Tough battles to decide supreme champions of Superleague

THE ESB Superleague finals will return to the spiritual home of Irish basketball next week in the plush surroundings of The Mardyke Arena, Cork's newest centre.

The fulfilment of the dream of Kieran Dowd, the arena is home of Mardyke UCC Demons who will have both the Superleague and Division One sides battling it out this weekend in crucial play-off games that will decide remaining places on the programme.

"It has become an exciting climax," the new Superleague manager, Karl Donnelly, insisted in Cork yesterday when details of the finals weekend on March 20/21 will be announced. "If it was scripted it could hardly have worked out better particularly in the Southern Conference.

"Up to now the basketball season tapered off following the ESB Cup weekend with little interest in the Top Four or the Top Eight competitions. But this year all that has changed."

The chairman of the Superleague management board, Dr Pat Duffy added: "The new conference system has proved very successful with all teams retaining interest to the dying days of the campaign," he said.

"There were many enthralling local derby games within both Conferences and, at the end of it all, Dart Killester have topped the northern conference and Horan's Health Stores Tigers from Tralee the southern conference.

"The weekend will produce the supreme champions of the Superleague as they will have displayed the necessary consistency throughout the season and still be able to peak for the finals.

"There could be no more suitable place for the first ever Superleague finals than Cork for the Southern capital has played a pioneering role in Irish basketball."

Mardyke UCC Demons, the host club, must travel to Belfast this weekend to play MDS Star for a place on the programme for the finals weekend while Gleneagle Lakers from Killarney will be hoping to maintain their sensational run by beating Hibernian UCD Marian to make it through.

The weekend programme will be:

Saturday, March 20

Session 1: 1pm: Women's Division One Final; 3pm: Men's Superleague semi-final, Horans Health Store Tigers v winners of MDS Star and Mardyke UCC Demons play-off.

Session 2: 6pm: Men's Division 1 Final; 8pm: Men's SuperLeague Semi-Final, Dart Killester v winners of Gleneagle Lakers and Hibernian UCD Marian play-off.

Sunday, March 21

1.30pm: Women's Superleague Final; 3.30pm: Men's Superleague Final.