ONLY an unlikely set of results can now prevent Star of the Sea from retaining the league trophy, but Waterford's impressive 97-80 defeat of St Vincent's on Wednesday has mathematically kept the title race alive for another weekend at least.

Star now have the opportunity to secure the league for the second time in their history if they win in Dungannon tomorrow evening.

Even in the unlikely event of Star losing in Tyrone, the Belfast club will win the title if Waterford lose any of their remaining three games, while Star have another chance in eight days' time to absolutely ensure themselves of the trophy when they visit Dublin Bay Vikings.

Ahead of tomorrow's home game against Sligo, Waterford's coach, Michael Evans, has already effectively conceded that his side are now playing for second place and their victory over St Vincent's was a crucial one in determining the runners-up position.

Had Waterford lost in Glasnevin, St Vincent's would have gone second in the table on points countback, but the win for the southerners has now left them clear favourites to finish closest to Star. That might seem like a scant reward for their audacious effort during the season, but it must be considered that this was Waterford's debut year in the Superleague and only their second playing at national level.

"At the start of the year, we only set ourselves a target of finishing in the top eight and I know that some pundits thought that we were likely to be relegation candidates," said Evans after Wednesday's victory.

He readily admits that pressure and inexperience contributed to their decline over the past three weeks, during which they lost three in a row, including a defeat to Star and then an unexpected loss in Dublin against Marian.

"We just stopped playing as a team and we were just awful in the Marian game although Harold Joiner played superbly for them that night," he pointed out. Evans, though, can have few complaints, having guided a squad which was unrated at the outset of the campaign to a level that no one could have predicted and but for their presence at or near the top of the table, the league title would have been almost a stroll for Star.

With the title race apparently almost over, attention is now focusing on qualification for the last two of the eight places available in the post-season championship. Limerick can assure themselves of seventh place if they win in Killarney tomorrow, but eighth position is being disputed by a resurgent UCD Marian and the 1997 champions, Neptune, who are currently in decline. The Cork club are playing with only one foreign player, and that leaves them very vulnerable and they will be hard-pressed to even defeat bottom club Tolka Rovers in Dublin on Sunday.

Marian are away to the in-form Dublin Bay Vikings, for whom veteran Ed Randolph has been so inspired in recent weeks that he has been named as the February Player of the Month. With teams finishing in the top four of the table enjoying home advantage in the quarter-finals of the championship, the duel of Dublin rivals Killester and St Vincent's tomorrow in Clontarf could well determine which club claims a top-four spot.

Two other teams who can finish in the top four, Blue Demons and Notre Dame, meet in Gurran ebraher in another game which could have a serious bearing on the championship quarter final line-up.

The women's Player of the Month award winner for February was Rachel Kelly of Tolka Rovers.