Battle begins to heat up for Superleague play-offs

Basketball: With the Superleague play-offs in sight, results from this weekend's matches will have a significant effect on how several teams' season are to be defined. UCD and Shamrock Rovers play two matches, coming face-to-face on Sunday afternoon in a winner-takes-all scenario on campus.

Tomorrow night UCD play Limerick, who are also attempting to make a late push for the third spot in the Southern Conference, while Rovers play Waterford away. Rovers received a boost this week as Ron Bruton returned from the US.

St Vincent's are trying to claim the last Northern Conference play-off spot and they host the Killarney Lakers. Lakers' Tim Sullivan is carrying a slight knee injury but is expected to play.

Potentially, the game of the weekend will be between Killester and the UCC Demons tomorrow night in Dublin. The Cork men will be keen to fend off any late run from Limerick, while Killester will look to maintain their form ahead of the mid-week clash with Star of the Sea in Belfast; a game that should determine the Northern Conference winner.

Limerick, who have to win their remaining three games to stand a chance of making the top three, will have home advantage for their two games this weekend. They welcome back Cleotis Brown and Matthew Hall.

The top six teams in the women's Superleague have been decided, but the pecking order below the University of Limerick is still to be determined over the next fortnight. The Wildcats need to win one of their last two games to guarantee second place and a home semi-final. American Nicole Conway is still out injured and Olivia O'Reilly looks doubtful due to a knee injury.

Meanwhile, speaking at last week's announcement that the UCC Demons will host the league finals, on March 20th and 21st, Superleague board chairman Pat Duffy said: "The Superleague Board are excited at the prospect of the first ESB League Finals under the new conference format being held in Cork at the Mardyke Arena. It reflects the enormous amount of work done by the Blue Demons Club in recent times, and will hopefully provide a further boost to the Superleague in the area."

SUPERLEAGUE FINALS SCHEDULE (times to be confirmed) - Tomorrow - Session One: Women's Division Final; Men's Superleague semi-final. Session Two: Men's Division One Final, Men's Superleague semi-final. Sunday - Session Three: Women's Superleague Final, Men's Superleague Final.

Men's Superleague (Saturday) - Killester v UCC Demons, IWA, 8.0; Tralee Tigers v Star of the Sea, Tralee, 8.0; Limerick v UCD Marian, UL, 7.30; Waterford Crystal v Shamrock Rovers, WIT, 7.30. Sunday - UCD Marian v Shamrock Rovers, UCD, 3.30; St Vincent's v Killarney Lakers, St Vincent's, 3.30; Limerick v Neptune, UL Arena, 6.0.

Women's Superleague (Saturday) - Glanmire v University of Limerick, Littleisland, 7.30; Tolka Rovers v Wildcats, TRSC, 7.30; St Paul's v Meteors, Pres Gym, 7.30; Killester v Drimnagh Dynamos, IWA, 6.0.