News

It was recently announced that Steelers Coach Kellie Mc Cabe has been selected as the only female coach to go forward and represent Ireland at the 11th FIBA European WOMEN’s BASKETBALL SUMMIT in Postojna Slovenia this Summer. Each year the national Basketball Federation from  45 nations send 2 female players, 1 female coach and 1 female referee to the Summit and this year its Kellie representing Ireland as the female coach. This will be a great experience for Kellie and will certainly add to her already well established sporting career. Kellie is currently employed as a teacher with Our Lady’s Secondary School in Castleblayney having studied PE in Tralee and Limerick. Kellie began her basketball career in Our Lady’s and is currently a key player with Muckno Ladies Basketball Club. Her ladies team won the All Ireland Intermediate Women’s National Cup in 2016. She began coaching with Steelers in 2013 and has led her teams to success at club level each year. Kellie also coached the North East school region to success at the All Ireland schools inter- regional competition in 2014 and 2015.

In 2015 Kellie was invited to become Team Manager with the current U16 Irish International Ladies squad under the very experienced coach Andy Gill. Everyone involved in this squad know that her attention to detail in managing this team is superb. 

This is just another tremendous achievement for Kellie. The Blackwater Steelers club are still on a high from finishing the season with two wonderful All Ireland Club wins at U14 Boys and U16 girls. This is just another reason to celebrate the continued success of the club. Onwards and upwards Steelers!! 

All the players, coaches, committee and the families of the club wish Kellie the best of luck in her coaching trip to Slovenia and in her travels to France, Luxembourg, Lithunia and Macedonia as Team Manager for the U16 Team.

Blackwater Steelers held their annual Basketball Awards Night in the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan on the Bank Holliday Weekend.  It certainly has been a terrific year for the club with two All-Ireland titles being the highlight, 3 NEBB League Titles and 2 NEBB Cup wins even though this was only their first year in this League.

Chairman Shaun Gallagher opened proceedings with an address to the large number of players and parents present. He gave an overview of the year’s activity, which was a very busy and demanding one, and expressed thanks to all involved. He mentioned how dazzled he was by all the silverware in front of him but went on to say that all eight teams entered in competition this year were winners by participating in an extremely busy game filled season. He thanked Grainne Moran, Bronagh Hamill, Kai McCaffery and Dylan McKenna for all their work with the youth academy, these players are the future of the club and the work being done is fun, brilliant and essential. Shaun then introduced Gregory Devlin Marketing Manager at Silver Hill Farm, the main sponsors of the Blackwater Steelers who was there to present the individual awards and asked the coaches of  the various teams to summarise the year for each age group and announced the winners of the Most Improved Player (MIP) and the Most Valued Player (MVP) during the past year.

The winners were: U12 Girls - MIP = Gormlaith MacConghaille, MVP = Katie Trainor; U12 Boys - MIP = Fionán Ó Gallchoir, MVP = Cian Murphy; U14 Girls - MIP = Alex McKenna, MVP = Ava Ross; U14 Boys - MIP = Kacper Ostrowski, MVP = Rio Corrigan; U16 Girls - MIP = Lara Ó Mairtin, MVP = Alex Mulligan; U16 Boys - MIP = Sebastian Uglis, MVP = Karl Gallagher; U18 Girls - MVP = Amy Mulligan; U18 Boys - MVP = Killian McAdam.

The Chairman took to the floor again to thank everyone who was involved in the logistics of running the club throughout the season, from getting the home games on to getting safely home from away days. Going forward, he stated, the club needs more coaches as there are so many young people wanting to play the game but coaches are badly needed to take extra teams, he praised Deirdre Smyth, Fionnuala Gallagher, Brenda Trainor, Valerie Ross, Tegan McCormack and Fiona Boyd who all stepped up to a coaching or assisting role this season. He thanked and praised the main team coaches Delma Mulligan, Kelly McCabe, Sean O Mairtin and Tom O Connor for the very successful season. Great praise was reserved for the parents who supported the club throughout the year in so many ways, practical and otherwise, and urged other parents to get involved. You can hear an interview with Shaun by clicking his image on Emyvale.net.

