'We're definitely a better team now than we were this time last year' - Eagles Head Coach Niall McDermott

THE Limerick Sport Eagles are enjoying a positive season to date in both Domino's Division One league and cup action.

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The Eagles are well in the mix at the top of the Domino's Division One table whilst also enjoying a Division One Cup run.

Head Coach Niall McDermott says the league has panned out how he and his coaching staff expected, stating that his side have found their form after a tricky start to the season.

"The league has probably panned out the way I expected it to. There's a lot of good teams who recruited well in the summer. We expected it to be a tough league. We've had new players come in and we're playing a slightly different style of basketball this season. It took us a little while to settle in. 

"We lost three out of our first seven games but we've managed to pick up a few wins since then and thankfully we're coming into a bit of form where we've seen gradual improvement with a big squad. We're definitely a better team now than we were this time last year, which is a great sign."

Derry native McDermott says that the quality of the league is so high that it has made predicting the outcome of the season very difficult.

"The league is really competitive. If you were to ask me in pre-season who the favourites were, you would've had a tough time choosing because the quality is so high. There's been a few surprise teams but there are also teams where I thought they would be doing a little bit better but there's loads of time left in the season and it's still all to play for in the second half of the season."

The Eagles' Head Coach says that there is a big emphasis being put on peaking at the right time as a group, as the Limerick side eye the play-offs next year. 

"The overall aim is to try and peak in and around play-off time. We have cared a lot about performances this season. We're always looking to see are we going in the direction we want to be heading. It's about making sure you're in the best possible shape for that play-off period and it's going well so far so hopefully that continues."

McDermott says the cup can offer something different to league proceedings, as the Eagles prepare for a Division One semi-final against Templeogue in January. 

"The cup is brilliant. I remember last season, there was a point where we weren't going well in the league but we had a massive cup win and it provided a great boost and momentum going forward. 

"The cup is massive, everyone wants to win it. In the first two rounds, we were drawn as the away side which is never easy and that was a great performance against Carrick which sets up a semi-final in January.

"It's different to the league. Those cup weeks, you just see that the lads are so focused, more so than usual because it's such a high stakes game. If you lose you're out and if you win you march on so there's always that bit of added intensity and focus."

Looking ahead to next month's clash, McDermott says that the Dublin-based side have been unlucky this season in terms of results and is under no illusions as to how challenging the semi-final clash will be.

"Templeogue are one of those teams where if you look at their record, it should be a lot better than it actually is. They've lost two or three games where they really should've won. To be honest, one of them was against us. They were up by 15 in the third quarter but we came back and managed to win. 

"We're expecting a tough game, every game at this stage is going to be tough. As tough as we are expecting it to be, we're also confident that we can get the job done."