New-look Star given stern baptism of fire
BELFAST Star’s new-look side were given a clear indication of how tough it will be to break into the All Ireland Superleague’s top four when suffering a 88-72 defeat away to Templeogue on Saturday night.
Star have brought in four new professionals for the first time, though only two were eligible to play in their opening game of the new season, while they were also missing the exceptional Aidan Quinn.
Clearly Star will be a different proposition when Spaniard Sergio Vidal and 7ft Englishman Mike Thiep join American Mike Davis and Slovenian Mark Berlic in their line-up over the next four weeks but there were still lessons to be learned from defeat to the Dubliners.
New head coach Adrian Fulton commented: “We went away from sharing the ball, we over dribbled and weren’t patient enough to wait wait for good scoring opportunities.
“Credit to Templeogue, they were excellent but we have to be better if we are going to win games at this level.
“Sure, we were missing players but our performance is below the standards we have set for ourselves. I am confident that we can bounce back and that we will see a reaction from our players in training during the week.”
Big scoring from Jason Killeen and Neil Randolph for the Dubliners saw them into a 40-34 lead at half time. Having led 29-11 after the first quarter.
The third quarter was a thrilling encounter with both teams delivering some fine offensive plays.
Berlic showed why he can be a real dangerman for Star this season, while coach Fulton will have been impressed with the contribution of Conor Johnston, who had been receiving plaudits in pre-season.
Johnston hit his second three of the game to lave Star trailing by only a single point at 52-51 — however Templeogue responded with a Luke Thompson three and then the ever-potent Jason Killeen grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, dictating proceedings until the final buzzer sounded.
Meanwhile, Star’s under-18 side had a fine win in the Cork County Board invitational tournament.
Wins over Killester, Galway Titans and Cork side Fr Matthews in the group games followed by victory over Blue Demons set up the final success over Waterford Vikings.