Kestrels men complete Division One League and Top Four double
Kestrels celebrate winning the Men's Division One Top Four title
KESTRELS raised this season’s MABB Men’s Division One Top Four title after they stormed to a 73-50 victory over Athlone in the final in St Mary’s Hall on Sunday.
Just four points (16-12) separated the two sides by the close of the first quarter, but Kestrels hit the accelerator in the second, as they pushed their lead right out to 46-23 by the half-time recess.
Athlone were unable to find a way back, as the back court pair of Rioghan Murphy and Jordan Fallon led the way for the Portarlington side, with brothers, Peter and James Byrne spearheading their cause up front.
Sean Smith, Lir O’Loughlan and Aivaras Maksvytis also made big contributions as Kestrels ran out comfortable winners only days after they had beaten Tullamore in the semi-finals of the competition.
It was superb close to the season for the Laois outfit which had emerged the top side in the Division One regular season - no mean feat when considering that no less than 14 teams make up the top tier of men’s MABB basketball.
Delighted at seeing his side complete the double on Sunday, Kestrels head coach, John Dunphy told the “They're a very talented group of players, so it's very easy for them to just do their own thing out there. You just give them a little bit of direction and, they're big boys, they know what to do.
“Because of injuries and players going traveling, this team wasn’t even around last season. But we got a couple of players back. Jordan Fallon returned to the team this year as did James Byrne, all ex-Kestrel players.
“They would have been big players for us when they were under age and then they would have gone on play National League with other teams and now they've returned, so it's great.
“To go from not having the team last year, to winning the League and Top Four, it’s a big thing for us.
“It's a good news story for the club more than anything, because we have a lot of underage teams that are coming up, and they now have this senior team to look up to.
“There’s a huge relationship now with the likes of the Under 12s, Under 14s. They're all coming up, watching the matches, so it’s great to see,” he said.
KESTRELS: Lir O’Loughlan, Rioghan Murphy, Jordan Fallon, Sean Smith, James Byrne, Peter Horner, Aivaras Maksvytis, Mindaugas Memkus, Peter Dunphy, Sam Cunningham, Dualtagh Unuvar, Peter Byrne.
