Dominos Mens Super League R11
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 90
Griffith College Éanna 84
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors bounced back to form following their shock defeat to Neptune last week by producing a confidence-building win over Griffith College Éanna in front of a packed out Castleisland Community Centre on Saturday night. The Warriors impressively turned the game around having trailed at the end of the first and second quarters and fended off a late Éanna rally to secure their sixth League win and consolidate their position on the table as the race for the eight playoff places begins in earnest.
The Warriors started brightly with Daniel Jokuabitis landing a double and baskets from Eoin Quigley and Jordan Perkins giving the hosts an 8-2 lead. Éanna struck back immediately with Stefan Desnica with two threes either side of another from Sean Jenkins edged the visitors ahead midway through the quarter. Padraig Fleming opened his account much to the delight of the big crowd, and when Jordan Perkins also put his name on the scoresheet, the sides were level. Neil Lynch fired in from beyond the arc to spark a late Éanna run that saw Jenkins with two and Desnica with another combining to give the Dublin side a 23-14 lead at quarter time.
Jenkins continued to torment the Warriors rearguard with baskets from inside and outside early in the second but Warriors kept in touch with majors from James Fernane and Jokubaitis and two classy finishes in the paint from Fleming to cut the gap to 32-25. Iggy Hunte powered his way into the game with a hat trick to pare the Éanna advantage down to a single score. Jenkins repeated his early quarter trick with another major and minor effort but Fernane and a cracking three pointer from Quigley squared the game at 41-41 with seconds on the clock. Éanna were dealt blow when Mikah Blackwell picked up his fourth foul and forced to the bench but there was just enough time for Kristijan Anadabaka to get an open look to swish a three to put the visitors 44-41 up at half time.
The Warriors began the third quarter with a quickfire 11 point run that turned the contest around with Hunte, Fleming and Perkins all in range to see the Tralee side wrestle the lead back to go 52-46 up. Manou Christal and Fernane exchanged major scores before Hunte, Fleming and Perkins again combined to maintain the Warriors six point advantage. Dan Bowler then landed the toughest score of the night over three Éanna defenders before an ‘and one’ from Hunte put nine between the sides. Two late baskets from Christal and Jalen McAfee Marion did however temper the Warriors lead to 68-61 at three quarter time.
A stunning 7 point volley from Jordan Perkins gave the Warriors the perfect start to the final quarter and when Fleming chimed in and Quigley landed a monster three from well beyond the line the hosts were in full control of contest at 80-66 ahead. Desnica and Jenkins stemmed the tide for Éanna with a basket apiece and early foul trouble for the Warriors allowed the visitors drill further into the lead with Desnica and James Gormley adding from the line. The Warriors again looked to Perkins to deliver and he duly obliged with a stylish major to put 7 between the sides with three minutes on the clock. However Éanna were far from finished and Blackwell returned to hit two from two from before Jenkins and Andabaka struck to leave 3 between the sides as the clock ticked down. However two clutch free throws from Perkins ahead of the final buzzer sealed the win for Warriors ahead of their Cup semi final meeting with UCD Marian on the first weekend of 2026.
Scorers:
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: McCarthy Insurance MVP Jordan Perkins 27, Iggy Hunte 22, Padraig Fleming 12
Griffith College Éanna: Sean Jenkins 25, Stefan Desnica 15, Manou Christal 9
Next up for Warriors is a trip to Neptune Stadium on Saturday 3rd January when they take on UCD Marian in the National Cup semi final. Ahead of that they will return to Castleisland Community Centre to defend their Premier Mens title at the Castleisland Blitz on 29th December.
Thanks to Liam Ryan for the images