Last week, we heard Darren O'Neill, coach of defending Superleague champions Star of the Sea, explain why he sees no possibility of overtaking Neptune. Yesterday, Killarney's coach Donnie Mullins echoed those sentiments, conceding that the Cork side have now sealed their claim on the Superleague title.
"I can't see them being caught," says Mullins. "Perhaps some of the chasing teams let them go a little too easy, but they've got such a cushion now that it's going to take something drastic for anyone to catch them. And the way they're playing now, there's no way that's going to happen."
At the moment, Kerry Spring Killarney are tied with Star and Esat Telecom Demons for the runner-up spot - eight points behind Neptune - a position that Mullins is, however, quite satisfied with. "We've won more games in the first half of this season than all of last year," he adds, "and all our guys have been playing out of their skin. Our goal now is to get second spot, and the team are still responding to that challenge."
Considering that Mullins had been out of coaching at national club level for a number of years before coming to Killarney, that's no mean achievement. On Sunday, Killarney face a difficult trip to St Vincent's and follow that with an equally demanding encounter with runner-up rivals the Demons on Tuesday.
The leaders host Sligo Dairies tomorrow, the team at the bottom of the table for most of the season with just four wins from 16 games.
Sligo do, however, have a slight psychological advantage for this game. The sides also met this time last year where Sligo pulled off a shock five point win, and they also have their American pairing of Chris Doyal and Andy Meyer enjoying an excellent scoring spell. Yet it's still going to take major drop in form for Neptune to slip up here.
Denny Notre Dame's title hopes have now also disintegrated. This evening they meet Dublin rivals UCD Marian at the National Basketball Arena (TG4, 9.0 live) - a game that at least pitches two teams in superb form.
Last weekend, UCD Marian greatly improved their league position with victories over Sligo and Tolka Rovers. That followed a series of unfortunate results where they lost seven games by less than four points but they are now just one place out of a top eight finish. While Notre Dame have a fully fit side, UCD Marian will be without Neville Charles and possibly their top American scorer Mike Trimmer.
Two other games of interest tomorrow has the Demons traveling to Waterford Crystal and Star hosting Tolka Rovers, with both results crucial in the shake up for second place. Star are likely to be missing their veteran Javan Dupree (injury) and Neal McCotter (exams) but the Demons will have everybody available.
Elsewhere, the Clare Jets have replaced head coach Tom Smyth with Robert Burke. Smyth stepped down this week, believing that he has taken the club as far as he can, while Burke, previously assistant coach, will have a fully fit team for the first time since Christmas when the Jets travel to UCD Marian tomorrow.
Meanwhile, there is unlikely to be any major upset at the top of the women's Superleague either. On Sunday, the now comfortable leaders, Tolka Rovers, meet Crusaders, and even though they had their first win of the season over Killester last weekend, it would take an even greater turnaround in form to upset the unbeaten Tolka side. Similarly, second placed Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats shouldn't have a whole lot of trouble in their meeting with Meteors tomorrow.
