Garvey’s Tralee Warriors bowed out of the Domino’s Mens Super League playoffs at the quarter final stage following an 87-72 defeat to Griffith College Éanna at Colaiste Éanna last night. Just a week after losing to the same team on the same court by 92-66 in the final regulation game of the season, a return trip back there for a do or die mission carried with it huge jeopardy. And so it proved to be, as Éanna now progress to take on League and Cup double chasing Ballincollig in a Super League semifinal in Cork next weekend while for Warriors it is the end of the 2025/2026 campaign that saw them contest the National Cup Final and make the final eight in the League.

In a highly entertaining opening quarter, both sides tore into the contest with Daniel Jokubaitis drilling a three for the opening score and Iggy Hunte adding a hat trick for Warriors and despite baskets from James Gormley, Jaylyn Richardson and a double from Stefan Desnica, the visitors led 12-9 midway through the quarter. Jokubaitis second major was quickly followed by another from Jordan Perkins and a floated effort from Olaf Michalczuk to put the Warriors 22-15 up but Éanna replied in kind through Neil Lynch and Kristjian Andabaka late on to edge their side 26-24 ahead at the end of the first.

Last week Warriors allowed Éanna strike for 18 unanswered points in the second quarter, on Saturday night a Steven Bowler basket and a three from Eoin Quigley ensured there would not be a repeat of that but the hosts did hit 13 points by the midpoint of the quarter and when Desnica drove to score again, the lead was 39-29 and the Warriors called a enforced time out. Out of the break, Richardson added again and Gormley, who was proving a handful in the paint, hit a quick double but Perkins’ second major and a pull up two and another from Quigley limited Éanna’s advantage to 10. However, Richardson swished from distance and Desnica added two from three from the line to see the hosts take a 52-37 lead to the half time break.

The Warriors enjoyed their best spell in the game early in the third a volley of 10 points without reply that threatened the Éanna lead, allied to the hosts coughing up four fouls in the first two minutes of the quarter but Gormley and Andabaka replied to restore order for the home side and Micah Blackwell put 14 between the sides when arcing in from distance. The Warriors defensive effort improved notably while at the other end they drove at the heart of the Éanna rearguard that produced a quickfire 6 from 6 from the line before Desnica and Richardson combined to maintain Éanna’s double digit lead. Jokubaitis and Perkins added before Warriors were given the benefit of a big call on a three pointer from Adam Charles being struck off for interference at the basket but the Dublin outfit still had 10 points to spare going into the final quarter.

An early basket from Iggy Hunte briefly hinted at an unlikely comeback until Éanna asserted  with scores from Blackwell, Richardson and Andabaka from distance and the free throw line to effectively settle the contest midway through the final quarter. Perkins fired in another from long range and Jokubaitis followed his lead from the corner, but they proved to be just consolation scores as at the other end Blackwell nailed another major and Richardson laid up unopposed to seal the win with the sides shaking hands 30 seconds before the final buzzer sounded.

Scorers:

Griffith College Éanna: Jaylyn Richardson 24, Micah Blackwell 15, James Gormley and Kristijan Andabaka 14

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: Jordan Perkins 22, Daniel Jokubaitis and Eoin Quigley 13, Iggy Hunte 12

Following the loss, Warriors Head Coach John Dowling called time of his ten-year stint as part of the coaching team that saw him assist with Mark Bernsen and Pat Price before taking over at the helm to land a League and Cup double in his first season in charge. We wish John, Ursula and his three young children Ryan, Arianna and Sophia all the very best and thank him sincerely for the time he invested in the Warriors project since its inception in 2016.

On behalf of Garvey Tralee Warriors I would like to thank our very generous sponsors, particularly Garvey’s for the continued support, our players, our coaching and management teams, our hard working committee, the staff at the Kerry Sports Academy and Castleisland Community Centre for hosting our home games and our supporters for their incredible loyalty again this season.