NEPTUNE'S star Irish player, Gordon Fitzgerald, will miss the potentially decisive Superleague clash with second placed Star of the Sea on February 9th, and the rest of the season from thereon, due to an overdue operation on a long-standing groin injury.
Fitzgerald, who outscored Neptune's two Americans with 27 points in the post Christmas victory over Sligo, has to undergo the surgery on February 5th so as to have enough time to recover for a six-month tour of army duty in the Lebanon.
The good news for Neptune is that the operation has been put back sufficiently to allow Fitzgerald compete in the Sprite Cup play-offs at the end of this month, but a further delay has been ruled out as he needs to be fully fit before being allowed to travel to the Middle East.
At one stage it looked as though Fitzgerald would have to have the operation done this week but that situation was avoided so he will be part of a full strength squad which hosts the reigning champions Tralee in a televised game at the Neptune Stadium in Cork tomorrow.
Tralee's season has fallen apart from roughly the same time that they relinquished an 18-point lead with 10 minutes to go against Neptune in Kerry last October. And there was more disappointment for them last Wednesday as they lost to Kerry neighbours St Paul's Killarney for the first time in seven years in Tralee.
Killarney won the game 82-81 but Tralee had their chances including a missed free throw with two seconds to go to send the match to overtime.
The other big Superleague game of the weekend is the meeting of second placed Star of the Sea and third placed St Vincent's in Glasnevin on Sunday. ___ Star, two points adrift of Neptune at the top of the table cannot afford to lose and let a significant gap develop. On the other hand, any aspirations that St Vincent's might harbour of making it a three-way race for the title will almost certainly disappear if they lose. So the match has a cup-tie level of significance and should be all the better for it.
St Vincent's have set themselves a target of winning all their games in the second half of their campaign, having reached the midpoint with a narrow three-point win over Delta last Friday. The game was significant for the 37- point debut of 36-year-old Doug Arnold in the St Vincent's singlet.
One man who is missing out on playing a significant role in this very active part of the season is top referee Tony Burke who has had to retire on medical advice after suffering an injury earlier this year.
Burke's inimitable manner of laying down the law on court and his sense of humour will be missed but he still retains an active role in the game as Ireland's only current FIBA Commissioner.
