Kestrels come up just short against Waterford in NICC Men’s National Cup
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Waterford Vikings 63
DESPITE having hauled themselves right back into contention after a disappointing opening quarter, Kestrels were unable to keep pace with Waterford Vikings down the stretch and consequently suffered a narrow defeat that sent them crashing out of this season’s NICC Men’s National Cup.
Victory over BC Leixlip in the opening round of the competition had set Kestrels up for this latest trip to Carrickpherish Hall, but they ultimately missed out on securing further passage to the last eight and a clash with Neptune.
Waterford enjoyed a good spread of scoring with seven players getting on the scoresheet, among them Luca Maloney and Daniel Sheehan, who together, put up a total of 27.
Kestrels’ Jordan Fallon emerged the game’s top scorer on 18 points, while James Byrne put up 14 and Liam Guinan sent three efforts from beyond the arc through the string on his way to a total of 10.
The Portarlington side, however, was slow out of the blocks in this contest, finding themselves 12-1 down almost midway through the opening quarter, as Sheehan drained three buckets with Ryan Pepper and Nikita Kudrovs making up balance of that early surge.
Fallon accounted for Kestrels’ first score from the field five minutes in, as the visitors struggled to make up the lost ground in that opening quarter, with Vikings taking a 22-13 cushion into the second period.
Kestrels were held scoreless for a further three minutes after they returned to the court, in which time Waterford put up six more points compliments of Norris Philips and Maloney.
The visitors finally managed to gain some traction by way of a 10-point run that included inside baskets from Byrne and Fallon, along with a treble from Ross Muldowney.
A further six unanswered points by John Dunphy’s men reduced the gap to the bare minimum and it was only a Maloney deuce that saw Vikings take a 32-29 lead into the half-time interval.
Waterford, however, hit the ground running in the second half, as Daniel Sheehan, Jay Kavanagh and Ryan Pepper all carded scores in little over a minute.
But Kestrels remained hot on their heels as Guinan and Fallon put the ball through the string from outside and inside the arc respectively before a further seven-point run saw the visitors overtake for the first time with just under two minutes left in the third.
Yet that lead lasted a mere 17 seconds, as Kudrovs got in for another deuce that edged Waterford back in front 47-46 heading into the final quarter.
The hosts managed to build on that through buckets from Maloney and Sheehan, and, while Fallon struck from downtown for Kestrels, the Laois side just could not catch their opponents down the stretch.
Tamerick Trower, Andrew Malone, Norris Philips, Simba Boston, Jay Kavanagh, Ryan Pepper, Luca Maloney, Daniel Sheehan, Nikita Kudrovs, Daniel Brennan.
Top Scorers: Luca Maloney (14), Daniel Sheehan (13), Jay Kavanagh (10).
Sam Cunningham, Liam Guinan, Brian Chinda, Jordan Fallon, Sean Smith, Ross Muldowney, Dualtagh Unuvar, Peter Horner, James Byrne.
Top Scorers: Jordan Fallon (18), James Byrne (14), Liam Guinan (10).
