Historic day for women's basketball in Ireland

The first ever Irish women's European Championship qualifying match to be played on Irish soil will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22, in University of Limerick.

Irish basketball fans have, until now, been deprived of the opportunity to see the Irish women's team compete at this top level, and a large crowd is expected to turn out for this crunch match against Estonia.

Despite suffering a defeat to Sweden on Saturday, the Irish ladies are determined to turn in a good performance in front of their home crowd.

Head Coach Ger Tarrant said: "The girls were disappointed with the match against Sweden, but will learn from their mistakes, and are looking forward to taking on the Estonians on Wednesday night".

Preparations and training has gone well, with no injuries to report.

Tarrant is delighted to welcome Nessa O'Keefe back into the squad, and can now call on four of the five starters from the World Student Games team who finished an impressive eight in South Korea last year.

Another source of confidence is the form of both Michelle Aspell and Michelle Fahy, who were outstanding in the two warm up games against Norway and against Sweden.

Aspell, Irish Player of the Year last year and long time Irish international, is joined on the team by Susan Moran, the first Irish born player to play professionally in Europe and former WNBA player with the New York Liberty, and also sisters, Grainne and Niamh Dwyer from Thurles.

They can expect a tough game from the Estonians, who are a big team, very fast and clinical, and will certainly provide a strong test for the Irish.

The crowds are expected to turn out in force to support the team - admission is €10 for adults and EUR5 for children, and tip-off is 7.30pm.

Ireland will then face Luxembourg on Saturday, in the third of this year's matches, in the ESB Basketball Arena, Tallaght.

Ireland V Estonia - 22nd Sept 2004 - 7.30pm at the University of Limerick