The event was popular, the action hot

BASKETBALL: You could have fried eggs on the roof of the National Basketball Arena on Saturday.

The atmosphere inside the building was feverish to begin with, and then gradually warmed up. By mid-afternoon, when the week's events climaxed with Irish teams in action on the two adjoining courts, it was not a place for the faint-hearted.

Gaining admission was a challenge in itself. The arena was besieged like a Drumcondra pub after an All Ireland final. Long queues formed outside both courts all day, and those at the top of the line only got in when others left.

Even so, it was an ongoing struggle to keep the playing areas free of spectators. Of all the matches being played inside, few were as intense as the one between the crowd controllers and the crowd. "This is ridiculous," complained one volunteer during the Italy-Spain Division 4 women's play-off, as the spectators forged into a narrow but potentially decisive lead.

When the Ireland 3 men's team took to the court for their Division 7 gold medal match against Pakistan, the audience traffic was backed up like the nearby M50 roundabout on a Friday evening. But those lucky enough to be inside were hoping to witness rush-hour of a different kind: one in which Ireland's point-guard, ball-carrier and all-round star, Noel Rush, would run M50-like rings around the opposition.

It was not to be, unfortunately. The Sandymount player pulled a hamstring earlier in the week, an injury that would have put most players out of the game. Apparently indifferent to the pain, he insisted on playing anyway. And despite being deficient in mobility to the tune of one leg, was still among the best players on the pitch; until, limping heavily, he was finally dragged off under protest by the team coaches. Ireland's difficulty was Pakistan's opportunity, and the slick Asian side won easily, 63-18.

Over on court 2, it was an entirely different story. Here an all-Waterford team represented Ireland in the division 2 bronze medal play-off against Bahrain and, this time, the home team's key player was unstoppable.

Not so much ham-strung as highly-strung, Martina O'Neill charged around court all afternoon with an intensity that recalled Roy Keane before he mellowed.

When the similarity was mentioned to Thomas Scanlan, a coach who trains O'Neill at the Carriglea centre in Dungarvan, he smiled ruefully and said that she had "Roy Keane's discipline too". The personal foul count had told against her in earlier games, he added, before suggesting that Saturday's opposition had tried to exploit the problem by provoking her. The suggestion might surprise observers, because the Bahrain team had appeared particularly lady-like. But maybe that was just the effect of the Islamic headscarves they were wearing.

If it was true, the tactic backfired. O'Neill incurred only one foul and ran rampant in the second half. At times there seemed to be three or four of her on court, one of them frequently shooting for the basket and another collecting the rebound before the opposition realised the first one had missed.

Bharain had no answer to the phenomenon. By the end of the match - won 30-21 by Ireland - volunteers, members of the Garda, and others were crowding into the corner of the court to witness an awesome display.

Life at the Tallaght arena returns to normal this morning and after the crowd congestion of the Special Olympics - it was the same story every day, apparently - this may be a relief.

But for others, like Brian McEvoy, a volunteer sports massage therapist from Co Louth, who spent all week in Tallaght, today will be the start of a big comedown.

"This has been one of the best experiences of my life," he said, as the arena emptied. "I don't know what we'll do with ourselves next week."