The Irish Wheelchair Basketball season began this weekend with the Basketball Ireland InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup Quarter Finals taking place in IWA-Sport, Clontarf.

In the first game of the day Ballybrack Bulls faced North East Thunder. The first half was a tightly contested affair but the Bulls found another gear to go up in and calmed the storm that North East Thunder tried to bring. Winning 61-49, Ballybrack booked a place in the semi-final, with their opponents in the next round to be decided later in the day.

Defending champions and winners of the competition over the last five years, Cork’s Rebel Wheelers Multi-Sport Club took on Titans Wheelers of Galway. In what was an incredibly one-sided affair, the Rebels were far too strong for Titans, with the game almost as good as done by the end of the first quarter. With Rebel Wheelers comfortable, it presented the opportunity for their younger players who had recently moved up from juniors to get game time. Cathal Lynch came away with three points on a debut he stated “couldn’t have gone any better”. Rebel Wheelers moved on to the semi-finals with a final score of 89-28.

In a rematch of last year’s semi-final, Limerick Celtics and South East Swifts faced off. Limerick Celtics started strong and put Swifts backs up against the wall. However, a fightback in the second half of the contest, it looked like the Carlow side could be mounting an impressive comeback. But despite their efforts, the damage was already done and Limerick got their revenge for last year’s defeat by returning to the semi-finals to book a replay of the 2023 final against Rebel Wheelers. Limerick were victorious with a score of 49-38

Killester WCB and Clonaslee WCB were last to take to the court and decide who’ll face Ballybrack Bulls in the semi-finals. A game that started out with a Clonaslee side looking refreshed after a summer break, it didn’t take long for Killester to find their groove and keep them at arms length.

Poor possession from Clonaslee throughout, whenever they tried to get a foot back in the game the Dublin side were able to knock them back. The final score 49-37, pencilling in a Dublin derby for the semi-finals where Killester and Ballybrack Bulls will go head to head.

The Irish Wheelchair Basketball League begins on October 5th at IWA-Sport, Clontarf, with the semi-finals of the Basketball Ireland InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup taking place in January over the weekend of the 10th and 11th in Cork.