Share

Drogheda Independent

Tue 21 Jan 2025 at 02:00

THERE’S a full programme of matches in the Men’s National League this coming weekend and one of the crunch games takes place at Ballymakenny College on Saturday as Drogheda Wolves host Mater Private Malahide (tip-off 7.30pm).

Dave Biggins’ charges still have nine matches to play in the regular season but are in the lower half of the Division 1 table, and even at this early stage the clash with Malahide - currently lying third in the Northern Conference - looks like a must-win if Wolves are to give themselves a realistic chance of making the top four and qualifying for the end-of-season play-offs.

That’s because the following bank holiday weekend the Drogheda men face back-to-back away games in the space of 48 hours, firstly against Limerick Sport Eagles and then the runaway Northern Conference leaders ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers.

While the men’s side have been without a game for three weeks, the packed schedule of boys and girls matches have been continuing and last weekend the Wolves’ Girls U12 Black team defeated East Coast Cavaliers 32-23 in their first game of 2025.

Grace Mohan got Wolves off to a flying start with their first basket, followed by scores from Amelija Kubliute, Elise Pentony and Naoise Lennon.

Wolves finished the quarter strongly and had a 10-1 lead at that stage.

The second period saw Leah Donohue and Arwen Boyle Reynolds add to the tally, and in quarter three Dorothy Callaghan kept the scoreboard moving as did the small but mighty Mikayla McLeer.

Grace scored two more baskets in quick succession, as did the fiercely competitive Casey Gregory, and at that stage Wolves were still on course for a win.

In the final period Amelija found the net, Elise added a brace and Arwen - new to the team this term - added two more to secure a nine-point win for the Drogheda girls, who have improved immensely since starting training together.

Meanwhile, there was a guaranteed home winner when Drogheda Wolves’ U16 Grey boys team met their Red clubmates on Sunday and it was the Grey side who prevailed 68-33 thanks in part to a very strong start that saw them end the first half with a 21-point advantage.

While the game was always in the Grey team’s control, the Reds pulled off some plays that opened their opponents’ defence to put some points on the board.

They fought hard to pin the Greys in their own half and it worked on a couple of occasions as some strong offensive plays yielded fouls which brought them to the free throw line.

Top scorers for the Greys were Ben Irwin with 23 points and Markus Sinkevics and Igor Klos who each bagged five.

The victory extended the Grey team’s unbeaten streak to seven games after an emphatic win against East Coast Eagles the previous week.