Utility Trust St Paul’s 69
McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles 53
Report: Enda Walshe
A brilliant MVP performance from Rheanne O’Shea helped Utility Trust St Paul’s get back to winning ways as they put their cup conquerors Cavan Eagles to the sword in an intense battle in the Presentation Gym on Saturday evening.
OShea hit 21 points but another feature of the game was the outstanding defensive effort St Paul’s put in to quell the Eagles.
This was a team that racked up over 100 points in their cup win over SETU Carlow but there was no such charity on this occasion as they were held in a vice-like grip by a ravenous Paul’s side.
It was something Sofia Paska gave an insight into speaking post-match when the Canadian revealed the focus was on getting the rearguard action right to build up a head of steam.
“As a team, we felt we get more energy when we get defensive stops so we wanted to really focus on playing good defence to keep our momentum going throughout the whole game. Especially after half time because we know Cavan is a strong team and would slowly close the gap if we weren’t playing good defence, she said.
James Fleming rotated his bench and St Paul’s were 17-11 to the good at the end of the first quarter and 33-19 in front at the half-time break.
It was in the third quarter that Rheanne O’Shea really took up the cudgels, hitting two from three-point land early on. It was all needed as there was a noticeable improvement in Cavan’s play. They upped their own intensity and Ciara Tolan, Casey Mulvey, Robinson and Sexton cut the gap to 10, 39-29.
O’Shea, crucially, finished the quarter as she started it, her five points helping to double the lead heading into the final period. Lynn Jones, while not featuring on the scoresheet, was extremely diligent in defence, playing through the pain barrier of an underlying injury.
Well in control, Killarney twisted the knife early in the fourth with Paska and O’Shea with another three extending the advantage. One of the scores of the game would follow from Rasheed, converting a smooth McMahon assist. Sexton and Robinson were battling away but Rasheed and Lorraine Scanlon kept their foot on the gas as Cavan were running into foul trouble.
O’Shea added to St Pauls’ tally but her 21 points were only the tip of her contribution as she battled for everything while Denise Dunlea was also a tour de force.
Paska and Dunlea rounded up the scoring for the victors while Jewel Rosagaran climbed off the Cavan bench to pour in five points. Siobhan Burns made her home league debut and when the final buzzer sounded St Paul’s were 69-53 to the good.
An important win as Sofia Paska admitted afterwards: “We had to show how much better we are as a group than we did in that Cavan cup defeat and it was really important to have a great team performance like we did”.
Rheanne O’Shea top scored with 21 points, Khairica Rasheed struck 18, Sofia Paska hit 11, Lorraine Scanlon fired in 10, Denise Dunlea scored seven and Leah McMahon had two.
For the Eagles Destiny Robinson was best with 16 points.
With no game next weekend and the Christmas period looming St Paul’s next date is in Dublin on Saturday, December 30 when they face Oblate Dynamos.
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