Mayo basketball club aiming to reach national semi-final

Ballina and Mayo have not had a box-office basketball game like this on their own turf for many a year, but a special group are hoping to make their own piece of history at the weekend.

The Merry Monk Ballina under-20 side welcome Cork giants Neptunes to Ballina Sports Complex this Sunday, with a place in the National Cup semi-finals up for grabs.

A look at Neptunes’ history speaks for itself: eleven-time senior Men’s National League champions and five-time senior Men’s National Cup champions, and they are widely considered on the most successful basketball clubs in Ireland.

Their under-20 side have beaten Drogheda Wolves and Killester on their way to the last eight and in the likes of former Ireland underage internationals Dylan O’Rourke and Sean Noonan, Merry Monk will have to be at their absolute best to stop the pair.

But this Merry Monk team, the spine of which has won All-Ireland league and cup schools titles with St Muredach’s College and helped the Merry Monk senior team to the BIDL Plate title earlier this year, are re-igniting Ballina as a force nationally on the court.

Many of this under-20 side, including Mark Cunningham, Conor Burke and Brian Donoghue, were part of that double-winning team last year and when you throw in Theo Daly and David Marrey in the mix, Derek Cunningham’s side are a match for anyone at this level.

Tip-off is at 3pm a large crowd is anticipated for what promises to be a great battle.