Fulton: Star can’t afford to slip-up

Sx3 STAR reinforced their ESBSuperLeague aspirations with their 96-106 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night with just three games remaining in the competition, but coach Danny Fulton insisted yesterday that the business was not finished.

“We are away to Tolka Rovers on Saturday night and then we play BurgerKing Limerick at home and they have won their last five games before we play Marian in the last game of the season,” he said.

“With Neptune breathing down our necks we cannot afford to slip up,” Fulton added.

He said they were thrilled with the victory at the ESB Arena on Wednesday, where they put paid to Notre Dame’s hopes of the title.

“We just decided that if they were going to beat us they were going to be tired at the end of the game, so we pressed and we ran the whole game. We knew that no matter how well we played defensively, they were going to score.

“It was going to be a high scoring game, so we just ran them off the course and we deserved to win,” he said.

“It was a hard game and it was late when we got home afterwards, so I am just hoping that it will not have taken too much out of the lads.

“Tolka may not be the best team in the League but they are much better than their placing would indicate. They have two ex-Star players, Kenny McFarlan and Gabe Jackson, and they will be all-out to do well against us. We are not expecting an easy game.”

Neptune are the only team that can deprive them of the League title right now and coach Martin Aherne admitted last evening that they can only take care of their own business now and hope that somebody else might do them a favour, Star having beaten them twice.

And the immediate business is at the University Arena in Limerick tonight when they face BurgerKing on a roll and then they are at home to Hibernian UCD Marian on Sunday afternoon.

“Cleotis (Brown) has been playing out of his skin since he came back from Israel,” Martin Aherne said.

“They are definitely on form. “They hammered us in a friendly a couple of weeks ago.

“We have Marian at Neptune Stadium on Sunday afternoon and if we can win both those games we will keep Star under pressure.”

“We won’t have Gordon Fitzgerald this weekend but in fairness to Kieran O’Brien he has told us he will play out the rest of the season and we are grateful for that.”

Marian will be without Neville Charles this weekend but Barry Glover and Kevin Meaney are in excellent for right now.

Mardyke UCD Demons have Dart Killester at The Mardyke Arena this weekend and that should be a thriller. Demons are still without Brian Clernon while Killester will welcome back Jerome Westbrooks.

At underage level, the Four Countries International Tournaments take place this weekend in Killarney and Derbyshire. The girls will play Scotland at the Presentation Gymn in Killarney tonight, while tomorrow, they play Luxembourg at 12 noon and England at 6pm.

The boys play Scotland tonight in Derbyshire and have Wales at 12 noon and England at 6pm.