The rapid decline of the Clare Jets has made for some unfortunate reading in the last week. Pulling out of the National Cup at such a late stage last weekend was the first major indication that not everything was running smoothly; since then, details of the club's terminal collapse has quickly soured one of the more enterprising efforts within the ESB League.

Former coach Bruce Enns is now on his way back to Canada, the players are dispersing to various other clubs around the country, and chairman Tom Smyth has no option but to agree that the club has reached the end of the road.

"Essentially we just ran out of money," says Smyth, "I don't want to point the finger at anyone, but I would take exception to some of the comments that Enns has made since his departure. He has been very bitter about what happened here, but we have documentation to show that not everything he says is true."

Enns claimed that, since he arrived in Clare at the start of the month, none of the foreign players had been paid, his expenses had been cut short, and he was forced to spend some of his money to support the team. "It was a very disappointing turn of events for me, for the players, and for the management of the team," he said.

The problems started when the club sponsors, Smyth Aerospace, pulled out just prior to the league opening a month ago. Six players also transferred before the start of the league. The club then lost its first three games by convincing margins, and this week the Irish Basketball Association had no option but to expel the club from the league after they failed to fulfil the cup fixture with Notre Dame last weekend and failed to give sufficient guarantee of their financial future.

The relationship between the club's chairman and coach appears to have deteriorated significantly since then, but for basketball interests in the Clare area, the club's collapse comes as a major blow. A number of schools had hoped to develop coaching and development clinics through the club, but they too have been cut short due to the events of the last month.

For the remaining clubs, of course, the league presses on, and between tomorrow afternoon and the same time Monday half of them will have played twice - Tralee, Waterford, Killester, Limerick, Killarney, the Saints and Tolka Rovers.

Notre Dame, the league leaders, are on court just once when they travel to Limerick tomorrow evening. That game, however, also acts as a preview to their quarter-final meeting in the cup. And while they have home advantage, Limerick's loss this week of Rock Winston, their top American, is sure to make it a difficult tie. A further worry for Limerick is that John Galvin, an under-21 hurler with the county, is away on holiday this weekend celebrating the county's All-Ireland success at that level.

The big game on Monday is likely to be the Dublin clash between the Saints and Tolka Rovers. After crashing out of the cup last weekend, the Saints are now putting all their focus on the league. Similarly, Killester, who made their cup exit at the hands of Tralee, get the chance for revenge by hosting the Kerry side on Monday.

In the women's league, the main focus will be on the meeting of Tolka Rovers, the league champions, and the Wildcats, the cup champions. The latter are the only unbeaten side in the league and appear to have stolen the early momentum on their main rivals for the title.