After the presentations there were refreshments and this was followed by a Disco to the music supplied by DJ Sean & Lee-Ron.

Just announced today Monday, Alex Mulligan has made the Ireland U 16 Final 12 girls who are travelling to the FIBA U 16 Women’s European Championship in Macedonia from August 15-27th 2017. What a wonderful few days it has been for this young Glaslough lady, captaining her Blackwater Steelers team to an U 16 All Ireland on Sunday (top scoring in 3 out of the 4 games) and the very next day MAKING THE IRISH TEAM. Can life get any better??

We at Blackwater Steelers wish Alex hearty congratulations and the very best of luck playing for Ireland.

The Blackwater Steelers Girls created another bit of history for the club when they won the U16 B All Ireland Club Championships Title outright down in Kilkenny at the weekend. This is the second All Ireland Title for the club inside 2 weeks and is just simply an outstanding achievement for the North Monaghan Club. The finalists were our near neighbours Muckno Lakers, so the All Ireland Final was an All Monaghan Final which is a real testimony to the brilliant coaching work that is being done in the county. Despite finishing in 2nd place in the league behind the Castleblayney girls, Delma, Fiona and the girls felt they have the measure of Gerry Smyth’s side and this was a magnificent place to prove it. The girls have had a great attitude to training and games all season and were a pleasure to coach and they have been rewarded handsomely with their success, the club and their parents can be really proud of them and they can be proud of themselves.

The team travelled down on Friday evening supported by a good group of very helpfull parents in preparation for their first game at 11.15am in Old Leighlin, Co. Carlow against the host club Old Leighlin BC.

Pool 3

Blackwater Steelers 38pts Old Leighlin 35pts (11.15am)

This was always going to be a difficult game; first match against the host club in their home gym, this would test the Steelers character. They were a big physical team and from the throw-in they took a score back for every score the Monaghan girls put up and the scores were tied at 10 at the end of the first. Alex Mulligan got into her rhythm in the 2nd and the Steelers led by 4 at the break. The Carlow side wouldn’t give up and they reduced the Steelers lead to 3pts in the 3rd, there then followed a very tight, intense and hard-fought final quarter but the Steelers showed that steely character and held on to win 38 - 35. A great start!

Team & Scorers: Alex Mulligan 22pts, Lara O Mairtin 6pts, Caoimhe Ward 4pts, Aisling NiGhallchoir 4pts, Mollie Molloy 2pts, Hannah O Reilly, Dearbhla NiGhallchoir, Amy Deery, Gemma Johnston and Riona Kilpatrick

Blackwater Steelers 39pts Clonaslee BC 27pts (4.15pm)

Clonaslee lost their first match earlier in the day so they were determined to do well in this one. The Co. Laois ladies came out all guns blazing and the Monaghan girls were immediately put firmly on the back foot, slipping 6 points behind by the end of the first quarter. We had a better start to the second, and stayed in touch throughout but could only close the gap by a single point, 15 points to 20 down at half time. Steelers seemed to find a new gear in the third with Alex and Caoimhe hitting 3,s and they went ahead by 29 to 25 by quarter end. Baskets from Lara, Caoimhe and Aisling in the 4th helped the Monaghan side forge ahead and they won it comfortably in the end. This was certainly a difficult day but the girls topped the group and were through to the semi final on Sunday morning.

Team & Scorers: Caoimhe Ward 12pts, Aisling NiGhallchoir 10pts,  Alex Mulligan 9pts, Lara O Mairtin 6pts,  Hannah O Reilly 2pts, Mollie Molloy, Dearbhla NiGhallchoir, Amy Deery, Gemma Johnston and Riona Kilpatrick.

