Barrow Rovers prevail over Killester 63-50 to reach NICC Men’s National Cup decider

Barrow Rovers managed to contain an experienced Killester outfit down the stretch at MTU Arena on Saturday to secure a 63-50 victory that sees them into the 2024/25 NICC Men’s National Cup decider.

A good spread of scoring that saw four players finish in double digits, including Pl Sangamenshwaran on 14 points, helped see them past their Dublin rivals who were without of couple of key personnel for this fixture.

Still, it was Killester who enjoyed the brighter start, carding the game’s opening seven points, starting with a sublime three from Niall Hegarty that was quickly followed by two buckets from Cathal Rogers before Silva Gonzalo got Barrow up and running with a timely deuce.

That score signed that start of a Rovers surge that propelled them in front by two as Javier Hernandez, Francesco Gesess and Javier Cardona all found the mark.

It set that stage for a great battle that saw the two sides go toe-to-toe for much of this game, with Killester regaining the initiative before the close of the first quarter as Robbie Clarke struck from beyond the arc and Steven McGrath took one from three on the free-throw line to leave them 18-15 in front.

It remained tight all the way through the second quarter, with the two sides finding themselves deadlocked on three occasions throughout that period.

Clarke added a further five points to take his first-half tally to 10, while Chepyzhov Dmitrii and Cardona converted a pair of delightful three-point efforts for Barrow to see them take the narrowest of leads (31-30) into the half-time break.

Two buckets from Gonzalo and a free throw by Hernandez early in the third saw Barrow increase that narrow lead to six before Killester halved that deficit by way of a nice ‘downtown’ from Cathal Rogers.

Barrow were passing up opportunities from the free-throw line, both Gesess and Javier Hernandez coming away empty-handed, but Rovers still remained out in front as the same two players proved more successful from the floor.

Barrow’s Mantas Skipinas and Killester’s Hegarty exchanged three-pointers before Jack Rawdon took two from the free-throw line to see Killester reduce their arrears to three (43-40) heading into the final quarter.

Yet, the imposing presence of Pl Sangamenshwaran in both the interior defence and in the opposition’s key was proving a telling factor for Barrow as he choked off a number of Killester assaults and also put up a basket, which along with scores from Darshan Umapthi and Gonzalo, pushed their lead out to nine points.

Sangamenshwaran continued to prove a real headache for Killester, serving up another two baskets before Al Casey delivered down the other end of the court.

Casey continued on to nab another two buckets before Steven McGrath struck for a three to reduce the gap to eight, but with just 1:25 left on the clock, Killester needed a very special finish if they were to pull this one out the fire.

Indeed Barrow remained very composed down the homestraight, protecting the ball well and adding to their tally from the line through Umapthi, Gonzalo and Gesess to see this one out.

Quarter Scores: Q1: 15-18, Q2: 31-30, Q3: 43-40, Q4: 63-50

Barrow Rovers:

Javier Hernandez, Darshan Umapthi, Francesco Gesess, Javier Cardona, Pl Sangamenshwaran, Silva Gonzalo, Chepyzhov Dmitrii, Mantas Skipinas.

Top Scorers: Pl Sangamenshwaran (14), Silva Gonzalo (11), Javier Hernandez (10), Javier Cardona (10).

Killester:

Robbie Clarke, Andrew Brady, Steven McGrath, Colin Bernard, Gerard Crowe, Cathal Rogers, Jack Rawdon, Al Casey, JJ Knief, Ryan McHugh, Martin Byrne, Niall Hegarty.

Top Scorers: Robbie Clarke (10), Niall Hegarty (9), Al Casey (8), Cathal Rogers (7).