Gutsy Portlaoise shackled by Super League leaders

Celtics FlomMAX Liffey Celtics 81 

MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS 43 

IT was a tough night in Leixlip Amenities Centre for Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers on Saturday as they felt the heat from a FloMAX Liffey Celtics team looking to hit top gear ahead of their upcoming Paudie O’Connor National Cup semi-final clash with SETU Waterford Wildcats next weekend.

The current toppers showed just why they are the best defensive team in the country at the moment, confining Panthers to just 43 points as the Portlaoise outfit shipped their fourth straight loss in Women’s Super League.

Indeed, Celtics proved very effective in running their opponents off the three-point line as Lynn Tunnah and Alyssa Velles were limited to just 11 points apiece.

And, while Amy Dooley posed a real challenge for the hosts on the inside with 14 points and 13 rebounds, the visitors were still unable to gain any significant traction in this game to really threaten their Kildare rivals, who moved three points clear at the top of the table after this victory.

Speaking to the Laois Nationalist after the final buzzer, Portlaoise centre, Amy Dooley said “We had a slow start and that really put us on the backfoot.

“We worked really hard, but shots just weren’t falling for us. We were 4 from 13 on the three-point line and that’s not usually us. We just missed a few of those shots that we’d normally get.

“But I thought in the third quarter we got back into it and, just for us as a team, it’s always good to see that we have that fight in us when we’re still down.

“Liffey are preparing for a cup semi-final next weekend, so they were trapping us up high and it made it tough for us. It was a very physical game.

“We’ve a three-week break now and we need to get back to winning if we want to get into the top eight and make the play-offs. That’s the goal now,” she stressed.

It was not until two minutes into proceedings on Saturday that the opening bucket arrived, Sorcha Tiernan landing a three for the hosts before Celtics captain, Áine O’Connor added a deuce.

Lynn Tunnah got Portlaoise up and running when she struck from the perimeter, but the homeside continued to roll as Eboni Williams, Hazel Finn, Tiernan and O’Connor all applied the finishing touch to attacks that were built largely on Rachel Huijsdens’ ability under both boards.

Facing a 20-8 deficit heading into the second quarter, Portlaoise began to inject more intensity into their defence, which together with several sublime threes from Tunnah and Velles, helped reduce their arrears to five.

Yet just when Panthers appeared to be garnering some much-needed momentum, the homeside again began to flex their muscles, Allie Navarette executing from both sides of the arc before Tiernan followed suit and Huijsdens got in for a couple of buckets, including a buzzer-beating deuce that left Celtics 44-23 up at the half-time recess.

It was another game in which Portlaoise were certainly feeling the absence of American power forward, Jessica Fressle, who is still waiting on visa approval to allow for her return to Ireland.

Amy Dooley, therefore, had to shoulder a lot of work under the boards and she gave it everything in her attempt to apply the brakes to a Celtics side that could employ the necessary physicality when required.

Indeed, Portlaoise had their work cut out in not sustaining any further damage in the third, Dooley putting up 10 points in that quarter, to help counter the combined nine from Navarette and O’Connor for Celtics in that same period.

But the hosts did hit the afterburners over the closing six minutes, putting together a 12-point run that helped see them outgun Panthers by 16 in the fourth for a comfortable victory that sets them up nicely for next Saturday’s mouthwatering National Cup semi-final clash with SETU Waterford Wildcats.

Portlaoise will, meanwhile, look to regroup over a three-week break as they attempt to halt their four-game losing streak when they head back into action on January 25th with a home game against Catalyst Fr. Mathews.

FloMAX LIFFEY CELTICS: Kelly Bracken, Kate O’Flaherty, Eboni Williams, Rachel Huijsdens, Katie O’Sullivan, Sorcha Tiernan, Hazel Finn, Allie Navarette, Áine O’Connor.

Top Scorers: Sorcha Tiernan (21), Allie Navarette (14), Áine O’Connor (12).

MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Holli Dunne, Shauna Dooley, Megan Dunne, Lynn Tunnah, Jasmine Burke, Caoimhe Brophy, Amy Dooley, Alyssa Velles.

Top Scorers: Amy Dooley (14), Lynn Tunnah (11), Alyssa Velles (11).