South East Swifts advance to InsureMyHouse.ie IWA National Cup final with 44-34 win against Limerick Celtics

South East Swifts will have the task of ending Rebel Wheelers drive for five InsureMyHouse.ie IWA National Cup titles in a row after defeating last season’s finalists Limerick Celtics 44-34 in the final game at MTU on Sunday afternoon.

In truth Limerick Celtics were unable to overcome missing their three leading scorers from the 2023 decider, Tiarnan O’Donnell, Jodie Waite and Joseph Hargrow, but South East Swifts were full value for their win, as they go one step further in the competition than a year ago. Jack Mangan was immense from start to finish, ending with a game high 18 points for his side.

The first half was dominated by South East Swifts, their excellent effort on the defensive end holding their fancied opponents to just 13 points in total. It was also going very well offensively, Jack Mangan, Anthony Coy and Patrick O’Neill all found their range early and it took a late Carlos De Bunes floater to leave the gap 28-13 as the teams headed for the locker rooms and the end of the second quarter.

Limerick Celtics dug deep to rally in the third. Seamus Long made a pair of shots from offensive rebounds, while Dean and James McCarthy also chipped in with buckets at the midway point to further narrow the deficit to 10 points. As the tide looked to be turning it was O’Neill who once again took on the pressure shot for South East Swifts and his late shot from just inside the paint ensured the game was eight, 38-30 as the third quarter buzzer sounded.

Any hope of a revival for Limerick ended when Jack Mangan took over in the final quarter. Mangan went on a six point stretch on his own to extend South East Swifts lead to 44-30 before Dean McCarthy hit Limerick Celtics first points with just under four minutes remaining. There was a late consolation score from Tadhg Buckley but it wasn’t enough to

Quarter Scores: Q1: 12-3 Q2: 28-13 Q3: 38-30 Q4: 44-34

South East Swifts:

Jack Mangan, Patrick O’Neill, Anthony Coy, Jake Hennessy, Liam Blake, Adam Homan, Michael Murphy, Sophie Deniffe, Seamus Wall.

Head Coach: Patrick O’Neill

Top Scorers: Jack Mangan (18), Patrick O’Neill (16), Anthony Coy (6)

Limerick Celtics:

Dean McCarthy, Seamus Long, Carlos De Bunes, James McCarthy, Aaron Galvin, Tadhg Buckley

Head Coach: Joseph Hargrow

Top Scorers: Tadhg Buckley (11), Dean McCarthy (9), Seamus Long (4)