National Cup round-up: UL Eagles and Travelodge Swords Thunder advance to next round

By Cormac O'Malley

Last season’s finalists Dublin Inter crashed out of the chase for the National Cup despite a narrow victory over UL Eagles on Saturday night.

Trailing by five points from the first leg the Dublin side managed to record a 73-71 victory over their visitors but it wasn’t enough as Eagles avenged last year’s defeat in the competition to progress to the next round.

Joining them in the hat for the next round draw are Travelodge Swords Thunder who managed to overturn a first leg deficit of their own against Belfast Star in a pulsating clash on Saturday. Ten points in arrears from the opening game, Thunder fell further behind in the first quarter and were still behind on aggregate by the interval but they roared into the lead in the third quarter and although Star had a last gasp chance to steal the game, Thunder survived to keep their Cup dreams alive.

C&S UCC Demons saw off Killester by ten points in their tie to add to their first leg victory and emerge victorious 162-127 overall, and Templeogue recorded a double of their own with a nine point second leg win over DCU Saints and a sixteen point aggregate triumph to keep their hopes on track

Rounding out the ties UCD Marian finished off the job against BFG Neptune with the minimum of fuss, an 88-91 win for the Dublin side adding to their first leg victory for a twenty-one point difference over the two legs.

In the Women's National Cup Singleton SuperValu Brunell shocked the previously unbeaten Team Montenotte Hotel to record an impressive 74-59 win but it was not enough to deny their Cork rivals a semi-final place as Montenotte survived to take the tie on aggregate 140-129.

Killester produced a superb second half comeback to knock out Courtyard Liffey Celtics in their second leg clash after the first game had ended in a stalemate. Celtics took a ten point lead into the third quarter but Killester turned on the style and led by Olivia Lee they turned the cup tie on its head to run out seventeen point winners at the final buzzer.

Maxol WIT Wildcats and UL Huskies served up a thrilling battle in their Senior Cup showdown, with the Wildcats edging past their rivals by two points but unfortunately for the Waterford women it was not enough to overturn their first leg defeat and Huskies hung on to run out 126-120 winners.

DCU Mercy rolled over Meteors in the final quarter final of the weekend to confirm their place in the last four, cruising to a 170-105 aggregate victory.

In the Presidents Cup there were victories for C&S Blue Demons, Team Left Bank Kilkenny, J&ML Auctioneers and Moycullen, while in the Womens Senior National Cup Meteors, Portlaoise Panthers, NUIG Mystics and Oblate Dynamos all took their place in the semi-finals