Colin O’Reily, UCC Demons Head Coach:
After starting the season off with a win against one of the league favorites we now have the unenviable task of travelling to Dublin to face a UCD who are looking to build on a fantastic season last year by challenging for trophies this year. Games between the two sides are always hard to call but on this occasion we are under no illusions of how difficult a task this trip is going to be.
Starting the season we were under manned due to injury and American less and last week has only added to the list. We picked up a couple of injuries to players in positions we do not have great depth in so will need high impact contributions from all fit players in order to give ourselves a shot at victory coming down the stretch. The versatility of our squad will be tested but it is these challenges our players enjoy. With Carleton Cuff, Darko Bukan and Jack O’Mahony we have three players who can play multiple positions and are capable of carrying a heavy load scoring, rebounding and assisting the ball. We will need all their skills this weekend and the remainder of the season if we are to reach our potential.
Another plus last weekend was the return to almost full fitness of Kyle Hosford. We all know what Kyle is capable of when fully fit so the more game time we can get him the better he will get and impact games over 40 minutes.
All in all we will travel in good spirits and see where our commitment can take us. We know there is a long season with a lot of bumps through out, so now is the time for us to learn during these trying times and to store all the lessons for when we have a full healthy roster in place.