AICC Semi Final  (Sunday 9.30am)

Letterkenny Blaze 26pts Blackwater Steelers 36pts

The action for the Steeler girls switched to O Loughlin Gaels Gym in Kilkenny city for a 9.30am start on Sunday morning against old friends Blaze. The Donegal girls topped group 4 and had recently played the Steelers in a challenge so both knew each other’s strengths. Both teams started nervously but Blaze came out on top, but only just, finishing the first quarter 13-11 up with Aisling & Alex getting the Steeler scores.

Caoimhe Ward rattled in a big 3 as the battle continued into the second. Each side was still nervous of the other resulting in a very low scoring period, in fact Caoimhe was the only scorer for the Steelers and they now trailed by a single point: 19 - 18. The Monaghan ladies seemed to pick up the pace a little after the break, defending well and holding the Donegal girls to a single score. However in attack, we seemed to be missing the mark a little too. Nonetheless we finished the quarter in the lead, 24 points to 21. In the last, Steelers settled into a good rhythm, continuing to defend well and stretching the lead to win the game 36 – 26. Now an All Ireland Final awaited and all the girls wanted to know was who were they going to play, eventually the news came through, and would you believe it; An All Monaghan All Ireland Final against Muckno Lakers who had overpowered everyone they had played so far.

Team & Scorers: Alex Mulligan 18pts, Caoimhe Ward10pts, Aisling NiGhallchoir 6pts, Lara O Mairtin 2pts, Mollie Molloy, Hannah O Reilly, Dearbhla NiGhallchoir, Amy Deery, Gemma Johnston and Riona Kilpatrick.

U16 Girls B All Ireland Club Championship Final

Blackwater Steelers 22pts Muckno Lakers 20pts

After two tough group games and a tight semi final, we arrived back in O'Loughlin Gaels Gym  for the final against our neighbours, and fellow NEBB members, Muckno Lakers, for an all-Monaghan, All Ireland final. Tensions were high with both teams sizing the other up in the opening minutes - each defending to the last, resulting in an extremely low scoring opening quarter - Steelers barely leading 3 points to 1.

The intensity of the first period continued as you would expect in a local “derby”, these sides know each other well and Gerry’s 1-3-1 defence will always keep scoring to a minimum, its keeping the Lakers fast break game subdued is the trick but the Steelers managed that and lead by a miserly 7pts to 6pts at half time.

Both teams were more relaxed after the break and Alex Mulligan did the damage for the Steelers in this quarter by scoring 9 points from 3 point shots. Erin Hamill and Grainne Tibby kept Muckno Lakers in the game in this quarter scoring 11 points between them. Score at the end of 3rd quarter was 16 to 17 in favour of Muckno Lakers.

In the last quarter both teams tried very hard but scores were hard to come by. The Steelers hit two big three’s early in the fourth and continued to defend heroically under their own board. With a slight 4 point Steeler lead in the dying minutes Muckno drove again and managed to break through to close the gap to a single basket. Steelers stayed calm and held firm as the clock ticked agonisingly down to zero. The buzzer sounded - Blackwater Steelers - All Ireland Champions - 22 points to 20. Commiserations to Muckno who fought valiantly to the last second and congratulations to Delma, Fiona and each and every one of our girls on a wonderful achievement. Well deserved!!
 
Team & Scorers: Alex Mulligan 13pts, Caoimhe Ward 5pts, Aisling NiGhallchoir 4pts, Lara O Mairtin, Mollie Molloy, Hannah O Reilly, Dearbhla Ni Ghallchoir, Amy Deery, Gemma Johnston and Riona Kilpatrick.

Homecoming

The hard working BWS committee and parents had organised a wonderful homecoming celebration in the Westenra Hotel for the team and coaches Delma Mulligan & Fiona Boyd which all enjoyed.

