Fulton can propel Star’s young guns to final: Ryan

BELFAST Star’s Under-18 side have made it through to the semi-finals of the National Cup and coach Ger Ryan knows that with CJ Fulton in their team, anything is possible.

Fulton (right) came up with a staggering 43 points in Star’s 83-78 victory over Titans, to set up next month’s last-four clash with Dundalk.

The Belfast lads had been trailing by eight points at half-time but Fulton, along with the impressive Darragh Ferguson, led the fightback. With the sides tied and a minute on the clock, it was Ferguson who hit the final five points to seal a dramatic win.

There was heartache for Star’s Under-18s in last year’s final and while coach Ryan knows it will not be easy to go one better, he remains confident that his boys will give any side a tough battle.

Along with Fulton and Ferguson, Conor MacDonald and Ryan Kingi also stood out in the quarter-final win.

“The lads have been working very hard and when you consider that we lost a few key players from last year due to the age band, it says a lot about the character of this group of players,” said Ryan, who admits that Fulton is the X-factor that every coach would love to have.

“In the quarter-final, CJ was outstanding and it was very interesting that he only had one three-pointer. People expect him to score from outside but he had 20 free-throws and just kept going at their defence.

“He’s a special player but also a very humble guy who deserves all the plaudits he gets because he works so hard to improve on his game all the time.”