Super League bid dashed in Wolves thriller
SETU CARLOW 101 DROGHEDA WOLVES 95
DROGHEDA Wolves’ ambitions to become a Men’s Super League club will have to be put on the backburner for at least another year after they lost out to SETU Carlow in a thrilling play-off quarter-final on Saturday evening.
Despite working their way back from a half-time deficit of 20 points and having a chance to win the game in the final minute and progress to the semis, the Boynesiders came up just short and their impressive season ended with no tangible reward.
So it’s SETU Carlow vs UCD Marian and Moy Tolka Rovers against Limerick Sport Eagles in the semi-finals and the Wolves will see this as an opportunity lost given that they beat all four of the semi-finalists during their league campaign.
In particular Dave Biggins’ side will regret the shock home defeat at the hands of Mater Private Malahide in February and the even more surprising loss to relegation-threatened Killarney Cougars earlier this month, results which dashed their hopes of earning a home draw in the play-offs.
The quarter-final was a repeat of the fixture at the same stage two years ago, which came at the end of Wolves’ rookie season in the National League under then coach Gavin Gartland.
That match, like this one, was played in Carlow and the hosts blew Wolves off the floor that day.
In the early stages of this match the ghosts of 2022 seemed to be reappearing as Carlow were 34-19 up after the first quarter and went into half-time leading 61-41.
Home advantage was certainly paying off at that stage, but despite forward Darren Townes fouling out in the third quarter Wolves halved the defecit to 10 points – 79-69 – going into the final 10-minute period. Scores by Tiago Pereira, Adam Mullally and Justin Copman reeled the Southern Conference team in even more, with the latter beginning to find his rhythm after a two-game injury-enforced lay-off.
Ben Kelly Flynn was solid at point, earning plenty of court time as Mark Bodnar missed out through illness.
The cold shooting from Wolves in the first half now became Carlow’s problem as their shots fell away and Wolves cashed in.
Francisco Dias had an impressive quarter for Wolves with crucial scores and strong defence and with 24 seconds left in the game the teams were incredibly tied at 95 points apiece.
But then Kelly Flynn drove the lane and was called for an offensive foul just as he found Pereira with a pass, and the resulting turnover sealed the game as Carlow iced it from the foul line.
From a position where Wolves were one score away from reaching the play-off semi-finals and taking another step towards promotion to the Super League, their best season at National League level was suddenly over.
Nevertheless, having won 14 of 19 regular season games and spent time at the top of their conference and indeed the entire division, the team has been impressive and they will take a lot of positives from the campaign heading into the off-season. DROGHEDA WOLVES: Ben Kelly Flynn 10pts, Justin Copman 23, Joseph Ballester, Max Tyndall 2, Adam Mullally 8, Tiago Pereira 20, Darren Townes 11, Paul Adedeji, Francisco Dias 21.