Women's Super League Preview: Table toppers Killester take on St. Paul’s in repeat of last season's final

Killester's Samantha Haiby and Sorcha Tiernan of FloMAX Liffey Celtics go up against each other. Pic: Bryan Keane/Inpho

St. Paul’s Killarney head coach James Fleming called Killester "champions for a reason" but feels his side can "match anyone" on their day.

The Kerry outfit host the table toppers on Saturday at 4pm in a fixture that is a repeat of last season’s Women’s Super League final. 

Both sides are coming into the contest on a level playing field, with 5 wins and 1 loss on the cards to start the season. 

Killester’s unbeaten run was snapped by Trinity Meteors last weekend though, where they succumbed to a 78-69 loss in the Trinity Sports Centre.

“We are looking forward to the weekend, we face a formidable challenge in Killester. They have a lot of weapons, some of the best Irish players, a great European and two serious Americans, they are champions for a reason," said Fleming.

"We are improving steadily and we feel that on any given night, we can match anyone. This will be a good challenge to see where we actually are as a team”.

The aforementioned win for Trinity against Killester placed them second in the table last weekend, and was their third win on the bounce (5-1). They travel to Cork this weekend to face UCC Glanmire, who are in a similarly rich vein of form having won three of their last four games. 

Their formidable American guard Jewel Watkins is firing on all cylinders, averaging just over 20 points for the season so far.

Jewel Watkins of UCC Glanmire shoots for a rebound. Picture: Jim Coughlan

Sitting just behind the top three are Brunell (4-2), who host a derby game against Fr. Mathews - still looking for their first win of the season - at Neptune Stadium on Sunday. 

Brunell started the new campaign strongly winning their first two games but they've struggled to maintain the same consistency in recent games, going 2-2 over the last four. 

Brunell head coach Liam Culloty said: “We are looking forward to the challenge of Fr. Mathews this weekend. They have been playing really well over the last few weeks and pushed Glanmire all the way last weekend. 

"We are hoping to build on the momentum of a tough away win last week in Portlaoise ahead of the Cup quarter-final next weekend. It's sure to be a tough Cork derby as always when we face off. 

"Things are very tight at the top of the table, so every win is so important to keep in touch with the leading teams.” 

Cavan Eagles enjoyed their first away league win last weekend, overcoming the challenge of Waterford Wildcats. They'll fancy their chances at home against a floundering Liffey Celtics side on Saturday.

Liffey will be looking to curb their bad form before they defend their WSL National Cup title next weekend.

Fellow strugglers Portlaoise Panthers have lost five on the go since winning their season opener. They play host to Waterford Wildcats on Saturday evening, a side who have so far had a mixed bag of a campaign producing three wins and three losses.

Waterford are actually second in the league in points per game, but their issues down the other end of the court have halted progress - being second last in points per game conceded. 

However, a win for the Wildcats would push them back towards the upper side of the table. A win for Portlaoise is perhaps more pressing as they look to push themselves away from the bottom of the pile.