St. Brendan's are through to the Mens U20 National Cup semi-final after overcoming Belfast Star in the last eight at Moyderwell on Sunday afternoon. The Tralee side led at the end of all four quarter but had to reel in the Northerners in the third quarter to regain the lead they held onto and secured their place in the semi-final of the National Cup when they will take on Limerick Celtics in MTU Cork on Sunday 7th January with an early morning 10.00am tip off.
St. Brendan’s got off to a flying start and with an Eoin Creedon double opening their account and when Evan Boyle fired in two threes they had quickly built a 13-2 lead. Belfast's response was swift and they were back on terms when Luke Donnelly and Jake McCotter combined to cut the gap to a single score. Phoenix Costello made an immediate impression with a quick double after Olaf Michalczuk added his name to the scoresheet with a three and then a score from inside to give Brendan’s a 25-15 lead at the end of the first.
Michalczuk was on the mark again early in the second landing a hat trick of scores after Luke Donnelly arced in a three for the visitors. Michael Donnelly, Conor Blair and McCotter fired Belfast back on terms but Evan Boyle with an inside score kept the hosts lead intact. However late on a three from Michael Donnelly and Mark McCartney with his first of the evening cut the Brendan’s lead back to 37-35 at half time.
Belfast Star went in front for the first time in the game when McCartney added another and when Michael Donnelly backed that up with three scores the visitors went 43-38 up. Brendan’s replied immediately with Eddie Sheehy firing down a three before Donal O’Sullivan’s first from play saw the sides level at 45-45. Sheehy was in range again either side of two three point scores for Luke and Michael Donnelly and again there was nothing between the teams. Major scores from Gary Lynch and Michalczuk eased Brendan’s ahead but Luke Donnelly and McCotter combined to cut the gap to a single score at 57-55 at three-quarter time.
Luke Donnelly had the sides level again with the first play of the fourth quarter but that was as good as it got for Belfast as Brendan’s embarked on an impressive run to amass 17 of the next 21 points to take total control of the contest. Donal O’Sullivan and Eoin Creedon both had their best minutes of the game chipping 11 points between them and with Sheehy and Michalczuk also finding the Belfast net when they needed to as Brendan’s fired their way into a 74-61 lead as the seconds ticked down. Luke Donnelly and McCotter kept the hosts honest and cut the advantage to single figures but the scoring blitz early in the quarter proved to be the difference in the end and St. Brendan’s finally prevailed on a scoreline of 75-66.
Scorers:
St. Brendan’s: Olaf Michalczuk 20, Eddie Sheehy 15, Eoin Creedon 15
Belfast Star: Luke Donnelly 22, Jake McCotter 20, Michael Donnelly 17
St.Brendan’s will now take on Limerick Celtics in the semi-final of the Mens U20 National Cup on Sunday 7th January at the MTU in Cork with a tip off time of 10.00am. The other side of the draw sees Ballincollig taking on Titans of Galway for a place in the Cup final in Tallaght later in January.
