Titans 94

Éanna 70

A 31-point game from Declan Gbinigie sent Titans to their second U-20 Men’s National Cup final in three years, as last year’s U-20 league champions brushed aside the challenge of Eanna of Dublin in this last four clash in Cork at the weekend.

Jack Considine’s side will face Neptune in that final later next weekend after the Cork side ran out 89-57 winners over Portlaoise Panthers in the other semi-final, and Titans will be hoping to go one better than that 2024 final appearance when they fell to a shock 77-65 defeat to Limerick Celtics.

Four of the side that featured in that final in Dublin two years ago form the backbone of this year’s squad, with Irish U-20 international Gbinigie joined by Stephen Owede, Fortune Igbokwe, and Victor Tashev as survivors from that defeat two years ago.

Both sides came out fast in the opening quarter of this game last Sunday, with the biggest gap being a six-point lead for Titans midway through the quarter. But it was the fast breaks that were making a difference for Titans, with scores from Igbokwe, Owede, and Declan Gbinigie coming in transition to put Titans ahead by three going into the second quarter on a 23-20 scoreline.

Luka Mitchell started to grab the game by the neck for titans in the second quarter, hitting nine points in the period, and with Gbinigie also scoring heavily, Titans raced into a 14-point lead with just under four minutes left in the half.

Seven points from Éanna managed to eat into the lead slightly, but Titans did enough to take a nine-point lead into half-time, leading 44-35 and with all the momentum in the city side’s favour.

Any hopes of an Éanna fightback were put to bed in the third quarter as Titans came out of the locker-rooms with an increased intensity, looking to really emphasise their pace advantage with several interceptions and fast breaks.

They scored 28 points in the quarter, and just three of their scores coming from outside the three-point line in the third quarter. Viktor Tashev and Igbokwe scored half of their individual points in the third, with Fortune getting six of his 12 and Tashev scoring five of his 10.

The big swing in the third was the 13-3 run at the five-minute mark for Titans as the Galway side took a 24-point lead into the final quarter of the semi-final, leading 72-48 to put one foot in the national cup final.

Éanna tried to eat back into the lead with scores from Adam Charles, Adam McCarthy and Dean Kiernan seeing them start with an 11-4 run in the fourth, but Titans came out of a timeout with renewed focus, as they restored their 24-point advantage, one they kept for the remainder of the game to send them to the final.

Titans: V Tashev (10), L Herrick (12), D Gbinigie (31), F Igbokwe (12), N Gbinigie (3), S Owede (6), L Mithcell (20), M Smyth.

Éanna: A McCarthy (3), A Charles (22), P Walsh (10), R Bell (8), D Kiernan (13), C Chambers (4), A O’Neill, H Lynch (3), G Hopwood (2), M Geaney (5), R O’Neil (0), N Dodson (0).

Pictured: The Titans squad that defeated Éanna in the semi-final of the men’s U-20 National Cup semi-final in Cork last Sunday. Back row, from left: Jake Tiernan (assistant coach), Noah Mungoma Webb, Luca Mupotsa, Fortune Igbokwe, Filip Rogowicz, Declan Gbinigie (captain), Micheal Smyth, Nathan Gbinigie, Jack Considine (head coach), and Rioghan Claus. Front: Stephen Owede, Viktor Tashev, Richard Grebstels, Luke Herrick, and William Poland. Photos: INPHO/Bryan Keane.