Neptune hoping to make home rule count against Limerick Celtics, while Demons head to Sligo

Energywise Ireland Neptune will be hoping to get back to winning ways in the Men’s Super League when they host Limerick Celtics at the Neptune stadium tomorrow (6.30pm).

The Blackpool outfit will be disappointed with last week’s loss at UCD Marian where a disastrous second quarter came back to haunt them when they were outscored 35-17 before losing 105-93.

Granted Belfield is a hard venue to play on but coach Adam Drummond will be furious to see his team give up so many points in a quarter.

Looking at the stats of the game Neptune were 11/34 outside the arc giving them a 32% average but the shooting of their Bosman player Jalen Hodge will give them encouragement as he finished with a 25- point tally.

The one plus for Neptune also is the present form of Sean McCarthy in his first season back with the club following his stint in the States playing college ball.

Limerick Celtics also lost their opening game to Ballincollig, but they have some decent Irish players and if Neptune are not at it in defence the shannonsiders will punish them.

Ballincollig are on the road again to play newly promoted Limerick Eagles who got their campaign off with a stunning 117-78 win at St Vincent’s.

The Limerick side have some quality players in Irish International Ryan Leonard and former UCC Demons bosman Toby Christensen.

Another plus for the Eagles is the quality of American Alex Carlisle who finished with 37 points.

The champions were made fight hard in their low scoring 70-68 win over Limerick Celtics, but player coach Ciaran O’Sullivan will be happy with the win minus one American.

Another plus for Ballincollig is they are superb in defence and that will be needed against a side who are capable of putting up big numbers.

Adrian O’Sullivan is a leader in the Ballincollig team with Keelan Cairns and Dylan Corkery always willing to put their bodies on the line.

There is little doubt Ballincollig will approach this game with caution but with Spanish bosman player Alex Belver a quality signing they should be good enough to see out this test.

UCC Demons were buoyant following their 100-83 win over Eanna but the real test comes tomorrow when they travel to play Sligo All Stars.

The westerners were on the end of a 74-70 loss at Killester and will be determined to get back to winning ways.

Although Demons got over Eanna with relative ease it must be stressed that the Dublin outfit have a poor squad minus quality players like Sean Jenkins and James Gormley who are sidelined with injury.

Looking at Demons team they have some serious talent in their squad but using nine players in the opening eight minutes suggests that coach Stewart Rodgers is not sure of his best starting five.

The signing of Elijah Tillman was a masterstroke, as he was simply awesome against Eanna finishing with a 34 point tally.

Demons second American Asanti Price finished with 20 points, but he plays like a forward and is not comfortable at the point guard position.

Another problem for Price is his tendency to shoot wayward shots and he needs to be smarter with a big man like Tillman to assist at the post.

Playing at Sligo calls for discipline from Demons and if they have a structured plan in place they should be good enough to secure the points.

In the Women’s Super League Career Decisions UCC Glanmire host Midland Park Portlaoise Panthers at the Mardyke Arena on Sunday (1.30pm).

Glanmire coach Mark Scannell will be relatively happy with his team’s performance at the champions Trinity Meteors last weekend despite going down to a 65-63 defeat.

The one plus for Glanmire is that their American duo of Emani Jenkins (26) and Tasia Jordan (20) put in a good shift in their debut game.

The retirement of Aine McKenna and Claire O’Sullivan was a huge blow for Glanmire and with their Irish players only chipping in with 17 points against Meteors this could be a major problem for the Cork side in this campaign.

The other Cork side Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell also went down in their opening game as Waterford Wildcats inflicted a 90-77 defeat on them at the GCU Arena.

Not the start that new coach Keith Daly envisaged and they will face another big test tomorrow travelling to play newly promoted Limerick Celtics.

A game that Brunell will need to pick it up big time as this is a potential banana skin for the northside outfit.