Killester keep their top form

A weekend of the expected and some surprise has done little to juggle the tight race at the top of the men's ESB League. Of the leading half-dozen, Killester and UCD Marian come away most satisfied.

Killester pull two points clear at the top thanks to Saturday's 80-72 win over Star of the Sea. John Leahy and Eric Randolph were again to the fore and that leaves the Dublin club with just four losses from their 15 games.

Behind them is UCD Marian, who continued their remarkable streak by holding off Sligo 95-92 and thus recorded their ninth consecutive win.

Newly signed Damon Shoultz was key to Sligo's persistence, but the consistency of Marian eventually won out, with Chris Akers (24 points) and Kevin Ward (20 points) both making tireless contributions. That puts them in sole possession of the runner-up spot.

Notre Dame also keep their eye on the leaders after making up for Thursday night's loss to Killester with an 84-75 win over Waterford.

The Dublin club always held the slight advantage, but another massive contribution from Anthony Jenkins (this time scoring 35 points) ensured that Waterford were shut until the end.

One strange thing about the live TV games this season is that almost all of them have been desperately close. On Saturday, the Saints travelled to Limerick to do battle in front of the cameras and, in the end, only four points separated them.

The late free-throwing of Tom Walsh and Mark Hall helped Limerick sneak the points 9692, but the Saints can't be making excuses.

Up 51-46 at the half, they had ample opportunity to extend their lead only to succumb to patches of distinct inconsistency.

But the Saints showed better form yesterday when they defeated the Demons 72-69. That now means that three other teams share the third spot with Notre Dame - Limerick, the Saints and Waterford.

There was also mixed fortunes for Neptune. Victory over Tyrone on Saturday went some way towards putting their title defence back on course, but, less than 24 hours later, they went agonisingly close to Star of the Sea, eventually falling 93-92.

Unfortunately for them, Star produced one of their best team performances of the season. And after a closely fought game, the high scoring of Gabe Jackson proved the most decisive.