The Blackwater Steelers club made a little more history again last weekend when they competed in the very prestigious Billy Kelly Tournament run by the Cork County Board in the Neptune Stadium for the very first time. This tournament hosts some of the very best teams in the country with some of the most talented U 17 Boys in Ireland playing; needless to say it was stiff competition. The Steeler lads will have gained valuable experience over the 4 matches they played.

1pm:  BWS 21pts Templeogue 55pts

The boys had a tough start against Templeogue of Dublin and made no headway against a very tight defence. Templeogue were surprise losers in their first game and they were hungry for a win so it was a mile a minute basketball for the reduced 6 min quarters and the Steelers just didn’t cope that well. All quarters were lost and the only consolation was that the lads knew they could not play as badly again.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 8pts, Killian McAdam 6pts, Michael McDonnell 5pts, Cian Fitzgerald 1pt, Lorcan O Rourke 1pts, Ben Ryan, Gavin McPhillips, Jason Hamill, Robert Haynes, Ryan Treanor and Sebastian Uglis.

3pm:  BWS 36pts Limerick Celtics 23pts

The Monaghan lads made amends in the second game against Limerick Celtics with a good win and a better performance without ever hitting top form. The 4 quarters were tight with great performances from Killian, Ryan and Cian throughout and we managed to win all 4 periods 10-8, 9-8, 8-4 and 9-6. Getting our first win was really encouraging and the targets changed.

Team & Scorers: Killian McAdam 12pts, Ryan Treanor 9pts, Andrew O Connor 5pts, Cian Fitzgerald 4pts, Lorcan O Rourke 2pts, Gavin McPhillips 2pts, Michael McDonnell 2pts, Ben Ryan, Jason Hamill, Robert Haynes and Sebastian Uglis.

5pm:  Moycullen 57pts BWS 36pts

Once again the Steelers were up against one of the favourites but they gave them no respect and blew into a 9pts to 1pts lead. Moycullen fought hard to recover but the Steelers went in to the break 11-8 up. The Moycullen number 10 Convey took command of the 2nd and despite playing really well the Steelers could not contain him, it was 27 to 19 at the break.

The Steelers rallied again in the 3rd and won by 14pts to 9 to leave just 4 between them going in to the last. Ryan Treanor sustained a bad mouth injury early in the 4th and had to retire, that seemed to take the fight from the Steelers and Moycullen won the 4th convincingly. This was our best performance of the day.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 16pts, Killian McAdam 8pts, Cian Fitzgerald 8pts, Michael McDonnell 2pts, Ryan Treanor 2pts, Ben Ryan, Gavin McPhillips, Jason Hamill, Lorcan O Rourke, Robert Haynes and Sebastian Uglis.

7pm:  Tralee Imperials 29pts BWS 22pts

These two sides were certainly very tired for their respective last matches of the day and Tralee got the better of the first blowing into a 9pts-2pts lead. The 2nd was better for the Steelers with Cian and Andrew playing well, the Steelers were 3pts behind at the break. They just edged a very low scoring 3rd to leave them 1pt behind going into the 4th and despite having far the better of the last quarter they just could not score enough. Some funny decisions went against the Steelers when they got in front and the two sides finished level at 22 each. The 3 minutes overtime was a blow out and Tralee won by 7pts.

Team & Scorers: Andrew O Connor 10pts, Killian McAdam 6pts, Cian Fitzgerald 4pts, Sebastian Uglis 1pt, Gavin McPhillips 1pt, Ben Ryan, Jason Hamill, Lorcan O Rourke, Michael McDonnell and  Robert Haynes.

U16 Girls All Ireland B Club Championships

The U16 Girls under the guidance of Delma Mulligan travel to Kilkenny and Carlow for the AICC’s this coming weekend. They are in Pool 3 with Old Leighlin from Co. Carlow and Clonaslee BC from Co. Laois and their first game is at 11.15am against the host Old Leighlin and if they start well these girls should do well but the first game is crucial to win. They have a long wait until 16.15pm for their second game against Clonaslee BC.  Further game times will depend on results.  From all at the Steelers “Good Luck Girls!”

