Preview: UCC Glanmire and Trinity Meteors face-off in Domino’s Women’s Super League Final

Following a semi-final stage that saw the end of a potential fairytale run and the elimination of the league leaders, we are left with UCC Glanmire, led by Mark Scannell and Trinity Meteors, coached by Seamas Donnelly, to do battle at the National Basketball Arena this Sunday. Meteors will be hoping third time is the charm, following two close defeats to Glanmire during the league phase of the season.

UCC Glanmire had a much more positive second half to the season compared to how they opened their campaign. Glanmire started off the season with back to back defeats against Brunell and Killester. They would win six of their next seven fixtures to make their way back towards the top end of the table. As 2025 winded down, a loss to end the year against Brunell would be followed by a semi-final elimination in the Domino’s WSL National Cup against league-leaders Killester.

As the 2026 portion of the Domino’s Women’s Super League commenced, Glanmire would go on a dominant run of seven wins out of eight games, losing just one game in the league for the remainder of the season to end the season in third, three wins ahead of Meteors, who ended the season in fourth. In the playoffs, led by a 26-point game from Jewel Watkins, Glanmire would edge Cork rivals Brunell 82-78 in the quarter-finals. Glanmire would then put an end to any hope of a miracle run from FloMAX Liffey Celtics with an 89-72 win behind 50 points between Watkins and fellow pro Viane Cumber, who scored 30, after Celtics knocked out second seed Killarney in the first round. Glanmire head coach Mark Scannell hailed his sides work ethic ahead of Sunday’s game.

Speaking on Glanmire’s hopes, Scannell added “The players have been fantastic, their commitment to the work and dedication will hopefully be rewarded. Trinity are very good and our team will need to perform at a very high level if we are to win.

About Sunday’s final, he commented “ We are looking forward to being back in another final. Our preparation is going well, the team is well rested and injuries are clearing up so hopefully everyone is ready to go for next Sunday for the challenge that Trinity will bring”.

Compared to Glanmire, Trinity Meteors started the season rather positively and full of hope following the pre-season acquisition of Irish international Hazel Finn. Meteors opened their 2025/26 season with two wins over promoted McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles and Catalyst Fr. Mathews. Meteors would go on to win four of their opening five games in the Domino’s Women’s Super League to lay down an early marker to the other title-chasers such as Killester and Glanmire alike. However, the turn of the year was not as kind to Meteors as it was to Glanmire, a semi-final defeat to defending champions FloMAX Liffey Celtics led to just three wins throughout the remainder of the regular season, ending the season with two victories over Brunell and Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers.

 Catherine Connaire and Hazel Finn of Trinity Meteors, at the launch of the National League Finals weekend in the National Basketball Arena

Once Meteors reached the playoffs stage, they picked up two hard-fought triumphs on their route to the final this Sunday. They eliminated Irish international Sarah Hickey and SETU Waterford Wildcats with Finn scoring 15 points for Meteors to overcome her Irish teammate. Meteors carried their momentum into the semi-finals and managed to upset the odds by knocking out league leaders Killester 76-74 to reach the final and set up a matchup with Glanmire. Meteors coach Seamas Donnelly was full of praise for the opposition ahead of Sunday.

Commenting on UCC Glanmire, Donnelly said “ Glanmire have been playing the best basketball in the Super League since Christmas. They have been scoring for fun. Punishing you from both the three-point line and internally. It is a tough ask for us to contain such an excellent offence, but we are playing well, particularly defensively. It should be a great game”.

The Domino’s Women’s Super League Final between UCC Glanmire and Trinity Meteors in the National Basketball Arena will be broadcast live on both TG4 and BITV from 1pm this Sunday.