Basketball Round-upIn all likelihood, the women's Superleague final on March 20th will be a repeat of the National Cup final. UL Aughinish and Killester look set to take full advantage of playing at home as their semi-finals take centre stage on Saturday night.
The IWA in Clontarf was expected to be a tense battle between cup champions Killester and Glanmire, but Mobolagi Akiode has left the Cork club in the lurch just a couple of months after arriving. Unfortunately, this comes with the territory, as the latest addition to Irish woman's basketball has been drawn back to Nigeria to represent her country.
Killester are without Suzanne Maguire, as a back injury has ended her season, and Ashley Luke is hindered by a knee problem. But they should still have too much for a Glanmire outfit devoid of their only 20-point-plus player.
The University of Limerick basketball arena sees the country's leading club, in any sport, attempting to prove the cup final defeat to Killester was a mere hiccup by claiming a third successive league title. Mercy Coolock will struggle to deny them a safe passage to the final.
The two men's quarter-finals also take place this weekend with Killester playing Neptune tonight, also at the IWA at the later time of 9pm. The Dublin club are without John Quigley.
Considering Mark Green is back in harness and Neptune overran Jerome Westbrooks' side three weeks ago, the travelling team are marginal favourites to make the semi-finals against Tralee Tigers.
The Kerry club will be awaiting news from the national football league match in Donegal on Sunday as Micheál Quirke starts at midfield, while Kieran Donaghy is on the bench.
The other quarter-final is the all-student affair between UCC Demons and UCD. Despite the presence of Jarron Jones, the Cork side are again marginal favourites considering they have twice beaten UCD in league and cup outings to date.
The victor here gets a crack at northern conference champions St Vincent's.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday: Men - Superleague quarter-finals: Killester v Neptune, IWA, 9.00. Women - Superleague semi-finals: UL Aughinish v Mercy Coolock, UL, 7.00; Killester v Glanmire, IWA, 7.00.
Sunday: Men - Superleague quarter-finals: UCC Demons v UCD, Mardyke Arena, 3.15.
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