Blackwater Steelers created another bit of history for themselves when they won the U14 B All Ireland Club Championships Title outright down in UL Arena Limerick at the weekend. These U 14 lads have swept all before them this season, winning the NEBB League, NEBB Top 4 Cup and now to crown it all the All Ireland B Title and they thoroughly deserve it. Right from the start of the season in September, they have been responsive, eager to learn and fully committed. All 15 lads brought a great attitude to the training and to games and were a pleasure to coach and they have been rewarded handsomely with their success, the club and their parents can be really proud of them and they can be proud of themselves.

The team travelled down to Limerick on Friday evening supported by a large group of very helpfull parents in preparation for an early start with their first game at 9.45. Unfortunately 2 of our panel were unavailable and could not attend so it fell to the mighty 13 to go to work.

Pool A

Blackwater Steelers 34pts Queens 14pts (9.45am)

The lads started off tentatively in the first quarter and although the play was busy the score was low at 5pts- 4pts. The Steelers got into their stride in the 2nd with Rio & Jamie grabbing most of the scores to dominate this period and stride into a 21pts – 9pts lead. Queens responded well in the third but the Monaghan men held firm and won by 6 to 4. The Steelers eased up in the last but still won it by 7pts to 2pts. This was a job well done and the boys were off to a great start.

Team & Scorers: Rio Corrigan 12pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 9pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 6pts, Matthew Curley 4pts, Mark Donohue 2pts, Kacper Ostrowski 1pt, Che Treanor, Conal Harpin, Enri Shiels, Finn Slater, Michael McMorrow and Donnacha O Hanlon.

Blackwater Steelers 38pts Longford Falcons 34pts (12.05pm)

The Longford lads looked very strong as they warmed up before their game and that’s exactly what they were, but the Steelers with a game already under their belt started brilliantly. Kacper, Che and Tiarnan got all the scores but the defence with Michael and Conal were really tenacious, they led by 10pts to 4pts. The Falcons were struggling to deal with the Steelers speed and our first 4 scores came from the free throw line, but Longford found their touch and hit back strongly. Jamie’s 7pts helped keep a good lead 20pts-12pts by half time.

Longford, with their big guns on the floor rained down a couple of “3”s and as the Steelers shooting was a little off the lead began to dwindle. We only managed 3pts in this quarter to keep a 2pt lead going into the last. The last quarter was completely different as both sides went at it hammer and tongue; it was open, free flowing basketball as the boys threw caution to the wind. Rio, Kacper, Finn, Tiarnan and Jamie all scored in a heart stopping contest and despite going behind by a point or so they had the character to seal the win by 4pts. The Steelers now awaited the winners of pool C.

Team & Scorers: Kacper Ostrowski 9pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 9pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 9pts, Rio Corrigan 6pts, Che Treanor 2pts, Finn Slator 2pts, Matthew Curley 1pt, Conal Harpin, Gary Treanor, Mark Donohue, Michael McMorrow and Enri Shiels.

AICC Semi Final  (4.45pm)

Blackwater Steelers 39pts Cavan Lakers 30pts

Cavan Lakers won Pool C to set up a local derby semi-final and if the truth was told neither coach really wanted that. The Steelers had all the NEBB bragging rights after beating them twice, and winning the League and Cup double, but the Lakers knew us better than any team down there so had a slight advantage. The build up between the supporters and parents was certainly good fun.

Cavan started well, homework was done and the Steelers weaker points exposed and there seemed to be no stopping R. McBride as he hit all the Lakers scores. Kacper & Tiarnan scored for the Steelers as they trailed by 10 to 4. With the defence strengthened and the resolve stiffened, the Steelers went to work, this was their quarter and just by winning it by 3pts sent the strong message out that Blackwater Steelers would not roll over, it also left Cavan with a mounting foul trouble problem. The score was 11pts to 14pts.

