28th February 2010
Galway U'12 Boys League Playoffs

 On Sunday in Oranmore, Moycullen U12 basketballers visibly improved over the course of their three games and a superb defensive performance in the semi final against Barna saw them clinch a place on finals day on the weekend of March 27/28 in Kingfisher NUIG. They will have the unenviable task of taking on a superb Maree team who eased through the other half of the draw and have already beaten them comfortably twice this year. However, if they can continue to improve at the rate demonstrated on Sunday, they will certainly feel they have a chance in the final.

The boys began with a game against a young and inexperienced Claregalway team. Despite a rather lifeless performance, the result was never in doubt as they rotated their squad to good effect, easing to a 22-8 victory.

Next up was a contest with a strong Titans team. A win was vital in order to avoid Maree in the semi-final. The first quarter was a tight affair with a single Conor Curran basket matched by a Niall Bree score for Titans. The second quarter saw Moycullen break the game open. Eoghan Kelly was inspirational, hitting 5 points in the quarter and providing David Cunningham with an assist on Moycullen's other score. Titans couldn't break the Moycullen defence at all and trailed 9-2 at the half. The second half was a torrid affair with Moycullen defending solidly but struggling to find any offence. Conor Curran showed his prowess from the free throw line, hitting on both of his attempts and Eoghan Kelly and Conor delivered another pair of baskets to seal a hard fought 15-10 victory.

In the semi final, they faced a Barna team who had beaten them by 10 points earlier in the season. On that occasion, Moycullen lost the physical contest. They were determined this wouldn't be the case this time and David Cunningham showed the way with the first basket. Caimin Rooney responded for Barna but a pair of baskets from John Hackett and a good finish from Conor Curran gave Moycullen an 8-5 first quarter lead. The second quarter was a tough battle but Moycullen showed they were up for it. Two plays in particular emphasised this. Firstly, Daniel Lydon faked a shot and converted a powerful lay-up early in the quarter. Secondly, as time ran out in the half, Thomas Walsh made a weak move to the basket and missed a shot. However, he battled for the rebound and drove to the basket again, converting a superb pressured lay-up as time ran out. This gave all the momentum to Moycullen as they entered the half leading 12-7. The third quarter saw them play some superb defence. Barna couldn't score in the quarter while Moycullen added another 6 points through Hackett, Curran and Eoghan Kelly. With the game over as a contest, Moycullen relaxed in the last quarter. Further scores from Kelly, Curran and Killian Byrne sealed the win and everyone got an opportunity to play some minutes and savour the victory.

With a month to go before the final, a lot of hard work is needed. That should not be a problem though as all the players have shown a positive attitude to training over the course of the season and they all recognise the enormity of the task involved.

Team: Eoghan Kelly, Conor Curran, Daniel Lydon, John Hackett, Max Brennan, David Cunningham, Ronan Clancy, Thomas Walsh, Robert Flynn, Killian Byrne, Gerard McDonagh, Eoghan Heffernan, Luke Slemon, Cian Parsons, Thomas Hackett, Barra Convery.                          

Cork County Board U'12 Tournament 2009

                                Saturday December 19th 2009 Moycullen Boys reach semi final


Moycullen U12 Boys travelled to Cork on Saturday and put in a solid performance in four good games. First up were Carraig na bhFearr and this was an ideal game to settle Moycullen after the long journey. They were comfortably the better team and everybody got a good run out to loosen the legs for the bigger challenges ahead. Encouragingly, Moycullen scored freely in the game with Daniel Lydon, Cian Parsons and Conor Curran to the fore. Thomas Walsh also logged some good minutes at the point guard position - a new departure for him and they sealed a 44-21 win.

Next up were Neptune with a place in the semi final at stake. Neptune had lost their opener to Demons and were determined to stay in the competition. They had beaten Moycullen in last years U11 competition and expected to repeat the dose. However, Moycullen controlled the game from the start. Eoghan Kelly and Conor Curran handled the ball well against the speedy Neptune defenders and got to the middle of the lane at will to create some good opportunities which Ronan Clancy and Daniel Lydon happily converted. Lydon and John Hackett battled manfully on the boards, while excellent defence from Max Bennan, Luke Slemon and Thomas Hackett completed the excellent team effort. However, despite the Moycullen efforts, as the game neared the end, Neptune had hung in and briefly took the lead. Moycullen attacked again and Conor Curran found John Hackett open on the three point line and despite struggling to find his scoring touch throughout the game, like all good shooters, he nailed the key basket at the key time. Another score from Curran closed a superb 30-25 win.

The next game against Demons was to decide who'd win the pool. As always, Demons had lightening quick guards but, they also had the added balance of a giant inside player who towered over all the Moycullen players. Early in the game, Moycullen had no answer to the combination of size and speed and fell to a double digit deficit. However, after adjusting their defence to defend the Demons pick-and-roll game, they settled into the contest. Curran and Kelly led the way with Daniel Lydon and John Hackett battling gamely to contain the Demons inside threat. Entering the fourth, trailing by 10, they battled on gamely and narrowed the gap to just five with 2 minutes left. However, the effort in getting back in the game took its toll and they couldn't produce the scores needed to turn it around, slipping to a 29-22 defeat.

The defeat to Demons meant a semi-final against local rivals, Maree. Maree are a good bit ahead of Moycullen (and indeed virtually every other team in the country!) at this stage in their development and it was a daunting task. The first quarter saw Moycullen initially struggle with Maree's driving game but they soon found their feet to cut the deficit to 5 points. The second quarter combination put in a tremendous effort, narrowing the gap to just three points at the half. However, an injury deprived Moycullen of key player, Eoghan Kelly in the thir quarter and the energy spent in the Demons game (immediately prior to the semi-final) was beginning to take its toll. Maree began to take control with their patient offense creating much easier scoring opportunities than Moycullen could muster. The ball movement and court vision of the Maree team is something Moycullen could learn a lot from. They battled gamely to the end but were no match for a Maree team that went on to win the finally comfortably.

Overall, it was an encouraging tournament for the Moycullen boys with the valuable contribution from all 10 players evidence that the increased training is having an effect. A little bit more control and less panic when in posession will bring the team on a lot as many of the players showed an ability to score when getting the ball in good positions. Creating those opportunities will be the challenge over the coming months along with adding a team element to the pretty solid individual defence.