WITH the halfway point of the Budweiser Superleague season now past, the first in a sequence of major clashes involving teams still in the hunt for the title takes place on Sunday at Glasnevin, where St Vincent's host Tralee.
The two clubs are currently lying joint second in the table and are only two points behind out right leaders, Star of the Sea. Both teams are only too well aware that the losing side would find themselves four points off the pace should Star win their match against North Mon on Sunday in Belfast.
Star's coach, Danny Fulton, realises the significance of the Dublin game and feels that St Vincent's will win. "I just think that St Vincent's have the better players and when it comes down to how the Irishmen match up on court, Karl Donnelly and Stephen McGuirk are just that bit ahead of Ger Galgey and John Teehan."
Teehan, who is on the fringe of Irish team selection, has had a great season and scored 34 points when Tralee beat St Vincent's 91-75 earlier in the campaign. However, the Glasnevin side, in spite of a recent defeat to Star, have been more impressive of late and inflicted a 122-97 defeat on mid table Delta last week. In that game, Rob Phelps and Scott Sytulek teamed up to score a massive 84 points, the highest super league combination of the season.
In contrast to both Tralee and St Vincent's, who are both no longer in the cup, Star of the Sea have the added pressure these days of having a strong interest in both competitions. Fulton admits that it is hard not to get excited at this stage, as no northern team has ever won either event.
Although they have only lost one of their 12 league and cup games all season, Star have had a high proportion of close victories. The almost lost to the bottom club, Ballina, back in the autumn, and, last week, had to stave off a strong comeback by second from bottom Dungannon to win by just eight points.
The Belfast side are sure to be wary of third from bottom North Mon who earlier in the season led the Belfast men with 40 seconds to go in Cork before eventually capitulating to a typically strong finish by Fulton's side.
"It just goes to prove that there are no weak teams in the superleague," says Adrian Fulton, the coach's son, who is the Irish international point guard and key playmaker for the league leaders. "No matter who we play, we know that if we let our performance slip, we can be beaten. Still, it is great to be up there and be the team that everyone wants to beat. It's exciting and different for us."
In the men's division one, Tolka are hoping to register 6ft 7in Chris Temmings this weekend to replace the injured Tim Wallen. If Temmings is released from his English club, Leicester, he can play against Mid Sutton Baldoyle on Sunday.
In the women's division one, the main title challengers avoid each other in tomorrow's matches. The leaders, Wildcats, make the journey to Tralee, while second placed Naomh Mhuire are at home to Wexford. Third placed Meteors host Ballybunnion.
