Weekend pair puts Notre Dame top

Notre Dame pulled off the expected this weekend and moved back to the top of the ESB League with narrow victories over Tolka Rovers and Sligo. They now share the lead with Waterford, who were totally convincing in their win over Star of the Sea.

Saturday's 78-74 win over Sligo at the National Arena was hard fought but eventually deserved. Notre Dame were trailing 45-39 at the half as Sligo produced the more consistent play, but the game gradually changed direction in favour of Notre Dame. With Brandon Hughes producing a top-scoring 27 points, and Anthony Jenkins not far behind with 23, the home side side finished the stronger to secure their seventh win in nine games.

Waterford travelled to Belfast yesterday with the ambition of maintaining their hold on the top spot, and it turned out to be one of the worst performances by Star of the Sea in recent seasons. It was, in fact, Waterford's first win over them since they joined the league three years ago.

The home team just never got moving, with Kenny McFarland held to two first-half points and the usually high-scoring Scott Summersgill accounting for only two points in the entire game. In contrast, Eric Blair and Stacey Messiah were in superb form and, up 54-35 at the break, Waterford never looked back. The 93-69 final scoreline was as convincing as it looks.

On Saturday, the Saints blew yet another chance to command the league table with a third successive defeat, this time falling to the Demons 100-86 in front of the TV crews at the National Arena. It was close, but with key player Stephen McGuirk suffering with injury, the Saints just couldn't edge themselves in front for long enough.

They led 51-46 at the half, but the Demons gradually got themselves on top as Juan Wiley and Toby Carberry enjoyed a particularly strong finish. In the end it was former Killarney standout Brian Clernon who sealed the Demons' win, hitting 11 points in the last quarter (including three three-pointers). That result was enough to move the Demons up to joint third on the table. They now appear to be the strongest Cork challenge this season, as the title holders, Neptune, suffered another loss yesterday when they fell to Tolka Rovers 83-80 in less dramatic fashion than the scoreline suggests.

Elsewhere, UCD Marian picked up two useful wins over Tyrone (96-93) and Limerick (102-88) to move themselves into joint fourth. Limerick's chances in the latter weren't helped by their late arrival (two minutes before tip-off to be exact) and that meant the game began with a technical foul - setting UCD Marian into a lead that they would never surrender.