Jago hoping Portlaoise women can deliver a magical run in WSL National Cup

MIDLANDS Park Portlaoise Panthers head coach Ger Jago is hoping his side can defy the odds and serve up a memorable run in this season’s Women’s Super League National Cup.

While they did receive a bye through the first round, the team still faces a tough start to the 2026/27 competition, having been handed a quarter-final draw away to a UCC Glanmire outfit that, only last Sunday, dished out a 26-point defeat to them in the Super League.

Indeed, the Cork side has recruited well over the summer, with American pair Emani Jenkins and Tasia Jordan having made an immediate impact in the league, the two combining for a total of 98 points and 41 rebounds in just their opening two games of the campaign.

Portlaoise, who have found themselves empty-handed after their first two league outings against Cavan Eagles and Glanmire, know they will have their work cut out to overcome this opening hurdle, but Jago has been quick to stress that league form can go out the window when it comes to a one-off cup game.

“Everybody knows the magic of the cup when it's a ‘won-and-done’ situation, so regardless of league form or what people are doing up until the cup, you can never tell what will happen,” he told The Laois Nationalist.

“That's what makes the National Cup so special and why everybody wants to get there [to the final] on the third weekend in January. It's just such a special time of year and holds great memories for so many people involved in basketball,” he said.

Jago, who only took charge of Portlaoise this summer, has had to contend with the loss of several key players, including Jessica Fressle, Lynn Tunnah and Ciara Byrne.

And, while he does acknowledge that the disparity in coaching experience between himself and long-time Glanmire boss Mark Scannell is huge, he is relishing the challenge of going up against one of the top masterminds in Irish basketball.

“It's like two coaches at opposite ends of the spectrum, with Mark being with Glanmire for so long and having decades of experience at this stage,” admitted Jago. “And then there’s me in my rookie season as a head coach in the Super League. It's chalk and cheese.

“However, Cork has always been favourable to me as a player and I just hope it can be the same as a coach as well.

“There are no easy draws in the National Cup. Glanmire is a particularly tough place to go, but I'm looking forward to the trip. The Mardyke is never an easy place to go and they always have great home support there, with fantastic players who are very well coached by Mark.

“That zone they run is very tough to break down. Mark has them very well drilled, and everybody seems to know what they're doing.

“But, based on our first game against Cavan, I was so happy with the girls’ defence for 95 per cent of the time, so if we can build week on week, or even practice on practice, by the time it comes around to the Glanmire cup game, I feel that we’ll be in a much better and much stronger position as a team and as a squad to go and attack them.

“And it's the cup. Anything can happen, and I’d just love a little Cinderella run for Portlaoise to get us to the final. It'd be really nice and poetic. I’d love that,” he said.