Demons and Neptune in play-offs race

The race for the play-offs continues this weekend in the Nivea For Men's SuperLeague with UCC Demons hoping to consolidate second spot in the Southern Conference against HOOPS and Moycullen.

Neptune will be hoping to maintain the pressure on Demons when they take on Belfast Star, while National Cup champions Killester meet Dublin rivals UCD/Marian.

Runaway Southern Conference leaders UL Eagles make the trip to Belfast to face Ulster Elks and DCU Saints can strengthen their grip on third spot in the Northern Conference with victory away to Moycullen.

Ulster Elks went agonizingly close to ending their search for their third win of the season last weekend but were outdone 83-80 in a dramatic encounter away to UCC Demons.

It was a result which added to Elks' Head Coach Deirdre Brennan's frustrations but she believes the side can take a lot of positives from their performance in Cork.

'We were gutted with the result - we really played well despite suffering from a number of injuries,' said Brennan. 'We did play very well so that's the up side.

'This weekend we will hope to have Paddy McGaharan back after his five weeks out with an ankle injury. Damien Gallagher is still doubtful - he hurt his ankle just a week ago and missed Sunday's game. Andy O'Hare has health problems which prevented him from travelling on Sunday too and he is doubtful for this weekend.

'We expect a really tough encounter on Sunday with Limerick. They shot extremely well when we played them away and are unbeaten except for one encounter so that speaks for itself.'

UL Eagles have enjoyed an almost perfect record in the league but Head Coach Tony Hehir has pinpointed a couple of players who will cause his side problems this weekend.

'They have some good scorers in Paul Cummins, Ian O'Boyle and David Neal,' said Hehir. 'We will need to play tough aggressive defence and contain their shooters. Stephen King missed the last game through injury and is likely to also miss the Elks game.'

UCC Demons managed to bounce back to winning ways after their National Cup nightmare loss to Killester but face a tricky double header in the shape of HOOPS and Moycullen this weekend.

'We have a very important game this Saturday against a Hoops side, which gave us our first loss of the season,' said Demons Head Coach Luke D'Alessio. 'On defence, we must do better guarding Carlton Aaron and Philip Taylor, as both had excellent games against us at home. On offense, we must handle Hoops' 2-3 zone defence by working the ball patiently to find our open shot. We will continue to limit our turnovers and crash the boards on rebounding.

'We are looking forward to playing Moycullen this Sunday in Galway,' he added. 'Their team has vastly improved since we played them last and we expect a challenging match all around. We must focus on rebounding on both ends of the court and limit our turnovers. We must contain Nathaniel Fritsch and Cian Nihill, both excellent players. Moycullen is a well-coached team and we must bring our A-game to the court.'

HOOPS have the opportunity to claim a unique double over UCC Demons after Ahmad Smith's charges shocked the Cork giants in November to record an 89-80 success with their other win this season coming against National Cup champions Killester.

For Moycullen, their meeting with Demons represents a much needed return to league action for Enda Byrt's side. 'The biggest challenge for us is the long lay-off we have had,' said Coach Byrt.

'The Demons game was scheduled for earlier in the season but its cancellation has left us going from a situation of having two games in six weeks to two games in two days. If we can shake off the rustiness then we feel like we have a great chance at the weekend in both our games.'

DCU Saints are boosted by a full strength squad as they look to maintain their tag of favourites for that third and final play-off spot in the Northern Conference.

'We know Galway will be a tough game for us but it's an opportunity to bounce back and stake a real claim for a playoff spot and keep the heat on Star who are only a game ahead,' said DCU's Emmet Donnelly.

'We didn't do ourselves justice offensively against Neptune and couldn't buy a basket but it's up to us as players to respond to that in the right way.'

Belfast Star welcome Fergal Toner back into the fold for this weekend's clash with Neptune but will be without the services of Michael McKillop through work commitments. There are also doubts over the availability of Scott Summersgill and Ciaran McVeigh ahead of Saturday's clash.

Neptune will be desperate to maintain the pressure in the Southern Conference but their Head Coach Pat Price is expecting a tough clash with the Northern Conference's second placed Star.

'Belfast Star will be a tough challenge for us on Saturday night,' said Price. 'Kevin Ratzsch, Scott Summersgill and Stephen Dawson are all capable scorers to whom we'll give special attention. We hope to continue our good run and will rely on our defence to hold our home court. We were very pleased with our bench contributions against DCU Saints, in particular from Kevin Reddy, Paul Stapleton and Jason Bennett. We have shown steady improvements in a number of areas, and hope to carry this momentum straight to the last weekend of the season.'

National Cup champions and Northern Conference leaders Killester can maintain their push towards the treble when they take on a UCD/Marian side who have tasted victory over Mark Keenan's side earlier on the season.

Despite ending UCD's cup adventure at the semi-final stage, Mark Keenan's side did suffer defeat to Marian in November by virtue of a 72-67 score line.

UCD are still looking to add to their third win of the season after another defeat on the road to UL Eagles last weekend.

Meanwhile, in the IrishSport.TV Women's SuperLeague, leaders Team Montenotte Hotel Cork will make the trip to the South East to face Bausch & Lomb Waterford Wildcats, while DCU Mercy meet Killester in an all-capital affair.

Sligo All Stars have two opportunities to end their search for a win with UL and Tolka Rovers on the agenda respectively. Meteors can build on their win over Tolka last weekend but they face a tough proposition against UL on Sunday.

National Cup champions DCU Mercy are set for a tricky test away to Killester in a fixture that is always likely to provide plenty of drama. 'It should certainly have the intensity of a derby and some of our games recently have been hugely attractive contests. Killester are in with a great shout of making the play-offs and will be determined to get back on track after last weekend's overtime loss to Meteors.'

Team Montenotte Hotel Cork will be desperate to maintain their 100% record in the league when they make the trip to face Bausch & Lomb Waterford.

Marie Breen played a captain's part as Montenotte bounced back from their National Cup heartache to provide 18 points in their 87-58 win at home to Tolka Rovers last weekend.

Montenotte are boosted by the return of Grainne Dwyer, while Breen is also doubtful ahead of the weekend. 'Wildcats are a young team and we will give them the respect they deserve,' said Montenotte Head Coach Mark Scannell. 'We are building a team and hopefully we can keep going and end the season with a trophy.'

UL are another side on track to make the play-offs and their Head Coach James Weldon believes this weekend will provide another huge step in ensuring their involvement after the end of the regular season.

'It's always tough when it's a double header but we want to end the season on a high after the disappointment at losing out in the cup at the semi-final stage,' said Weldon. 'We are practically a new side with five new players but hopefully we can make an impact as the season comes to a close.'