Preview: Repeat of last year’s InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O’Connor National Cup final, as Killester host Trinity Meteors in last eight

Killester host Trinity Meteors in a repeat of last year’s InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O’Connor National Cup final, but ahead of this weekend’s quarter-finals head coach Mark Grennell believes the teams “couldn’t be much more different” 10 months on.

“It’s funny - while it’s the same two teams, they couldn’t be much more different. We’ve only two of our core eight who returned or are available for this game. They are in a similar position. We have watched a few of their games in the build-up and they have players who will cause us issues. We’ve to make sure we cause them more issues”, Grennell said.

A selection of images from last night's game between Pyrobel Killester and University of Galway Mystics in the Paudie O’Connor National Cup 🏆

The fully gallery of images can be viewed on our Facebook page 📸 pic.twitter.com/zdeAAYyhL7

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) November 5, 2023

Trinity Meteors now have Hillary Netsiyanwa at the helm and he’s hopeful of an upturn in recent fortunes. “Even though recent results haven’t gone our way, we feel the team is ready to turn a corner and plan to put it up to this more experienced Killester squad. While the loss last year was tough for the club, we have a lot of fresh players who are eager to create their own Cup experiences.” 

MissQuote.ie Super League leaders Gurranabraher Credit Union are away at DCU Mercy and their head coach Liam Culloty is expecting “a massive challenge.”

“They have some potent offensive players who will be difficult to stop. We came through a very tough game with Liffey Celtics on Sunday, so we will take great confidence from that game into this Cup quarter-final.”

His counterpart Mark Ingle added: “It promises to be a great game, as Brunell have had a great start, but our girls are eagerly looking forward to challenging themselves against a good side on our home court.”

SETU Waterford Wildcats host FloMAX Liffey Celtics, who had their unbeaten start to the season snapped by Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell last weekend. 

Sarah Hickey in action in MissQuote.ie Super League 

SETU Waterford Wildcats head coach Tommy O’Mahony said: “Playing Liffey in the Cup quarter-final will be a tough task. I'm sure Karl (Kilbride) is going to say he is the underdog with all their internationals, but their record this year speaks for itself. We understand what is ahead of us and know that we cannot switch off for one second, or we will be punished, we had a great win last weekend and hope to build on that.”

“The Cup takes on a life of itself and we understand the importance of this game. We will need all our players to stand up and play their part, as no one person alone is going to get us past the post. We were not happy with our performance against Liffey in the league and we will have to make numerous adjustments to rectify this. The Cup is where everyone wants to be and we are no different. We are really looking forward to the game, to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the league." 

SETU Waterford Wildcats head coach Tommy O'Mahony

FloMAX Liffey Celtics Head Coach, Karl Kilbride, is looking forward to the tie "Saturday should be an exciting one. We know Waterford will be heavy favourites going into the game. They put up 110 points last week (while short handed), while we’re obviously coming off the back of our first loss and what for us was a really poor performance. The Mercy will be absolutely packed and the atmosphere is usually electric there for regular league games, never mind a big cup game. We know Wildcats will want to make it a really physical game down there, being really aggressive defensively and they do a great job of scoring in transition. Both things, we’ll need to make sure we’re ready for.", he also acknowledged some of his sides shortcomings, "We’ve done a dreadful job of taking care of the ball recently and if we want our cup run to last longer than 40 minutes, that needs to change in a hurry before Saturday.".

Catalyst Fr. Mathews head coach Pat Price says his team “need a very good performance to advance” past Ulster University, adding: “We have a tough matchup on Saturday. Ulster showed loads of improvements in their win over Glanmire, and Trinity Oliver is a strong addition to their side.”

Patrick O’Neill was also fulsome in his praise for their upcoming opponents. “Pat (Price) has done a great job and with their imports and Niamh (Dwyer), they have added to what has been a talented team for a number of years. They have run a couple of solid league wins together in recent weeks and will be formidable at their home court. We are looking forward to the challenge.“

McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles are up against SETU Carlow in the first matchup in the InsureMyHouse.ie Women’s Division One National Cup quarter-finals – with the game taking place at the Virginia Show Centre. 

Moy Tolka Rovers play host to defending champions Abbey Seals Dublin Lions at the Carroll Arena, tip-off is set for 17:45.

Abbey Seals Dublin Lions head coach Rob White said: "We are excited about our game this Saturday. Tolka are a good team and we know we have to perform. We feel we are playing very well lately and are looking forward to it."

Abbey Seals Dublin Lions won the InsureMyHouse.ie Women's Division One National Cup last January.

Oblate Dynamos take on Phoenix Rockets in Inchicore at Oblate Hall at 19:00.

In the only Sunday game in the competition for the quarter-finals, Limerick Celtics play host to Templeogue at Crescent College Dooradoyle.