Liapakis not taking Maree lightly as UCD Marian look to remain unbeaten



UCD Marian are the only unbeaten team left in this season’s Men’s Super League and face winless Maree in Colaiste losagain, but Head Coach Ioannis Liapakis says his side won’t be taking Maree lightly. 


Liapakis said, “It’s a really tricky game for us, the game will be played at a natural venue, plus the fact that we had a huge win last week and many times you see players in their the next game and they feel empty.”


Newcomers to the Super League this season after dominating Division One for the past two seasons, Maree have found life in the top league very tough and Marian would be expected to win the game and Liapakis says all the pressure is in them, “As you said everybody is expecting that we’re going to win because we are 3-0 and they are 0-4, so the pressure is on us. Don’t forget Maree is the same team who won the D1 league for 2-3 straight years, so they know how to win a game. Plus they have a very good American. So if you put all this together and if we allowed them to stay close in the game for 3 quarters, then anything can happen.”


Marian have got off to a superb start to the season, beating last season’s champions Templeogue and top Cork side UCC Demons and Liapakis is delighted with the start, “Of course I’m really happy with the start so far. The two wins against Demons and Templeogue was really important for us and specially with the way we won the games. In both of those games, at some stage we were 16 points behind, but we managed to find the way to change that and in the end to win the games. With those kind of wins you build character as a team and it also gives you confidence.”


American guard Mike Garrow has had a great start to the season, which has pleased his coach, “This year he’s really important for us, he’s playing really aggressively and we are really pleased with that. Of course it’s not only Mike but all of our players, they are doing an amazing job so far.”


Before the season began Liapakis was bemoaning the health of his squad but that’s improved of late, “Right now everybody is healthy and that’s why we had that great result against Templeogue. We are delighted for that, and fingers crossed, we’ll remain healthy for the rest of the season.”


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