A big “3” from Tiarnan levelled the scores straight away and this was followed with 2 baskets from Kacper. The Lakers 10 was causing the defence some trouble as he posted and scored but an excellent stand by Rio give the 10 his 5th foul and he certainly was a loss to Cavan. Jamie hit 2 free shots to level the scores at 22pts each going into the last.

As the quarter opened Jamie hit a massive 3 pointer, then Tiarnan stole the ball of the Lakers and scored so within 30 seconds Steelers had a 5pt lead. Although Cavan got a basket back, Tiarnan pushed out the lead with 2 baskets and when Jamie hit another 3 the Cavan challenge wilted. The Steelers were not finished though with Rio and Kacper both scoring before Jamie bagged his third 3 pointer of the quarter. The Steelers were in the final, the score was 39pts to 30pts and boy a wonderful performance.

Team & Scorers: Jamie Krisiulevicius 18pts, Tiarnan O Rourke 11pts, Kacper Ostrowski 8pts, Rio Corrigan 2pts, Che Treanor, Conal Harpin, Mark Donahue, Michael McMorrow, Donnacha O Hanlon, Matthew Curley, Enri Shiels and Finn Slator.

U14 Boys B All Ireland Club Championship Final

Blackwater Steelers 34pts Limerick Lions 14pts

Blackwater Steelers went to St Munchins College in North Limerick for the final against the local Limerick Lions. There was a strong Limerick crowd as you would expect and because the Limerick Celtic girls had played there earlier.

The first quarter was very tight with both teams checking each other out, both teams found it hard to settle with nerves certainly a factor. Kacper, Tiarnan and Che scored for the Steelers but our usual good movement wasn’t present today and the Lions took the early lead with a 5 – 6 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Steelers found their feet quickly in the 2nd quarter, they ran the point very well with Jamie and the Lions struggled to deal with it, the Steelers took the lead with the score at half time 12 – 9 without getting into anything like their full stride. The coach would need to get them going better in the third.

In the third quarter the Steelers played some great basketball with some very clever plays and some super defence, both Kacper and Rio were winning most rebounds in defence. Kacper could hardly be defended and earned some excellent baskets. The Lions found themselves in foul trouble early in the quarter and struggled to stop the Steelers, who stretched their lead to 24 – 13.

In the final quarter the Steelers continued where they left off, super defence forced the Lions into an outside shooting game. The Lions tried to get their game going but nothing seemed to drop for them, the Steelers got 3 quick scores from Tiarnan in the middle of the quarter to settle themselves down and they saw out the game. Much jubilation followed the final whistle as captain Rio Corrigan lifted the cup and called the team up for their medals.

Team & Scorers: Tiarnan O’Rourke 11pts, Kacper Ostrowski 6pts, Jamie Krisiulevicius 6pts, Rio Corrigan 6pts, Matthew Curley 3pts, Che Treanor 2pts, Conal Harpin, Gary Treanor, Enri Shiels, Finn Slater, Michael McMorrow and Mark Donahue.

Homecoming

The hard working BWS committee and parents had organised a wonderful homecoming celebration in the Westenra Hotel for the team and coach Tom O Connor. That was a wonderful surprise and was enjoyed by all.

Some pictures from the last night training before the Easter break...

Blackwater Steelers had 3 teams competing in the NEBB Top 4s in Virginia and Castleblayney for the second weekend of competition. The U12 boys finished 3rd in the League and faced a tough semi against Muckno Lakers on Saturday, while the U16 Girls finished 2nd in their league and were favourites to make the final. The U16 boys also finished 3rd and had to face a very strong Drogheda Bullets team.

