Netsiyanwa hails Liffey Celtics’ fortitude as they get off the mark with stunning comeback win
Brooke Kane was in outstanding form for FloMAX Liffey Celtics
FloMAX Liffey Celtics head coach, Hillary Netsiyanwa applauded the fortitude of his players as they fought their way back from 18 points down midway through the third quarter to edge Domino’s Women's Super League rivals, Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell by the narrowest of margins in Parochial Hall on Saturday night.
Having lost their opening four games of the 2025/26 campaign, the Leixlip side was desperate for a result against a Brunell team that had, themselves, carved out a 3 and 1 record ahead of this tie.
But when Celtics found themselves down 21-6 at the close of the first quarter, and later faced an 18-point deficit in the third, yet another reversal appeared to be very much on the cards.
Yet, fuelled by the game-high 26 points that Brooke Kane served up, 15 of which came in the closing nine minutes, the visitors fought their way back for the narrowest of victories that was made all the more remarkable given the foul trouble they had to contend with late on.
“It was an amazing performance by the girls and an amazing fight” remarked Celtics boss, Netsiyanwa. “For them to go down like that in the first quarter and come back into the game, it was just great.
“The energy was high, the team chemistry and team morale was high, so it's just a credit to their mental strength and their fortitude to be able to fight back in a game like that.
“Brooke really stood out and put that great performance together, especially in the closing moments of the game.
“Katie Williamson and Sorcha Tiernan both got fouled out late on, so to be without two of your strongest players for two minutes at the end of the game, it's just a great example and a great performance to show that the girls are very much capable of being able to execute and doing this together” he told The Kildare Nationalist.
Brunell opened up a commanding 15-point lead by the end of the first quarter, Brailyn Jarrell Joseph igniting that early surge with a deuce before continuing on to drain her other three efforts for a total of eight in that period.
Maddie Cluse was also proving a handful for the Celtics defence with buckets from the paint and three-point line that amounted to a further seven by the buzzer.
Indeed, the visitors were struggling badly to get motoring, a deuce each from Kane, Paige Cote and Áine O’Connor being all they had to show for their first-quarter efforts.
And it did not look like it would get much better as Brunell picked up the opening two buckets of the second quarter, compliments of Ava Walshe and Lauryn Homan.
Clara Boyce did get Celtics’ side of the scoreboard ticking again when she converted two free throws before Williamson opened her account from the field, only to see their Cork rivals hit back with scores from Isabelle McSweeney and Joseph that enlarged the gap to 17.
Still, Celtics kept on scrapping and accounted for the final six points of the half through Cote, Kane and Tiernan that reduced their arrears to 11 (33-22) by the half-time recess.
Brunell appeared to have steadied the ship when Cluse landed superb efforts from both sides of the three-point line, but Celtics somehow dug in, denying their hosts another score for a five-minute spell, in which time they served up a 13-point run that was ignited by a three from Kane and included a further two from downtown by Tiernan.
That surge served to close the gap to five, before Brunell finally got going again with a Megan O’Leary treble.
And, while the Cork side did close out the third quarter six points in front (47-41), Celtics sensed blood and opened up the fourth with a Williamson bucket that closed that gap to four.
Brunell responded with a three from Edel Thornton, but Liffey continued to press relentlessly for that opening win of the campaign and moved ever closer to it when buckets from inside and the free-throw line by Kane edged the Kildare side in front for the first time in the contest almost midway through the final quarter.
Brunell retook the lead briefly when Thornton got in again, but Celtics responded with the next eight points as Kane and Kate O’Flaherty served up huge threes down the stretch that left them seven points up with just over two minutes remaining.
Still, the visitors were not out of the woods yet, as scores from Joseph, Thornton and Kelly Sexton saw Brunell battle their way back to within a solitary point of their guests with 25 seconds to go, but Celtics held out for desperately needed win.
Netsiyanwa will be hoping this victory signals the turning of a corner for his side, who head into a three-week break before resuming their campaign at home to a Utility Trust St. Paul’s team that is smarting from their first loss off the season against Trinity Meteors at the weekend.
Kelly Sexton, Ava Walshe, Lauryn Homan, Megan O’Leary, Isabelle McSweeney, Edel Thornton, Francesca Kyamagero, Katie Walshe, Abbie Lyons, Brailyn Jarrell Joseph, Maddie Cluse.
Brailyn Jarrell Joseph (23), Maddie Cluse (16), Edel Thornton (10).
Brooke Kane, Kate O’Flaherty, Aoibhinn Doyle, Katie Williamson, Paige Cote, Clara Boyce, Sorcha Tiernan, Áine O’Connor.
Brooke Kane (26), Sorcha Tiernan (14), Katie Williamson (12).
