Limerick Lions 58,  Glenbeigh Falcons 57

A sizable crowd in St Clements were treated to an absolute humdinger of a game between Limerick Lions and Glenbeigh Falcons in an under-14 division 1 encounter.

Both sides went with strong fives in the first quarter and Lions came out of the blocks flying with great baskets from Luke Ryan, Ian Coates and Diarmuid O’Shea. These scores were countered by the hugely impressive Calvin Teahan who contributed all of the Falcons scores in the first quarter, which ended 15-each. Falcons started to pull away in the second quarter with some fine scores by Pa Grady. However thanks in the main to some powerful forward play by Aaron Madden and strong defensive work by Conor Cullen the Lions clawed it back to finish the half level.

The pace did not drop in the second half, with the game ebbing and flowing on several occasions. With time running out both sides could have won it from the free-throw line but the pressure told and the game ended in a tie at 51 points each.

However the real drama was saved for overtime. All appeared lost for the Lions as Falcons went 5 up but Harry Coyne’s boys dug deep to pull it back to a 1-point deficit. With 6 seconds on the clock Lions regained possession under their own basket. Shane McNamara made a fast break, transferred to Diarmuid O’Shea at post who neatly layed off to Luke Ryan. With the buzzer ringing in his hears, Luke Ryan sank a jump-shot to break Glenbeigh hearts and gain a famous victory for the Lions.

For Lions, Shane McNamara at point and Diarmuid O’Shea at post were magnificent and Luke Ryan gave a tour-de-force display with an impressive 25-point total. Aaron Madden, Ian Coates, Michael Hickey, Conor Cullen and Matt Sutton also had fine games and Sean Moran, Emmet Ryan and Emmet Gleason also contributed in no small way. Great credit is due also to Lions coaches Harry Coyne and Mark Sutton whose match strategy and tactics were spot on. For Falcons Calvin Teahan was hugely impressive, amassing an awesome 38 points. Pa Grady scored a number of great baskets and Conor Blunt had a fine game at point-guard while contributing some neat scores.

This was a game played at a fantastic pace from the very outset and the high standard of play throughout was a huge credit to both sides.