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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Heartbreak for Mercy
Mercy Waterford travelled to the National Basketball arena in Tallaght last Tuesday to play in the All Ireland qualifiers for a place in the all Ireland semi final.
Mercy’s first game was against Holy Faith Clontarf who finished top of the Dublin league. Clontarf would be one of the stronger team in Ireland and were pushing for all Ireland glory.
Mercy started off well with Helena Rohan showing what is in store for the day with the first 4 points. Siobhan Power then led a helping hand with some fine scores of her own.
Mercy was in control at this stage and Clotarf were finding it hard to keep up. The end of the quarter finished Mercy 16 Clontarf 10. Mercy stepped up the defence through Melissa Stone and Sinead Deegan and Clotarf were failing miserably to even get a sniff at the basket.
Mercy started pulling out a lead which Clontarf would find hard to get back. Jane Keannely was doing massive work on defence and in all Mercy keeps Clontarf to three 2nd quarter points. The half finished Mercy 28 Clontarf 13.After a massive first half one would wonder would the students keep up the pace for the second half.
Power was again in the thick of the action netting some valuable scores while Leanne Ivory was also putting her own impression on the game. Deegan was like a terrier at this stage no giving the opposition a moment’s peace and was a contest thorn in their side.
Going into the 4th Mercy lead by 13 and their was all to play for. But Stone soon put at end to Clotarf hopes with some massive shooting that totally deflated Clotarf hopes. Amy King had the final say with a three to finish the game
Mercy 50 Clontarf 35
This was a great result for the Waterford girls who showed great heart and if someone wanted to know what a team was like they need look no further. Their communication and knowledge of each others play was a joy to see and even Keith Barry would have been impressed by their telepathic ability.
Next up was Mercy’s Munster rivals Caragaline Community school. This was an eagerly awaited contest as these two teams meet earlier in the cup with Caragaline coming out easy winners by a huge margin. The Deise girls would have something to prove and show that this was only a blip that would be rectified.
Mercy started a slow pace and found themselves down by 4 after 2 minutes. But they were not going to let this slip too lightly. Deegan began to find her touch and soon brought Mercy back into the game. Power was again back to her best netted some great scores. On defensive side Ivory was bringing down some great rebounds.
The quarter finished Mercy 14 Caragline 12.Rohan now got a bolt of energy and as the song goes "nothing is going to stop me now" and this was no truer as Rohan was putting in the baskets for fun. Amy king was doing a fine job on defence with constant work rate and intelligent play foiled many scores.
Grainne Langan came into the game and gave her side some great encouragement and also ran the floor very well. Deegan and Stone were flying again and the dynamic duos were contest names on the score sheet and kept it ticking over. The half finished with Mercy 28 Caragline 18.
Mercy was now in the driving seat and could only lose it themselves but they were not going to let that happen. Kennealy and Power were now got hungry for scores and nonchalantly took advantage. Rohan was also in the frame by making some huge moves which resulted in some great highlights. While at the other end Ivory and King were doing their best to stop Caragline offensive treats. At the end of the third Mercy 34 Caragline 26.
Mercy was out to prove a point here and decided to push the boat out and once again Deegan and Stone leading by example made this a reality. After 4 minutes of the last Mercy were now out of sight and could see the game home gradually. Rohan and King were doing great jobs both on offensive and defence and saw out the game: Mercy 52 Caragaline 39.
This was really a professional job by the girls who were clinical in their approach and really showed that their last defeat was a major blip. The Dynamic duo or Batman and Robin were a major factor in the team’s performance and lead from the front. The rest of the team were not far behind and really looked up caped crusaders.
Mercy now finished top of the group and would now play the runners up of the other group. The opposition would be Pres Killarney. Mercy started off poorly with Killarney running into a 10-2 lead .Mercy soon found their touch but failed to stop Killarney at the other end.
The girls were trying hard but were not getting rewarded for their efforts. Mercy finished the quarter. 10-22 down. The next quarter was more of the same with Killarney scored at ease and the Waterford girls falling to find the net. At this stage it seemed as if Murphy was working over time as Murphy’s Law was now truly in motion. Every shot that Killarney seemed to take went in and the opposite happened at the other end.
It was very frustrating for the students. Mercy were now down a massive 30 points at the half. But they were not going to lie down lightly as every girl to a woman tried their hardest and in the 4th quarter were down 15 with 3 minutes to go. But as they saw too little too late. As the great New Zealand rugby teams say "we never lost we just ran out of time". And with that Mercy Dreams were dashed of further all Ireland glory.
A big thank you must go to all four girls and they will always hold a place here in the Mercy. Mercy team senior team 09/10: Sinead Deegan, Melissa Stone, Grainne Langan, Leanne Ivory, Jane Keannealy, Siobhan Power, Helena Rohan, Emma Begadon, Yvonne Corcoran, Rachel Taheny, Amy King.
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