When the match began everyone who was there, knew that it was destined to be a match played with great skill and even greater heart as neither team wanted to give away easy or vital points.
The opening tip off fell in favour of Newry, and they were able to score an opening basket which looked like a good sign for things to come. However, Newry were soon to find out that the match would not be an easy one as they fell down by two points at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter began promising as some of the young guns of the team, Alex Irwin, Ryan Lennon and Simon Ward came on the court to prove their worth an to show that they were not to be taken lightly. They did this by scoring a total of eleven points between them, all made possible by some superb rebounding by Newry?s Michael Curran who looked to be able to bring down everything that came his way. A critical score by Newry?s Ryan Mallon allowed Newry to take a two point lead to start the second half with.
It became evident that the Newry team had received some, needed, words of encouragement from their Coach Paul Crawley and their Defensive Coordinator Peter O?Neill as the second half commenced. When most of the starting five reappeared, they were determined not to let their training go to waste and came on to the court with their game faces on.
It was time for Newry?s John Ward and Ryan Mallon to show they were a force to be reckoned with and to put some scores on the board, and so they did. John Ward had an impressive seven point scoring run in the third quarter with Ryan Mallon not far behind. This was, however, possible due to the dedication and extreme hustle shown by Newry?s Paul Fleming, Shaun Fearon and Niall Brady all of whom did not give up any loose ball or let a defender get past without a fight and also managed to put up their fair share of points as well. Newry?s Chris Mc Kevitt was unfortunate to fall to injury at the beginning of the game, but during the game, was able to pick out his team mates for assists anywhere on the court. Newry closed out that quarter with a commanding eleven point lead but knew that there was one more quarter to go and the game wasn?t over yet.
Newry, advised by their coach, knew that they only needed to play some safe basketball to win the game. The quarter became a low scoring one due to some impressive defence from Newry?s John Ward, Michael Curran, Paul Fleming, Sean Fearon and Simon Ward to leave Newry with a well deserved twelve point win.
Team and Scorers:
John Ward 11,
Ryan Mallon 9,
Alex Irwin 5,
Michael Curran 4,
Shaun Fearon 4,
Paul Fleming 4,
Ryan Lennon 4,
Simon Ward 2,
Chris Mc Kevitt1,
Niall Brady,
