Heat is on for league top spots

Despite suffering back-to-back defeats twice in the last fortnight, Notre Dame have the opportunity to regain top spot in the ESB League with a doubleheader weekend that begins this evening with a trip across town to face Tolka Rovers. Two points there and the same against visitors Sligo tomorrow could see them jump from third to first - depending, of course, on the results of the other matches.

Waterford have pushed themselves to the top with a 77-70 win over the Demons on Tuesday night and they now share the lead with the Saints, who missed a big chance to go clear last weekend with two narrow defeats at home.

Notre Dame still have two games in hand over those top two and the trip to Tolka should see them get back into winning mode. With three wins from seven games, Tolka haven't exactly been burning up the court this season. And while both teams carry full squads, Notre Dame will have the greater strength and incentive.

Tomorrow's match will give Notre Dame less concern. Sligo are still living off a single victory this season and after falling to bottom placed Tyrone last weekend, they will hardly be bubbling with confidence. If those results go to form, Notre Dame will be at least joint leaders come Sunday evening.

The Saints are part of tomorrow evening's live TV game at the National Arena (TG4, 5.0), when they meet a Demons side desperate to find some consistent form. Two high-profile wins over Notre Dame and Killester were quickly forgotten after the defeat by Waterford and not helping their cause here will be the loss of Hugo Iturralde. The high-scoring Spaniard is suffering from a serious knee injury that may well keep him out of action for the rest of the season.

But the Saints have absentee problems of their own. Stephen McGuirk is out with a shoulder injury, Karl Donnelly is on GAA duty with Na Fianna in the Leinster club football championship, and Gerry Noone won't start due to a hamstring strain. It will be tight, but the Saints should still get their title hopes back on course.

Waterford travel to Belfast on Sunday and will do well to hold on to their joint leadership. Star of the Sea defeated them comfortably on both occasions last season and in fact Waterford have yet to steal a win on them since they entered the league three years ago. The problem for Star is that Paul Butler and Ewan McGrattan are both missing but Kieran Burns and Jim Edgar return. With home advantage, Star should take the points.

Elswhere, both Neptune and Limerick have a strong opportunity to get closer to the leaders. The current champions travel to Tolka Rovers on Sunday and another win there would put their title defence right back on track. New American John Greene is likely to get more court time in this game although Nick "the Greek" Chatzinokolis is doubtful with injury.

For Limerick, a win over UCD Marian could put them among the top three and they'll be helped by the fact that their opposition will already have played less than 24 hours previously. And Limerick will be looking for another big game from Cliotus Brown - currently the league's top scorer after hitting a record 52 points last weekend.

There are no games in the women's league this weekend due to the qualifying pools of the junior National Cup, which take place in Waterford, Cork and Limerick. The winner of each pool qualifies for the semi-finals which take place during the ESB Cup weekend at the end of January.