As Waterford's unbeaten run in the ESB Superleague came to an end last weekend, results elsewhere combined to produce a concertina effect at the head of the table and now no fewer than seven teams are back in the hunt for the title.
To illustrate how close matters are at the top it was the team currently occupying seventh place in the table, UCD Marian, who ended the 100 per cent record of Waterford in the eighth round of the league campaign. Waterford are still arousing the curiosity of every neutral. In this, their debut season in the Superleague, they have performed to an extraordinarily high level, which is only partially due to their very strong American partnership of Roscoe Patterson and Eric Blair.
Separately, each of these players made a fair impact on the game in recent seasons but since they teamed up under coach Michael Evans in early autumn, they have been quite devastating. However, the defeat by Marian last weekend came at a particularly bad moment as Waterford face into their first double duty weekend of the season. Tomorrow evening, they entertain fifthplaced St Vincent's while on Sunday they are at home to the reigning champions Star of the Sea.
Although Star are the leaders in the table, they only occupy top spot due to a curious league rule which awards a team a point for turning up and completing a fixture even if they lose by a large margin.
In effect, Star are in a weaker position than both Waterford and Killester, who are the only two teams who have lost just a single game in the campaign so far.
As Star have already suffered two defeats, another one so early in the campaign would be a major setback, while for Waterford, a second or possibly third defeat in a week could do serious damage to the level of confidence built up during their season-opening sequence of seven consecutive victories. Quite simply, this is a match neither side can afford to lose and while Waterford have home advantage, they will be playing their second match in less than 20 hours against a vastly more experienced side. Star enter the game on the back of a thoroughly dominant secondhalf performance against Killarney last weekend. A game which highlighted just how deep the Kerry club's problems are at the moment.
Of significance to Killarney is the fact that they have a new coach, former Irish international player Francis O'Sullivan, who will have some mixed feelings about taking charge of the Kerrymen tomorrow night against his old club, Demons.
One team which has made quiet but impressive progress through the first two months of the campaign is Killester, whose attention to their youth policy has nurtured some of the best talent in the country over the past two seasons. Players like Jonathon Grennell, Mick McMahon and Paddy Kelly are starting games and with the addition of a good Bosman signing this season, Michael Queenan, to complement Mike Trimmer and Damon Shoultz, they have the appearance of serious title contenders. Their Dublin derby against Marian tomorrow evening will be a good test of their potential and they will have a new face on the bench in 6 ft 4 in Irish-Australian Steve McGloughlin.
Injured ankle ligaments will keep Rachel Kelly out of the Tolka team to face runaway leaders Wildcats in the top match of the women's superleague tomorrow night in Waterford.
