Portlaoise undone in the third as Brunell exact revenge

Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell 69 

Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers 53 

MIDLANDS Park Portlaoise Panthers were made to rue their inability to match the intensity of Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell in, what was, a decisive third quarter in their Women’s Super League clash in Parochial Hall on Saturday night.

While only two points separated the sides at the half-time break, Panthers found themselves facing a 16-point deficit by the start of the fourth, and try as they might, they were unable to make any significant in-roads into that advantage.

Brunell, who were looking to avenge their 19-point reversal at the hands of Portlaoise on the opening weekend of the season, were certainly buoyed by the return of captain, Edel Thornton to their line-up for this game, an ACL injury having sidelined her for months.

And the Ireland senior international skipper marked her comeback with an 11-point haul in just over 17 minutes on the court, which together with the combined 30 from Deaja Richardson and Danielle O’Leary, went a long way to seeing Brunell go 5 and 5 in the table.

Portlaoise, who were still feeling the absence of the influential Jessica Fressle, meanwhile, have slipped to 4 and 6 in this campaign, and head coach Keith Conroy is hoping they can arrest their run of three straight defeats after Saturday’s disappointing loss.

“It was a poor night at the office,” he told the ***Laois Nationalist****. “We were right in it up until half-time, but in the third quarter we just didn’t match their intensity. They put us under a lot of pressure defensively.

“Scoring just five points [in that period], you just can’t get away with that in Super League, so it was another learning day for us. It’s a bit frustrating because we know that we’re right there, but, unfortunately, we can only go by the scorelines. We’re now 4 and 6, so we’re getting into a situation that we don’t want to be in,” he warned.

Neither side hardly gave an inch in what was, very much, a war of attrition throughout the opening half.

Brunell’s Kelly Sexton opened the scoring with a deuce before Amy Dooley responded in kind for the visitors, setting the stage for a ferocious battle that saw the hosts lead by just a point (17-16) at the close of the first quarter.

Richardson landed two nice three-pointers in that period with Dooley matching her six points from the inside.

Only a bucket or two separated the two sides for much of the second quarter, with an Alyssa Velles free throw restoring parity at 24 points apiece before Lynn Tunnah also went to the line to nudge Portlaoise ahead.

Yet buckets from Trinity Hudson, Thornton and Richardson helped see Brunell back in the driving seat by the half-time recess, but only just, at 35-33.

While Portlaoise did draw first blood in the third by way of a Jasmine Burke free-throw, they quickly began to slip further behind, as the hosts strung together an eight-point run that was soon followed by 11 unanswered points that resulted in them carrying a 54-38 cushion into the final quarter.

Indeed, Portlaoise managed a mere five points in that penultimate period, which also accounted for nine of the 25 turnovers they would total in the game.

Danielle O’Leary inflicted the bulk of the damage for Brunell in the third, draining three shots from beyond the arc and another from the free-throw line, as the home side took control.

She struck again from downtown in the fourth as the Cork side kept Portlaoise at bay, despite Ciara Byrne draining a three and Velles and Tunnah each serving up a further four points down the stretch.

Panthers boss, Conroy will now be hoping his players can now defy the odds and return to winning ways next Saturday when they travel to joint-leaders, FloMAX Liffey Celtics.

“We’ve a big game next weekend away to Liffey Celtics and hopefully we can turn it around,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have Jess [Fressle] back, which would be great,” he added.

GURRANABRAHER CREDIT UNION BRUNELL: Kelly Sexton, Laura Hannigan, Ava Walshe, Lauryn Homan, Danielle O’Leary, Edel Thornton, Trinity Hudson, Abbie Lyons, Deaja Richardson, Megan O’Leary.

Top Scorers: Deaja Richardson (17), Danielle O’Leary (13), Edel Thornton (11), Lauryn Homan (9), Trinity Hudson (9).

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

Top Scorers: Alyssa Velles (12), Lynn Tunnah (10), Amy Dooley (10), Ciara Byrne (9), Megan Dunne (7).