Misfiring Bullets’ final woe
Glasnevin 73 Bullets 49
FIRST-TIME finalists Drogheda Bullets found Glasnevin too hot to handle and had to settle for Hula Hoops NICC runners-up medals in the National Basketball Arena on Friday night last.
The more experienced Glasnevin produced a clinical display to see off the Boynesiders who perhaps suffered from a bout of stage fright in the early stages. Glasnevin made three of their first four shots and Bullets failed to convert any of their first seven, and already the Dublin 7 outfit smelled blood. With Shane Rife picking up scores and displaying good hustle on the boards, and player/coach Kev Foley prominent also, the capital side stormed 13-0 ahead before Bullets’ Janis Assere got his team off the mark with a three.
That seemed to settle the Drogheda side and the teams couldn’t be separated for the rest of the first quarter which ended with that 10-point deficit still intact - 19-9. The second quarter saw Drogheda Bullets fight back as they upped their intensity. Big scores from Adelole Ilori and Padraig McGroggan kept them in touching distance but Rife, with 18 points in the first half, and Foley hit back for Glasnevin and half-time came with Bullets trailing 37-25.
The third quarter saw the same intensity as the previous one, with both teams utilising the fast break and Bullets briefly reducing the deficit to five points. Padraig McGroggan was prominent for the Drogheda men, while on the Glasnevin side Peder Madsen was lethal from beyond the arc.
Foley was being marked well by Bullets’ Stephen Safo but used his experience to maintain a strong influence and with one quarter remaining Glasnevin had extended their lead to 55-36.
While Bullets never gave up they couldn’t make any inroads in the final period and ultimately it was that slow start that came back to haunt them.
Glasnevin player/coach Foley described his team’s defence as ‘unbelievable’ and that might explain how none of the Bullets players reached double figures.
Nevertheless, the Drogheda side have shown they can compete at this level and they’ll be hoping their merger with the local Sparks club to form Drogheda Wolves will help secure a place in the National League.
In the meantime they continue to ply their trade in the regional league, and indeed just 24 hours after losing in Tallaght they returned to North East action and thrashed Dunshaughlin. BULLETS: Tevin Thomas 9pts, Liam Woods 2, Ciaran McGroggan 5, Padraig McGroggan 5, Robert Sullivan 4, Jackson Baker, Patryk Kopec, Denzel Ebose 3, Stephen Safo 2, Janis Assere 9, Adelole Ilori 4, Danny Oniwana, Kestas Jonusas, Eimantus Kumpys 6, Cian Crowley.