Opening night defeat for Warriors against Demons

MEN’S SUPERLEAGUE

UCC Demons 92 Tralee Warriors 77

TRALEE Warriors first outing in the Superleague was always going to be a particularly difficult task for them, given, the strength in depth of the UCC Demons squad allied to the fixture being on the home court of the defending Champions last Friday evening, but, given the circumstances which prevailed prior to the tie with Bosman player Goran Pantovic being unavailable, allied to what transpired during the contest itself with American Trae Pemberton being forced to depart with an ankle injury in the second quarter the end result, and the level of performance was extremely encouraging, even if fifteen points - 92 to 77 - did separate the teams at the final buzzer.

The absence of Pantovic meant that Dusan Bogdanovic was playing out of position, while the match up with Demons dynamic American Jacob Lawson was entrusted to Kieran Donaghy in the absence of Pantovic. In the circumstances, he performed quite well indeed rolling back the years with a performance comparable to when he ruled the roost at this level finishing with a most creditable fifteen points and fifteen rebounds. Fergal O’Sullivan (15), Darragh O’Hanlon (16) and Dusan Bogdanovic (16) were others who contributed significantly to the scoring spread, but, the departure of Pemberton in the second quarter having up until then orchestrated matters at point guard, meant that, Warriors options were limited in the position and while Ryan Leonard performed quite well, scoring eight points, he was fouled out in the final quarter with the result that Demons with more options and individual aces were always in control, and in the final analysis fully deserving winners.

Level (21-21) at the end of the first quarter Warriors were just five adrift (46-41) at the interval break. By the end of the third quarter Demons had increased their lead to nine (63-54), and with Kyle Hosford now dictating the trend of proceedings from the point guard position, benefiting obviously from Pemberton’s absence, the locals with such as Jacob Lawson, Ciaran O’Sullivan and Kyle Hosford particularly influential had just that little bit too much for a Warriors side who displayed great character throughout, but, circumstances ultimately dictated that they were always going to be playing catch up with an extremely talented and experienced Demons side.

Still, a lot of plus points, not least the input of young Darren O’Sullivan, while Rick Leonard, who featured in Tralee Tigers first ever Superleague success made a late appearance off the bench. Coach Mark Bernsten was quite satisfied with the overall effort, but outlined particular factors which weren’t quite up to the mark, which is understandable given that this is Warriors first ever competitive outing.

“I thought our effort was good, our creation was just average, and that results in a poor result, so we got what we deserved. I didn’t think we played with a lot of composure, but that would be a first game outcome probably so we got what we deserved. We were down five at half time and we fought, and we had great effort, showed great spirit, but you have to have mind and spirit. Our mental part of the game was missing, and that comes from experience, that comes from playing together, and those are the things that are going to lead us forward.

“The loss of Trae Pemberton for three quarters, a point guard, a leader in terms of organising the game, that hurt us, that really hurt us. It was just a difficult match, when you play the Demons you can’t make mistakes, and, you can’t have things that are not in order. We missed ten free throws, lose by fifteen, you can’t do that in a game, but it was a great learning experience for all the lads and I think we will get better each week.”

Next up is Belfast Star who won their opening game last weekend beating UL Eagles (68-67), and it’s a game which is sure to attract a bumper attendance to the Tralee Sports Complex on Saturday night, even if the Coach acknowledged that it’s going to prove to be another extremely difficult encounter for Warriors.

“There are some issues, they really are, our first home game back, there’s going to be a great crowd, you want to show something spectacular, and have a great result in front of your home fans, so this week will be important in terms of training, sorting out how we are going to play. Again we will have to see how Trae’s ankle is, how it responds to treatment, so there area lot of question marks going into the Belfast game.”