KILLESTER shuffled their coaching staff this week after the senior team coach, Tom Doherty, decided to step down due to work commitments.
Assistant coach Peter Ferrari was immediately placed in charge of the National League squad, while Doherty now takes over the coaching of the club's under-19 9 and under-13 panels.
Ferrari will be remembered not only as a towering centre who played for both Killester and Ireland but also as coach to the 1989 National Cup winners Corinthians. In three high-profile years in charge at Inchicore, he never failed to lead his team to a top-four finish in the league so his coaching pedigree is well respected.
The circulation of the coaching jobs at Killester has had little adverse effect on the senior team who are at full strength for their home game in the Budweiser Superleague against St Paul's tomorrow in Clontarf.
When the sides met in Kerry earlier this season, the game was decided in St Paul's favour right on the buzzer. Killester will have to be at their best to get revenge on a team that is brimful of confidence after their excellent Sprite Cup quarter-final win over Ballina on Saturday.
Killester have retained the services of sports psychologist Tom Moriarty. He now sits on the bench during matches.
In a restricted league programme over this weekend, the match which stands out in the Superleague is the meeting of Delta and second-placed Star of the Sea at the National Arena, Tallaght. The game is a repeat of a recent cup tie in which Delta retrieved a 28-point half-time deficit to pull off a spectacular win in the comeback of the season.
The following weekend, Star suffered their only league defeat to Neptune but they have subsequently won their last four games and will be keen for revenge over Delta.
A win for Star would see them go top of the league as Neptune are not in action over the weekend.
Meanwhile, St Vincent's, who are without a game, will not be registering a new American to replace runaway Carter Long, who flew home to the US over a fortnight ago. Replacement American Eric Stevens is likely to be retained while it is hoped that their other foreign player, Kevin Vulin, will recover from dental surgery in England to make a comeback in early January.
Tralee, also without a game this week, have yet to register replacements for their departed Americans. The fall of the champions into mediocrity this season has been a heavy one as they are virtually without hope of retaining their title. They have also failed to reach the cup play-off even though the season has yet to reach mid-point.
One of the most significant games in the women's league this season will take place at the National Arena on Sunday afternoon, where Meteors have sacrificed home advantage to allow their Gateaux Division One game against league leaders Wildcats to be televised in highlight form on Network Two's Sunday Sport.
Wildcats, who defeated Naomh Mhuire with alarming ease a fortnight ago even without Jillian Hayes, will have the Irish international centre back in the squad for Sunday's game.
