Tralee discover a new top gear

A week ago it was the cup producing all the surprises, now the league proves equally capable of providing an upset. Take Notre Dame.

Riding high on the table and cruising through the cup, they travelled down to met struggling Tralee Tigers on Saturday and suffered one of the biggest defeats of the season.

Having lost just twice this season, the Dublin club couldn't have been too concerned about Tralee, whose consistency seemed to have deserted them. In the end though, there was only one team in it, as the 113-72 scoreline suggests. So what happened?

In truth, Notre Dame just never got going. Tralee raced into a 14-6 lead after just five minutes, and never looked back.

John Teahan and Ricardo Leonard accounted for 22 of their 28 first-quarter points. Without Brandon Hughes, Notre Dame would have been further behind.

When Anthony Jenkins picked up his third foul at the start of the second quarter, things went even further downhill.

Tralee were up 13 points at the half, 51-38, and, with Teahan enjoying his best game of the season, the result was never in doubt. Jenkins was eventually fouled out and Notre Dame now drop to fifth on the league table.

Tralee may have had the most enjoyable weekend, but Killester had the most memorable. Yesterday they beat Star of the Sea 79-64 to make it three wins in four days - and move themselves into joint first place with Waterford and the Saints.

Star weren't helped in this game by close battle with Neptune less than 24 hours earlier (which they eventually won in overtime, 91-88 - sending Neptune further down the table).

Killester quickly pulled in front thanks to another strong team effort. They were 23 points up at the break and, with Eric Jackson playing particularly well, the points were always secure.

That added to the 108-76 win over Limerick on Saturday and the whitewash of Tolka Rovers on Thursday night.

The problems facing Limerick coach Tom Hehir were well aired before this game, most notably with Cleotis Brown out injured.

The Dublin club were always in control and, even though Eric Jackson pulled out injured in the first half, the equally consistent John Leahy and Damien Sealy ensured they still pushed ahead.

Waterford had an 87-73 victory over Tyrone. Tyrone were just two points down at the half, thanks in part to three unanswered baskets in the first minute through Jermaine Turner and Thomas Hughes.

But Mike Norris just couldn't miss. The Irish-American ended up with 31 points for Waterford and, with Turner fouled out, Tyrone faded quite badly in the end.

Among the other impressive results was that of UCD Marian, who maintained their strong form with an 84-73 win over the Demons.

In the women's league, both Tolka Rovers and the Wildcats kept the two-horse race intact - both winning their respective games over Killester.