaitis danger is something we will have to curtail.”

O’Sullivan has a lot of time for this Warriors side.

Coach John Dowling is doing a great job rotating them as he likes to bring on energy and effort from the bench and the majority of them are home-grown Tralee players.” 

Ballincollig also have some quality Irish players in their squad that will play a huge part in this final with Adrian O’Sullivan, Keelan Cairns, Dylan Corkery and Ronan O’Sullivan all experienced for games of this magnitude.

The last time these teams clashed in the Super League at the MTU Ballincollig were brought to the wire before prevailing and O’Sullivan believes this could well be a similar game.

“We didn’t play particularly well and I say that with no disrespect to Tralee Warriors but I am making the point that we cannot have a repeat of that display in this cup final.” 

In 2024, Ballincollig lost to fellow Cork side UCC Demons in the final and O’Sullivan believes those are days you must remember.

“Losing finals is not easy and they do tend to stick in your mind so I will be telling the players who were involved two years ago not to forget how they felt after that loss.” 

Credit to all concerned at the Ballincollig club they have good structures with teams competing in the majority of grades and competing at the top tier of Irish basketball and playing in a final at the National basketball has given many people a huge lift.

“We will have a good support as the kids love to see us playing in a national final and it would be great if we could win the title. Winning brings a newfound interest to any club and let's hope we do the business.”