Sean McCarthy to the fore as Neptune rally to defeat Belfast Star
Neptune's main man Sean McCarthy finishes to the hoop against Belfast Star. Picture: Chani Anderson
A magnificent second-half display from Energywise Ireland Neptune was good enough to see off Belfast in the Men’s Super League at Neptune Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts reversed last week's cup loss and showed tremendous spirit with MVP Sean McCarthy giving an exhibition with a 35-point tally.
Belfast Star American Shane Bell showed his class with a floater in the opening possession only for McCarthy to reply. Star were missing their Irish internationals Rap Buivydas and Conor Quinn but with Neptune attempting silly shots in the opening five minutes, the visitors led 12-5.
Neptune’s influential Bosman Jaylan Hodge was also absent for the second consecutive game as he is still struggling with a knee injury. The introduction of Roy Downey saw him make an immediate drive to the hoop with an excellent finish.
Star could afford to use various rotations and still had a seven-point cushion, 24-17, going into the second quarter. Coach Adrian Fulton has his team well-drilled and when Aidan Quinn drained his second three-pointer midway through this period, their lead increased to 14 points with Neptune calling a time-out.
The tempo of the game dropped a little, but Star were always capable of hitting big shots but when McCarthy finished an excellent move in the 18th minute, the deficit was reduced to nine points, 43-34.
McCarthy showed his class with a baseline slammer with 1.30 remaining to the interval as the home crowd sensed a revival. Both sides missed easy tips in the closing exchanges to the half-time buzzer, but Star were still in control with an eight-point lead: 44-36.
Sam Smith began the second half with a neat jumper before a Downey three had the home crowd in rapture. Another Downey shot outside the paint and suddenly it was a four-point game.
When Dylan O’Rourke followed with an identical shot the lead was down to two points, 52-50. McCarthy then tied it with two free throws and then O’Rourke nailed his pair and edged the home team ahead.
U20 O’Rourke certainly had a hot hand when draining consecutive three-pointers that surged his team into an eight-point lead, 62-54.
Amazingly Neptune had five Irish players on the court for the restart, but it made little difference as a Nelson dunk in the 32nd minute gave them a 14-point lead.
Coach Adam Drummond stayed loyal to his Irish brigade of players until late in the game, but Neptune were not for taking on this occasion and ran out deserving winners.
Before tip-off, a minute’s applause was observed for the late Niall O’Riordan, who sadly passed away last week. Credit to the Neptune players, they made the former stalwart proud with a gutsy display.
Their Cork rivals UCC Demons went down 100-83 on Saturday night away to Men’s Super League leaders Limerick Celtics.
S McCarthy 35, S Smith 14, D O’Rourke 11.
J Green 17, S Bell 14, A Quinn 14.
J Hodge, S McCarthy, E Lenihan, J Scannell, R Downey, A Heaphy, N Sabata, K Taylor, S Smith, N Power, E Nelson, P Osagie.
P A Adedeji, A Quinn, C Quinn, M Richardson, R Graham, R Buivydas, L O’Neill, C Liston, S Bell, L Pettigrew, J Green.
Emma Perry (Dublin), Peter James Coughlan (Cork), Stephen O’Shaughnessy (Tipperary).
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