St. Muredach's Ballina win basketball double for the first time

St. Muredach's have done it! After their All-Ireland Cup win five weeks ago, the Moysiders have won the League Championship as well. At the start of this season, the Ballina outfit looked into seventeen years without a trophy, and now they have secured an historic first double: 

"It is a great achievement for the lads, they are all over the moon", says Headcoach Barry Murphy, by some already called 'King Barry'. 

The coach himself said before the final this Wednesday afternoon, that it is a script Steven Spielberg could not write, and he was correct. The team went into this season with the attitude of: 'We will see how we are getting on' and it turned out to be a team for the ages:

'Our key factors to win this match was our defence, we worked hard there and that was very important."

View the photos of the match and celebrations here.

The final score 70-49 fully reflects the (un-)balance of power: The Moysiders took control of the game right from the tip-off. For most of the match, the opponents Pres De La Salle Bagenalstown could not keep up with the Mighty Muredach's who dominated at the rebound, creating second and third scoring chances, which is always key in Basketball. 

The third quarter was a bit of a wobble, Muredach's shooting was not as accurate as in the first half. But the Ballina boys never gave away the lead. But Muredach's found their rhythm again in the fourth quarter and with four minutes to go they were up by thirteen points. They were never gonna let that one slip. The fourth quarter turned into a demonstration: 70-49 the final score.

It all ended with the players flying the red and white flag of the Mighty Muredach's with pride, celebrating with around 100 fans that had made the trip to Dublin and headcoach 'King' Barry fistpumping the air after this historic triumph.