The odds against Waterford clubs taking both the men's and women's Superleague titles shortened substantially on Saturday as Wildcats claimed the women's trophy for the fifth year in succession and the men took a significant step in their quest for a first league win.
On the night Wildcats beat Meteors 77-56 to end the long forlorn hopes of their pursuers, the remarkable Superleague debut season of the Waterford men turned another unlikely chapter as they came back from eight points down to win in Killester. At the same time, reigning champions Star of the Sea were losing away to Neptune.
The result leaves Star of the Sea with a one-point advantage at the top, but Waterford can overtake their Belfast rivals should they win their game in hand.
Waterford's resilience this season in the face of tremendous pressure has been the prime feature of their campaign. Having won their first seven games, it was widely predicted that their run would end abruptly, since so many of their early season victories were by narrow margins.
When they lost three games in quick succession in mid season, it seemed the pundits were correct. But far from falling out of contention, Waterford have since gone unbeaten, and few victories exemplified their calm under pressure more than their win in Dublin by 81 points to 74 away to Killester.
Even as Waterford trailed heavily 44-36 at half time, they quickly restored parity in the third quarter and, by the end of a superb spell, they led by seven points heading into the final period.
With five minutes remaining there came a decision which effectively ended Killester's cause. First they claimed to the referees that Tony McDonagh had been fouled going to the basket, but their protestations merely resulted in them receiving two technicals, one on the bench and another on Damon Shoultz.
Eric Blair punished Killester severely by landing all the free throws, and then Waterford added another basket from the possession. With Shoultz and Mike Trimmer fouled out in the closing minutes, Killester had no chance of retrieving the game.
Neptune's success in Cork against Star on Saturday night was more convincing than the 87-83 scoreline suggested, as they led for the most part. Star played an unavailing game of catch-up throughout. Neptune went into the match on the back of four consecutive defeats, but a return to their best fast-breaking form helped them establish an early lead which they held for the most part.
Shawn Wilson top-scored on 27 points for Neptune, who led 47-42 at half time.
The victory not only ended the Cork club's dreadful run since the New Year, but also gave them confidence to go on to make it a double victory weekend by defeating UCD Marian 63-62 yesterday. Wilson was again their top scorer on 17 points.
The Dubliners came very close to making it two wins in two days, having won superbly in Killarney 80-66 on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd at the Presentation Gym.
The quality of Marian's performance on Saturday was such that they led 52-27 by the fourth minute of the third quarter (halftime 40-25), and they were never seriously threatened.
Star of the Sea's defeat in Cork offers more hope to the beaten cup finalists Blue Demons, who still retain realistic but distant aspirations of winning the title after a 103-89 victory in Sligo.
Cup winners Notre Dame moved closer to securing their place in the end-of-season championship with a 107-87 away win over Tolka yesterday.
St Vincent's also took a significant step towards securing an allimportant qualification position in the top eight by defeating the increasingly vulnerable Limerick 101-80.
In a match which went basket for basket for the first three quarters, St Vincent's outscored Limerick 34-10 in the final period to win with ease. Chris Doyal was the star of the game with 41 points for the Dubliners.
