Preview: Enda Walshe
All attention this weekend turns to the National Cup and Scott’s Lakers couldn’t be handed a juicier draw.
They go to the Ballinfoile Community Centre this Saturday evening to meet a Titans side who will be cock-a -oop after an unbeaten start to the season. The Galwegians have won all five of their league encounters and will have gained huge confidence from their derby win over Moycullen last Saturday night.
They followed that up with an impressive win over SETU Waterford Vikings on Monday and will be raring to go for the cup.
Not that the Lakers should be shy about their chances either. Ron Howard’s side have battled for every point they have gained.
The derby win against the Cougars was in contrast to the Eagles triumph. In the Killarney tie it was a free-flowing affair while in the UL Arena they put in a big shift , especially in the first half, against physical opponenst.
The form of Eoin Carroll and Mark Sheehan is particularly pleasing and after an injury interrupted start to the season, Jack O’Sullivan is back in harness.
When the sides last met only two weeks ago Titans came out on top but that can be tapered by the fact that both Darnell Snyers and Abdul Oladipupo only had a couple of days with the squad prior to that. Oladipupo played an integral part in that Cougars win while Snyers was superb in Limerick.
What’s a given is that Mikah Blackwell will contribute heavily to the scoring effort and is the spiritual leader of the squad. The younger players like Shane Daly, John Hughes and Darragh O’Callaghan can progress with the aid of the professionals, something that Jamie O’Sullivan and Oisin Spring have had the benefit of in recent seasons. Rui Saravia is playing a captain’s role this season and he always gives his all.
Back to the Titans and Michael Hayes is certainly their go-to man. Being a left-hander, he can be hard to pin down and he’s a player who certainly does the simple things very well. He has a good wingman in the powerful Charles Pepin while Irish underage international Declan Gbiningie offers something similar when Pepin takes a break.
Matthew Sweeney, Michael Gormley Joseph Coughlan and Viktor Tashev are all reliable performers.
It promises to be a tough battle up the West Coast for the Lakers but the beauty of the cup is anything can happen. Tip-off is at 7.00pm.
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