Neptune to win title on home soil

THE three outstanding title races in the men's and women's national leagues should be decided over the weekend.

Neptune look sure to be awarded the men's Budweiser Superleague trophy tomorrow night as they only need a victory over bottom club Queen's Annadale to be crowned champions. The IBA are confident that the Corkmen will win on the night as the league trophy has been ferried down to the Neptune Stadium, where it will be on display before the game.

While Neptune coach, Tom Wilkinson, is delighted to have the opportunity to mathematically secure the title on their home court, he is aware of the need to avoid complacency, especially bearing in mind the fact that Queen's have found form of late to win their last two matches.

"My main task this week has been to try to keep the lads' feet on the ground and maintain their focus. We've done all the hard work so far, but we've got to complete the task and not be distracted by the presence of the trophy nor the expectation of the fans," Wilkinson said yesterday.

Neptune are on the brink of completing the second best national league record in the history of the Irish game. Wilkinson was a player on the side that won all 18 games in the 1989-90 season, and if they beat Queen's tomorrow and Sligo next week, they will have won 17 matches and lost just once in the current campaign.

The good news for them ahead of tomorrow's match is that Ger Heaphy and Gordon Fitzgerald will be back on the bench.

While the Superleague race is all but over, the Division One title will be settled by the game in Dungannon tomorrow, where Ballina are the visitors. Both sides are already promoted and have beef in high-scoring form in recent weeks.

The Gateaux women's Division One title will also be decided by a game between the top two teams in the table. With dramatic foresight, the IBA last summer scheduled the meeting of Waterford side, Wildcats, and Meteors as the final match of the current season and the fixture is effectively a league final.

The winner-takes-all status of the match is due to the IBA ruling that in the event of a tie at the top of the table at the end of the campaign, the matches between the tying teams will be used to determine which of the two should be crowned champions.

Although Meteors are two points adrift of Wildcats, the Dubliners won the only previous league contest between the sides 69-60 in Dublin, so a second victory would bridge the points deficit for Meteors and earn them the title on count-back.

However, a win for Wildcats on their home court tomorrow would see them take the title for the third year in a row by a clearcut margin of four points.

Both sides have full squads available and the heavy promotion work done locally by the Wildcats club has ensured a sellout crowd of 800 at the Mercy Convent tomorrow night.