Preview: Presidents' National Cup Quarter-Finals

It's National Cup Quarter-Final Weekend and we have four cracking ties to decide who will be on the docket for semi-finals weekend in Cork in January.

Drogheda Wolves v ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers, Saturday, 1630

ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers will travel to the Wolves den on Saturday evening as favourites to extend their unbeaten run this season.

The previous meeting in Ballymackenny College in Drogheda just under a month ago ended 96-93 in favour of the visitors after Francisco Dias narrowly missed a three to send the game to overtime – more of the same can be expected on Saturday afternoon.

Drogheda Wolves don’t have the best home record, they are just 1-3 since the start of the season, but they won’t find a better time to change that in front of what is sure to be a red hot atmosphere. ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers had no answer for Christian Simmons last time around as the American went off for 30 points and 18 rebounds, with another huge performance needed from Tiago Pereira and Dias will be required to get them over the line here. 

Panthers will make the trip east full of confidence. They travelled to the West coast to take down Maigh Cuilinn 97-95 in the last 16 and their perfect start to Men’s Division One continued at the expense of Moy Tolka Rovers a week ago. The addition of Xabier Arriaga has added some steel defensively, but Eric Anderson continues to be the standout in what is a very balanced team assembled by the backroom team in Portlaoise.

Titans BC vs Limerick Sport Eagles, Saturday, 1900

Titans BC have already secured representation at National Cup semi-finals weekend after their U20 side secured a spot at the expense of local rivals Maigh Cuiliinn on Thursday night.

Their senior side contains many of that roster and they will be favoured by many to double up at the expense of Limerick Sport Eagles on Saturday night. Titans young core have shown good resilience to bounce back from successive defeats against Porlaoise and Limerick Celtics with back to back wins of their own. Michael Hayes continues to be one of the signings of the season in the National League and if Viktor Tashev, Sonny Coughlan and Brian Gaffney find their range from three, they could be difficult to stop. 

Limerick Sport Eagles have been difficult to predict this year, but they set themselves up nicely for this challenge by beating Killarney Cougars to move to 4-5 in the league. The National Cup has been a happier hunting ground,  Alex Carlisle and Nacho Folguerias were on song when they defeated Ulster University 94-87 in the opening round. Look for that duo to show up once more if they’re to continue on their quest to improve on a runners-up medal last year.

Moy Tolka Rovers vs Mater Private Malahide, Saturday, 1900

This duo are no strangers to an extended National Cup run. Both have reached the semi-final stage in each of the last two seasons. They are 1-3 between them in those games though. Only Moy Tolka Rovers have tasted success in Cork when they reached the decider in the 2022/23 season. They failed to beat Ulster University on that occasion.

More recently however it was Emiliyan Grudov who went off for 31 points and eight rebounds when the sides last met in October. Daniel Ayoade – who has also been in superb form this season – also chipped in with 23 points in a 90-82 win for the red half of North Dublin.

Malahide pulled off somewhat of a coup when they lured Romonn Nelson across the Liffey from Griffith College Éanna in the off-season. It was games like this they will have had in mind when they decided to make that move. Murray Hendry has sparked into gear in recent weeks and they come into this win having won three of their last four games.

Limerick Celtics vs Carrick Cruisers, Saturday, 1930

Limerick Celtics rank alongside ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers as the two undefeated teams in Men’s Division One this year and it will take one of the all-time Presidents’ Cup shocks from Carrick Cruisers to pull off a victory here.

Celtics are averaging just under 100 points per game this season (98.4) as Finn Hughes, November Player of the Month Ariyon Williams and Abdul White are proving to be one of the most potent attacking trios in recent memory at this level. All three are averaging at least 18 points per game, with Hughes in particular on pace for a double-double this season. Should they start the contest quickly it will prove difficult for Limerick to be pegged back. 

The previous meeting between the teams in October ended 98-89 in favour of Limerick Celtics – though they started the fourth quarter with an 82-65 advantage and appear to have taken their foot off the pedal somewhat. The men from Carrickmacross have improved steadily in their debut Men’s Division One season despite their 0-8 record though and the club have a good National Cup record having captured the NICC National Cup at the National Basketball Arena last January.