Killester forced to forfeit match

Basketball: The scoreboard read 94-93 in favour of the home side Killester but Neptune were awarded the victory as the first Superleague match at Greendale Community School ended in Killester having to forfeit the match due to "the accumulation of condensation" on their new hardwood court.

"The inaugural men's game was cut short in the second overtime period," read a Basketball Ireland statement. "After four quarters of play, one overtime, and two minutes of double overtime, officials called the game off, awarding the match win points to Neptune."

The heading on the association's website read: "DART (Killester's sponsors) let it slip."

Considering this was supposed to be a new departure for the club, and a near sell-out crowd turned up, the situation is of considerable concern. The women's Superleague match between Killester and UL Aughinish preceded the match without incident.

Ballina are sitting on top of the Superleague this morning but this was far from an ideal weekend. Victory over Star of the Sea yesterday has them heading the Southern Conference but they had home court advantage twice against teams that hardly instil fear in their opponents.

It was on Saturday night that the Mayo club's first blemish of the season occurred as Limerick edged a tight encounter. Paul Barrett made it a three-point game with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter but the basket to force overtime proved out of reach.

Elsewhere, the UCC Demons joined Limerick on top of the Southern Conference after a comprehensive victory over UCD thanks to inspiring performances from Colin O'Reilly and Gary Johnson.

St Vincent's recovered from a poor start to the season to beat the Killarney Lakers, while Tralee hinted they may not quite be the force of last season after only squeezing past Shamrock Rovers Hoops.

MEN'S SUPERLEAGUE: St Vincent's 117 Killarney Lakers 106; Tralee Tigers 91 Shamrock Rovers Hoops 89; Ballina 92 Limerick 94; UCC Demons 108 UCD 93; Ballina 97 Star of the Sea 84; Killester 94 Neptune 93 (Neptune awarded victory).

WOMEN'S SUPERLEAGUE: Mercy Coolock 72 Drimnagh Dynamos 63; Meteors 49 Wildcats 41; Glanmire 81 St Paul's 45; Killester 88 UL Aughinish 96.