Maigh Cuilinn 79 (40)
Tralee Warriors 85 (39)
Maigh Cuilinn drew the curtain on a stellar but ultimately disappointing Superleague season on Saturday with a six point loss to 2019 champions Tralee Warriors at the University of Galway Sports Arena.
The final score of 79 to 85 proved a fair outcome after what was a tight affair that saw the teams tied on ten occasions and the lead change hands seven times.
The brilliance of Elijah Weaver for the visitors (Weaver finishing with 30 points) was matched blow for blow by the outstanding play of Grant Olsson and Ivan Basic for Maigh Cuilinn who had 27 and 30 points respectively.
Ultimately, it was the failure of Maigh Cuilinn to find a consistent third scorer through the game that was to cost them dearly. When Olsson fouled out of the contest with just under seven minutes remaining, Maigh Cuilinn were always up against it. The Galway club fought valiantly without their top scorer and captain for the remainder and were just four off the visitors in the last minute of the game. However, when needed most, Tralee were able to put Maigh Cuilinn away minus the leadership of Olsson in the crunch.
The defeat draws to a close what was at times a hugely promising season that saw Maigh Cuilinn secure five wins and threaten a playoff run but cruelly ended in massive disappointment and relegation by virtue of their last place finish in the very competitive Southern Conference.
Maigh Cuilinn will therefore ply their trade next season in the National League, where they of course had tremendous success between 1997 and 2010 before going up to Superleague.
Credit to the players that donned the green and white Saturday in the final Superleague game as they did all they could to end with a bang, leading 19 to 16 after the first quarter and maintaining a one point lead (40 to 39) entering the half time break.
Tralee proved the old saying of the third quarter being the winning quarter and it was their 21 to 29 advantage in that 10 minute spell that would set the stage for the victory. Despite Maigh Cuilinn winning the fourth and final quarter 18 to 17, it was not enough to reclaim the lead at the only time it truly mattered on the final buzzer.
Maigh Cuilinn Scorers: Ivan Basic 30, Grant Olsson 27, Connor Dickerson 10, Aitor Perez 6, Patrick Lyons 3, James Connaire 2, Kyle Cunningham 1, Antonio Molina, Kevin Nugent, Joe Tummon, Dylan Cunningham, Liam Moloney