Demons & Killester maintain perfect start

UCC Demons and DART Killester maintained their perfect start to the season with wins away to Ulster Elks and Moycullen respectively in the latest round of Nivea For Men SuperLeague games.

On Sunday, Neptune registered their first win of the campaign away and inflicted more misery on Moycullen, UL Eagles made it four wins from four and DCU Saints ended Belfast Star's unbeaten record.

UCC Demons' vastly experienced captain Shane Coughlan believes experience was the key as they outscored Ulster Elks 93-84 to make it four wins out of four.

'It was a tough game to play,' said Coughlan, who led Demons to the treble last season. 'Offensively they are very strong and blitzed us early on.

'We settled though, never panicked and that just comes with experience and having familiar faces around you over the past couple of years. They have a lot of new players and they will make an impact over time.

'It's a perfect start but we have a lot of things to work on. I suppose the win over Neptune a week ago has helped galvanize the team spirit. It was such an unbelievable game and to win it has given us huge confidence.'

It took Demons six minutes from time before they were in front in this contest when Niall O'Reilly landed what proved to be the crucial three. Further long range scores from Coughlan and Carlton Cuffe ensured the win.

Killester proved too strong for Moycullen as Mark Keenan's side ran out comfortable 92-55 winners with Jermaine Turner providing yet another impressive tally of 27 points for the victors.

'We were hit and miss in the first half,' said Killester Head Coach Mark Keenan. 'We had 14 turnovers in the half and we couldn't get away from them.

'The second half was much better and I was delighted we held them to just 29 points during that spell,' he added. 'We are not getting carried away with the run (five consecutive wins). We have some tough games against the likes of UL and UCC to come so we will know a lot more about ourselves after these games.'

Neptune Head Coach, Pat Price, paid tribute to his side's resilience after they emerged from their trip to Moycullen with a 90-73 success.

After a close first half battle, the Cork side's defence excelled with just a meagre 29 points conceded after the restart.

'The team showed great resilience,' said Price. 'We didn't play particularly well in the first half but we made a few adjustments and the team responded excellently.

'Our defence deserve a lot of credit,' he added. 'We were very pleased to give up just 29 points in the second half particularly when you consider they hit 32 points in the second quarter alone.

'The team played well and the likes of Ger Noonan had a great second half, as did Gary Walsh and Ian McLoughlin. I felt we were a better team than our record suggested and it's great to get off the mark.'

UL Eagles' excellent start to the campaign was maintained with an 88-69 win away to UCD/Marian also on Sunday.

UCD had a mountain to climb after trailing 46-29 at half time and once again 6'11" Stuart Robbins of UL was the main instigator with 29 points.

'We have to be pleased with our start, four wins is great and hopefully we can continue it against Elks next weekend,' said UL's Welsh star Matt Hall. 'We managed to restrict UCD to just nine points in the second quarter, which proved the difference.

'They had a run towards the end of the third and at the start of the fourth but we managed to hold out and win comfortably enough in the end. We had some great performances from the likes of Stuart Robbins, Neil Campbell and Scott Kinevane.'

DCU Saints produced a blistering display to put a halt to Belfast Star's excellent start to the season by virtue of a 93-59 win on Sunday.

After a close opening quarter in which the Saints lead 22-19, it was to be the home side who dominated the remainder of the game.

The gap at half time had increased to 19 points and there was no way back for Star. Scott Summersgill was keeping his side in touch with a couple of three's but Saints, with Kevin Lacey in particular fine form, were not to be outdone.

Meanwhile, in the IrishSport.TV Women's SuperLeague, reigning champions Team Montenotte Hotel Cork comfortably saw off the challenge of Sligo All Stars, while UL and Killester accounted for Tolka Rovers and Bausch & Lomb Wildcats respectively.

DCU Mercy secured their first win of the season on Sunday at home to Meteors.

Team Montenotte Hotel Cork inflicted more woe on newcomers Sligo All Stars and their Head Coach Mark Scannell believes the win is another step towards returning to the form of last season.

'It is another step on the road,' said Scannell. 'We played well, we used 11 players and they all did well. We are going to be there or thereabouts and this win already shows an improvement from our win over DCU Mercy in the opening weekend.'

On Sunday, DCU Mercy returned to winning ways with a 72-50 success at home to Meteors.

Meteors got off to a winning start on the opening day away to Wildcats but Mercy, with Suzanne Maguire hitting 22 points, claimed the victory.

'It was a good win and a good response to losing out first game,' said Mercy Head Coach Mark Ingle. 'It was scrappy at time but our defence was good and some of our new players did well.

'Meteors have improved as a team this season so it's a good one to break our duck and hopefully will set us up nicely over the next few weeks.'