Connaire hits 26 points as Moycullen win league thriller
MOYCULLEN made it three wins from four in the Super League when winning a thriller in overtime against Belfast Star on Saturday to give their survival prospects a major shot in the arm.
They have now climbed level on points with DCU Saints and fellow Galway side, Maree, who endured a nightmare opening quarter that laid the foundations for their heavy defeat away to UCD Marian on Saturday.
There was better news for Maree’s Women Super League side, as a comfortable win over Marble City Hawks – coupled with Glanmire’s defeat in the Cork derby against Fr Mathew’s – leaves the Galway side second on their own in the league table.
Down in Women’s Division One, NUIG Mystics suffered a heavy defeat away to this season’s beaten cup finalists, Trinity Meteors.
MEN’S SUPER LEAGUE
Moycullen 96
Belfast Star 89
(After overtime)
Moycullen brought the curtain down on a wonderful week for the club when toppling joint league leaders, Belfast Star, after overtime in the NUIG Kingfisher on Saturday, writes Steven Heaney.
With the club still on a high after winning the U-20 National Cup final the previous weekend, the home side used that momentum to force the game into additional minutes with just two seconds to go in regulation time.
From there, there was only going to be one winner as Moycullen – driven on by one of the stars of their U-20 win, James Connaire – just steamrolled the opposition to claim a famous win.
What made the victory all the more impressive was the fact that the men in green were without two key players: American player Grant Olsson missed out through injury; while U-20 Paul Kelly, the MVP in that U-20 cup win, was tied up with other sporting commitments.
Olsson’s unavailability meant Moycullen’s other American player, Daniel Vila was thrust into the starting lineup, and in the first quarter he provided much of Moycullen’s scoring punch. Eight different players got on the scoresheet for Moycullen in the opening period, giving the home side a 24-18 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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