Basketball: Killester have accepted that their Irish-American point guard Colin Tabb will not be returning to the club after he took part in trials with Boston Frenzy last Wednesday. Whether he makes the cut or not, he will remain stateside.
Tabb had been the main piece of Jerome Westbrooks jig-saw this year as the Dublin club shot clear in the northern conference. In their first game without him last week, they lost their 100 per cent record to the Tralee Tigers.
"It closes down the margin of error that Colin allowed us," said Westbrooks. "We can't gamble as much anymore, where before we could rely on him, John Quigley and Damien (Morbley) to pull it back."
Tabb is not a foreigner in the strictest sense - he holds an Irish passport - so he cannot be directly replaced, leaving added pressure on 17-year-old Aaron Westbrooks to fill the void. However his father thinks he is capable of doing the job:
"He is a bit of an unknown entity but his 16 points against Tralee and his defensive display against their player coach (Chris) Craig showed that."
With Killester on a gap week, both UCD and St Vincent's will be aiming to close in on the top spot when they meet on Saturday in the Belfield sports centre. The Tigers will be hoping to uphold their perfect home record when they entertain Neptune on the same day. If the Tigers slip, the Limerick Lions may be the team most likely to capitalise. Yet before that they must deal with the UCC Demons tonight in the Mardyke Arena.
The other game tonight sees Waterford in Dublin to face Shamrock Rovers Hoops. Ken Black's side were two points shy of getting their first win of the season last week but the match against an average Waterford outfit will prove whether that performance was influenced by Black and Lennie McMillian's return to their old club.
In the Women's Superleague, Carmel Kissane makes a welcome return from a broken bone in her foot for Killester's match against Drimnagh on Sunday. Meanwhile on Saturday, the Meteors are without the injured Sinead Harvey and Eileen Bradley as they travel to Mercy Coolock.
MEN'S SUPERLEAGUE - Today: UCC Demons v Limerick Lions, Mardyke Arena, 8.15; Shamrock Rovers Hoops v Waterford Crystal, ESB Arena, 8.30. Saturday: UCD v St Vincent's, Belfield SC, 7.15; Tralee Tigers v Neptune, Tralee SC, 8.00; Ballina v Star of the Sea, Ballina SC, 8.00. WOMEN'S SUPERLEAGUE - Saturday: Mercy Coolock v Meteors, Mercy Beaumont, 6.30; Glanmire v Waterford Wildcats, Littleisland, 7.30. Sunday: Drimnagh v Killester, Oblate Hall 15.30.