U12 Boys Semi:  Muckno Lakers 27pts Blackwater Steelers 7pts

Our U12 boys met Muckno Lakers in the league, 'Top 4' semifinals, hosted by East Cavan Eagles in Virginia on Saturday. The Blayney men had beaten us twice already this season so, heading to Cavan we knew this was going to be a big ask for the Steeler lads. And so it proved to be! The young Monaghan men fought valiantly from buzzer to buzzer – defending well and attacking hard but for some reason the ball just wouldn't drop for the Steelers lads, while Blayney slowly slipped into a strong lead, quarter by quarter. The final score read 27 – 7 but this was no true reflection of the balance of play throughout the game.

So that's it for this season. Congrats to each and every one of the 16 strong panel – they all should be very proud of themselves! They played with heart and sportsmanship, they developed and improved week by week, game by game and they ended the season, third in their league. Not a bad result! Well done lads!!

U16 Girls Semi:  Blackwater Steelers 27pts East Cavan Eagles 44pts

The Steeler girls might have held the favourites tag on paper but that soon disappeared when Irish U16 international Alex Mulligan was declared unfit. This was going to be a difficult task without her but having said that the girls started superbly with Caoimhe Ward in great form; unfortunately Ciara Tolan was on top form too and did a lot of damage. The sides were level 12pts each at the end of the 1st.

The game swung in the Steelers favour in the 2nd as Aisling and Lara scored baskets, and the defence was brilliant and they kept the Eagles to just 2 Tolan free shots. The Monaghan girls led by 22pts to 14pts at half time.

The game swung decisively the other way in the third as the Eagles went on a scoring run to notch up 12 pts to only 1 Steeler point. This completely deflated the Steelers girls and they let the game run away from them in the final quarter. East Cavan Eagles went on to loose the final to Muckno Lakers.

Team & Scorers: Caoimhe Ward 10pts, Lara O Mairtin 6pts, Hannah O Reilly 4pts, Aisling NiGhallchoir 4pts, Mollie Molloy 2pts, Hannah Sherlock, Amy Deery and Gemma Johnston. Injured: Alex Mulligan & Helen McCrystal.

U16 Boys Semi:  Drogheda Bullets 64pts Blackwater Steelers 44pts

The Blackwater Steeler lads were underdogs going into this semi but that certainly wasn’t the way they started the game. Ben, Karl and Lorcan were in Drogheda faces right from the get go, forced loads of turnovers and half way through the first period were 9 – 2 up. The pace was hard to sustain and Drogheda drew level. The lead changed a few times before the quarter ended with the Bullets leading by 16-15.

The Steelers continued to pressure the Bullets and gained some capital from it, baskets from Gavin, Karl & Lorcan all contributed to a great quarter. The worry was the way that Drogheda could capitalise on our offensive errors and quickly transition for a score. Still the Steelers held the upper hand by 3pts at half time and were playing well.

The Steelers moved players in as tiredness became a factor, all the time trying to keep the game tight  in preparation for a final push, but the Bullets were making inroads through the Steelers defence with a little too much ease. The Steelers struggled for their scores and fell behind by 6pts. Still nothing really in the game and the Steelers were ready for the final quarter.

Unfortunately the push did not materialise and Drogheda got the upper hand and ran in easy scores as the Steeler lads crumbled. The two Ulster Community games the previous day took its toll as the boys tired. Drogheda went on to win the final too.

Team & Scorers: Gavin McPhillips 10pts, Lorcan O Rourke 10pts, Ben Ryan 9pts, Karl Gallagher 8pts, Sebastian Uglis 6pts, Sebastian Ostrowski 1pt, Luke Coyle, Eoin Casey, Cameron Liddle, Kai McCaffery, Dylan McKenna and Ryan Murphy.

All Ireland Club Championships

Our U14 boys head down to Limerick next weekend for the AICC as we seek a 2nd All Ireland title for the club.  This is the 3rd year in a row that the Blackwater Steelers club have been involved at this level and we are certainly hoping we can emulate the success of two years ago.  Good Luck to the Steeler Boys!!