O’Connor hoping huge team effort can see Liffey Celtics surmount Killester in National Cup decider

FloMAX Liffey Celtics captain, Áine O’Connor insists every player on the squad will need to step up and contribute if the Leixlip side are to prevail against Killester when the two teams collide in Sunday’s much-anticipated Paudie O’Connor National Cup Final in Tallaght (5.30pm tip-off).

The National Basketball Arena was the scene of Celtics’ heartbreaking loss to their Dublin rivals in last season’s Super League title play-off, but O’Connor is hopeful it will provide the backdrop to a more successful outcome for both her and her team mates this time around.

Indeed, Killester have had their number in each of their last three encounters this past year, with two narrow home wins in regular season action book-ending their emphatic 90-62 triumph over the Kildare outfit in the league decider back in March.

O’Connor, however, believes her side has the quality to arrest that disappointing head-to-head record on Sunday, but it will require a huge team effort, similar to the one they produced in their hugely impressive 25-point victory over SETU Waterford Wildcats in last Saturday’s cup semi-final, in which five of their players finished in double digits, including O’Connor on a game-high 20 points.

“I feel the team who wins on Sunday will be the team who has five to eight players who can come on and contribute at both ends of the floor” predicted O’Connor.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a game that sees one player taking over and coming away with 30 points and having to do everything.

“For us, it’s about taking care of the ball on offence mainly. We’ve been known to, sometimes, switch off, so it’s about not being complacent at all and then defensively, everyone chipping in.

“That’s been our strength this year. Hopefully this weekend we might have all 11 players, but if we have nine or ten, then everyone who gets on the court has to do their part” she told The Kildare Nationalist.

While O’Connor is in no doubt that this Celtics team harbours the necessary desire and determination to avenge last season’s heartbreak at the hands of Killester and lift the National Cup for the first time since 2019, she is anticipating another titanic tussle.

Indeed, Karl Kilbride’s side were pipped by Killester in their previous encounter only last month when the defending Super League champions edged a two-point overtime win in a game, O’Connor insists should have been put to bed a lot earlier by her side.

“We really felt we left that game behind us in December” sighed the Celtics skipper. “We should have had the game won in normal time and we should have finished it in overtime and yet Killester still managed to come away with the win.

“They’re got some very experienced players, they’ve played in big finals, they’ve won cups over the last few years and they won the Super League last year, so they have that experience of closing out tight games.

“That’s what got them over the line in their semi-final against St. Paul’s at the weekend- their belief, their experience, so we know they’ll come ready on Sunday” insisted O’Connor, who is one of two survivors from Celtics’ last National Cup-winning squad, along with fellow Ireland international, Sorcha Tiernan.

Killester, who last got their hands on the National Cup in 2023, are certainly not short on players who can serve up big totals, among them being Samantha Haiby who has made a huge impact for the Clontarf outfit this season, averaging 24.3 points and 12 rebounds in her last three games.

Michelle Clarke, Ieva Bagdanaviciene and Hannah Thornton can also inflict some serious damage, but Killester will be going up against a Liffey Celtics team that boasts the best defensive record in the Super League this season - the primary reason why the Lexlip outfit are currently three points clear at the top of the table.

Rachel Huijsdens and O’Connor are a huge presence under the defensive boards for Celtics, while Allie Navarette has been rapidly getting up to speed with her team mates since returning to the Kildare side only last month.

She and fellow American, Eboni Williams have been presenting no end of problems for opposition over recent weeks, while Sorcha Tiernan and Kate O’Flaherty continue to pose a serious threat from beyond the arc.

Add to that, an array of emerging talent in the likes of Kelly Bracken, Hazel Finn and Katie O’Sullivan, and Celtics appear to have a serious chance of making this a season to remember.

Certainly, O’Connor has full belief in the potential of the players around her to bring a successful conclusion to their National Cup campaign on Sunday, telling the Nationalist “I’d back us position for position the whole way down.

“Killester have strength inside, they’ve good shooting guards and they’ve got young fast players as well, which is something that we have too.

“I feel the advantage that we’ve had against a lot of teams this year is that we have the ability to play inside and we’ve some really good shooters out on the perimeter, but Killester have that too.

“We have the strength right across the team and we have people in each position who are quite strong, so I’d fancy our chances this weekend, but I know it’s not going to be a walk in the park either” she stressed.