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Debutant Blackwell excels before Lakers get rained off

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1 year ago

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New signing Mikah Blackwell scored 42 points on his debut for Scotts Lakers. Photo: INPHO/Tom Maher.

After waiting patiently all summer for the start of the new National League season to begin, Scotts Lakers and the Waterford Vikings were left frustrated on opening night as their fixture was called off with just 19 seconds to play.

The reason is not one you would expect to find at an indoor sporting event: rain. More specifically, rainwater was leaking through a vent in SETU College Hall and making its way onto the court. When Lakers player Shane Daly slipped on the wet floor with roughly three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, officials stopped the game and made attempts to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, the issue persisted and with the scores at Vikings 69-68 Lakers heading into the final 19 seconds, the match was abandoned in the interest of player safety.

The decision apparently angered the home team who were in a good position to take the W (they had possession and Aaron Jackson, the former Laker, was about to shoot two free throws). Proceedings ended with a heated exchange between both sets of players and coaches.

The Lakers now believe that according to league guidelines the points should be awarded to them as the Vikings were unable to provide an alternative home venue to finish the game. The Waterford club are unlikely to take such a ruling lying down.

The match itself ebbed and flowed with both sides racing ahead at different junctures before losing momentum and allowing the opposition to respond.

After losing their way a little in the second half, the away team battled back admirably and they would have been ahead in the closing seconds were it not for some poor free throw shooting on their part (they missed nine in total).

On the plus side, the young Irish players showed great tenacity and the performance of new US signing Mikah Blackwell was extremely encouraging. The versatile 6’6” two-way player scored in just about every way imaginable, from catch-and-shoot threes, to pull-up midrange jumpers, to close-range finishes in traffic…. There was even a put-back dunk and an alley-oop thrown in for good measure. He finished up with 42 points in a display that bodes well for the rest of the season.

Patrick Lanipekun chipped in with 12 points, Shane Daly had 7, Eoin Carroll had 4 and Rui Saraiva had 3.

Next up for Ron Howard’s men is the first home game of the campaign against newcomers the Tipperary Talons on Saturday. Tip-off at the Killarney Sports & Leisure Centre is at 7.30pm.

Elsewhere in Division One, the Killarney Cougars fell to a 98-77 defeat away to Titans BC with Kani Glover and Joshua Strongman combining for 52. The veteran Andrew Fitzgerald registered 15 points.

Patrick O’Regan’s team will be aiming to build on the positives from their season opener when they host Waterford Vikings in their first home game on Saturday at the Presentation Gym. Tip-off is at 7.30pm.

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Home cup tie for St Paul’s could be epic

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2 months ago

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7 November 2025

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Paudie O’Connor National Cup (Round 1)

Utility Trust St Paul’s v GCU Brunell

Saturday 7.30pm

Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre

The St Paul’s women’s team will be hoping to get their National Cup adventure off the ground on Saturday when they welcome 2024 champions Brunell to Killarney. Tip-off in the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre is at 7.30pm.

Paul’s have displayed some fine early season form, although their unbeaten start in the Super League came to an abrupt end last weekend when they lost to the Trinity Meteors in Dublin. James Fleming’s side weren’t at their best on the day but they were well in contention heading into the final quarter with the scores at 47-45 in favour of the hosts. The Meteors pushed on in the fourth, however, eventually running out 63-53 winners.

St Paul’s scorers on the night were Maisie Burnham (13), Tara Cousins (12), Lorraine Scanlon (12), Lovisa Hevinder (9), Denise Dunlea (5) and Leah McMahon (2).

The Killarney club are now joint second in the table alongside the Meteors with both teams holding a 4-1 record. Killester are top having won each of their first five games.

Paul’s opponents on Saturday, Brunell, have won three out of five league matches so far.

LAKERS

The Utility Trust St Paul’s Lakers have now won three of their last four games in Division 1 of the Men’s National League following an impressive home victory over Moycullen in Killarney.

Eoin Carroll and Jack O’Sullivan made significant contributions of the Boys in Black; Carroll hit 17 points and collected 13 rebounds while O’Sullivan had 14 points, 12 rebounds and some spectacular blocks.

Steve Kelly posted 30 points and the durable Sam Grant played every second, adding 21 points along the way.

The Lakers started well before the visitors found their footing and the sides went in level at the half-time break after scores by home captain Carroll. There was still nothing to separate the teams entering the fourth quarter (68-65) but buckets by Carroll, Pablo Murcia and Grant opened up a nine-point lead. Moycullen fought back admirably, however, cutting the deficit to just four, but Luke O’Hea’s charges held firm to prevail by eight (88-80).

Next up is a cup tie against the Tipperary Talons, a side they defeated by 30 points just a couple of weeks ago. The cup can be very different to the league, though, and they will need another solid performance to advance to the next round. Tip-off in in Killenaule is at 6.30pm on Saturday.

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Chances of Kerry v Cork Munster final in 2026 decrease as Munster GAA delay seeding plan

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2 months ago

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7 November 2025

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After facing a backlash from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipperary players, Munster GAA have postponed their plan to keep Cork and Kerry separate in the 2026 Munster Football Championship.

The new seeding system – which gives the two highest ranked Munster teams in the National League byes to separate semi-finals – will now come into play in 2027, twelve months later than initially planned.

This will give Clare and Limerick a chance to earn promotion to Division 2 of the league, potentially overtaking Cork if the Rebels were to get relegated to Division 3.

Despite traditionally being the two main contenders for Munster football honours, Kerry and Cork haven’t met in a provincial decider since 2021. The Kingdom have won each of the finals since then (one versus Limerick and three versus Clare) by an average margin of 15.75 points.

More high-profile Kerry v Cork finals might be desirable for fans of those teams, businesses in Killarney and Cork, and neutrals alike but Munster GAA’s plans to effectively keep the great rivals on opposite sides of the draw understandably drew criticism from the other participating counties. A statement by the GPA confirmed that players from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipp had met via Zoom to discuss the matter. They were said to be “deeply disappointed and concerned” by the decision.

The 12-month delay will at least give two of those disaffected teams an opportunity to benefit from the new seeding process.

The draw for the 2026 Munster Football Championship will take place on November 27 under the old rules. As 2025 finalists, Kerry and Clare will get byes to the last four (but they will not necessarily be kept apart).

Nine members of Kerry’s squad are up for All-Stars at tonight’s awards ceremony in Dublin with Joe O’Connor and David Clifford also in contention for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award.

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