Portlaoise Panthers left empty-handed again after tough road trip to Killarney
Peter O'Sullivan's faces a tough task in lifting his team for their next game against McEvoy's Cavan Eagles on Saturday 24 January Photo: David Maher
MIDLANDS Park Portlaoise Panthers were held to their lowest game-points total of the season so far as they opened 2026 with a disappointing defeat on the road to Utility Trust St. Paul’s when the two sides clashed in Domino’s Women’s Super League action on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors, who were hoping to build on their much-needed victory over fellow strugglers, Catalyst Fr. Mathew’s late last month, did not have one player in double digits by the close of proceedings, as they again struggled to get the cogs turning on offence.
Indeed, they were just 14 percent from the three-point line and left behind them, seven of their 11 free-throws against a team that now sits joint-top of the table alongside defending champions, Killester.
St. Paul’s were that bit more clinical from all areas of the court, the Killarney side finishing the game with four players in double digits, among them Maisie Burnham on 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Tara Cousins added 16 to her side’s tally and also set up a further seven scores.
It took St. Paul’s less than three minutes to open up a 10-2 lead, Burnham and Lorraine Scanlon delivering on the inside before Cousins drained two big trebles.
Despite buckets from Christiana Boiko and Jessica Fressle, Portlaoise struggled to stay in touch, St. Paul’s serving up a further seven unanswered points that helped see them end the first quarter with 23-13 cushion.
Matters only grew worse for Panthers in the second, during which they went almost five minutes without a score, while their opponents added a further 11 points to their lead.
Scanlon and Burnham continued to prove a real hindrance in the paint, while Lovisa Hevinder found the mark from outside the arc before Portlaoise got rolling again by way of a brace from Shauna Dooley, who later added a three.
That increased Portlaoise’s second-quarter return to just seven points as they trailed their opponents 38-20 at the half-time break.
Peter O’Sullivan’s side did a better job of shackling their hosts in the third quarter, limiting them to just 12 points, although they, themselves, were able to muster up only as much, as Boiko and Fressle accounted for nine.
St. Paul’s got motoring again early in the fourth, Hevinder and Burnham enlarging the gap by five before Ciara Byrne got in for the start of an eight-point haul by her in that final period.
Indeed, she converted half of her four attempts from beyond the arc in that quarter, but it was not enough to spark a much-needed surge by the visitors who never really came close to applying any heat on their high-flying opponents.
While getting a result on the road in Killarney was never likely to be an easy task for Portlaoise, they will be disappointed with their points return from this outing, something they will need to seriously address if they are to work themselves into the play-off position by the close of the regular season.
Such a prospect is likely to hinge very much on their next game at home to McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles on Saturday 24 January.
Nine points currently separate the two teams, and Portlaoise will be desperate to reduce that gap in their bid for a top-eight finish in the table when they welcome John Stephens’ side to St Mary’s Hall.
With just two wins from 11 games in this season’s campaign so far, Portlaoise will need to regroup over the two-week break they have been afforded with this weekend’s National Cup finals as they look to avenge last October’s 13-point reversal at the hands of Cavan when they lock horns again.
UTILITY TRUST ST. PAUL’S KILLARNEY: Tara Cousins: Naoise O’Connor, Lynn Jones, Clodagh O’Sullivan, Maisie Burnham, Denise Dunlea, Lorraine Scanlon, Siofra O’Shea, Lovisa Hevinder, Deirdre Geaney.
Top Scorers: Maisie Burnham (20), Tara Cousins (16), Lovisa Hevinder (13), Lorraine Scanlon (10).
MIDLANDS PARK PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Holli Dunne, Shauna Dooley, Ciara Byrne, Megan Dunne, Lynn Tunnah, Jasmine Burke, Amy Byrne, Elaine Kennington, Christiana Ojide Boiko, Jessica Fressle, Sarah Fleming, Alyssa Velles.
Top Scorers: Christiana Ojide Boiko (9), Jessica Fressle (9), Ciara Byrne (8).
