Tough defeat for Killorglin away to Swords Thunder
MEN’S SUPERLEAGUE ROUND 5
Swords Thunder 71 Keanes SuperValu Killorglin 49
KEANES SuperValu Killorglin had another journey to the capital last weekend, when they travelled up to play Griffith College Swords Thunder in the latest round of the men’s basketball super league.
Killorglin went into the game riding the crest of a wave, with three wins from four games and the sole loss coming against league leaders Templeogue, while Thunder have had a mixed bag of a season so far, with two wins and three losses. That said, home advantage is huge is this league and so it was always going to be a very winnable game for both teams.
The game started with both teams finding it difficult to settle into their game plans. Castleisland native Adam Donoghue is a new signing for Killorglin this year and he kicked off the game with a three pointer from the corner, after good work by Pierre Newton and Dara Jones.
Swords Thunder American player Elijah Mays is one of the best imports in this league the Killorglin defence were finding it very difficult to marshal him. With 5.13 left in the quarter, Swords held a nine point to five lead. An offensive foul by Adam Donoghue and an unsportsmanlike foul by Eoin O’Sullivan typified the difficulties Killorglin were having and by the time the first quarter came to an end, Swords thunder were leading by fourteen points - Q1 score: Griffith College Swords Thunder 25 Keanes SuperValu Killorglin 11
Killorglin coach Ignas Sijanus knew Keanes had a lot of work to do if they wanted to get back into the game and his team got right to it when they came out for the second quarter. However, Swords matched them score for score and with seven minutes left in the half, the score was 30 to 17.
Daniel Jacobitus raised the Killorglin roars when he intercepted a Thunder pass and ran the length of the floor before being pulled back – the unsportsmanlike foul was called and he made the two free throws and Keanes retained the possession.
Killorglin were playing better defensively and with four minutes left in the half, they had reduced the deficit down to nine points. However, Thunder then had three unanswered buckets and suddenly the score was back up to fifteen.
Indeed, Thunder drove on from there, primarily from the hands of Mays, and by the time the first half came to an end, the score was Griffith College Swords Thunder 46 Keanes SuperValu Killorglin29
Once again, Killorglin came out after a break all fired up but again Swords were also up for the battle. Ivan Bogdanovic followed up a huge defensive block with a three pointer at the other end , but Thunder went down the court and Ejijah Mays hit a three of his own.
Thunder started to leave Keanes behind a little and with 5:22 left in the period, the score was 58 to 36, a 22 point lead and even at this early stage, Keanes looked like a team that was heading to their second defeat of the season.
The scores went basket for basket for the remainder of the period and at the end of the third, the score was Griffith College Swords Thunder 71 Keanes SuperValu Killorglin 49.
Elijah Mays was really running the show in this game and Keanes will have to have a plan for him in the return fixture later in the season – he started the last period with another three pointer and there really was just no stopping him in this game.
With five minutes remaining, the score was 81-61 to Thunder and the game was all but over. The last few minutes played out without much incident.
After the game, Killorglin Coach Ignas Sijanus said: “We will have to just dust ourselves down as we have another huge fixture next weekend in Dublin again when we travel up to play UCD Marion – in this league , the standard is so good that any team can beat another, and we found that out today.”