The St Vincent's IrishAmerican player, Dave Conlon, who was so badly missed in the cup defeat by Tolka last Sunday, has made a sufficient recovery from an ankle injury to return to action for the Superleague fixture in Dungannon tomorrow night. Conlon twisted an ankle three weeks ago and the absence of his considerable rebounding presence effectively cost the Glasnevin club a place in the cup play-offs.
Although Conlon has made a quicker than expected recovery, St Vincent's would gladly have sacrificed his presence in a number of league games had Conlon been fit to play last Sunday.
Tolka's tense 98-94 victory, though, was no major shock in the circumstances and was well deserved. The Division One club has now removed two Superleague teams from the cup after a convincing first-round win over Dungannon.
One significant player signing during the week was UCD Marian's acquisition of former Swedish league player, Chris Harper, who played twice recently for Neptune averaging 16 points per game.
The 6ft 8in American replaces Mike Amos, who left the club suddenly to return to the States for what were described as `personal reasons'.
Marian are hosts to Killester in a Dublin derby game tomorrow night in Belfield. The north side club will be without the influential Pat Grennell due to injury, but rising star, Niall Murphy, will be back on the bench while they also expect John McDonagh to return to the squad in the New Year.
The league leaders, Notre Dame, begin the second half of the season at home to the much-improved St Paul's, Killarney, who have climbed up to mid-table after a terrible start to the season.
The game will be recorded on Sunday afternoon and the highlights will be televised in Sun- day Sport on Network 2 later that evening.
Notre Dame's recent form has been characterised by slow starts against St Vincent's in the league and Blue Demons in the cup, but in both cases they saved their best form for when it counted in the last quarter of the game and on each occasion they won with ease.
Their early-season signing, Randall Mounts, has been a pivotal figure in their first five games and he has been named player of the month for November for his consistently good form.
Killarney's American Raymond Foster makes his last appearance for the club in Sunday's match as he returns home in the New Year. Second-placed Star of the Sea have a tough enough task ahead of them if they are to stay in touch with Notre Dame. The Belfast side host Ballina, who were very disappointing in their cup defeat against Neptune last week. Neptune's vastly improved form over the past fortnight will be sternly examined tomorrow night in Kerry, where unpredictable Tralee will offer a debut to a new American signing, Reshawn Sumler, who has played most of his recent basketball in the Lebanon and Columbia. In Division One, the leaders, Sligo, following the recent loss of their 100 per cent record, travel to Dublin to play the inform Tolka tomorrow night.
In the women's Superleague, the unbeaten leaders, Wildcats, are away to Killester, who showed last week, in a narrow 58-56 cup defeat against Naomh Mhuire, that they can trouble the top teams in the division. Second-placed Mhuire have a rest weekend. Their outstanding player this season, Edel O'Gorman, was the recipient of the November Player of the Month award.
