Two weeks down and just two teams in the Domino’s Men’s Super League remain undefeated.
Both Belfast Star and Flexachem KCYMS can keep that 100% record intact by defending their home court against Limerick Celtics and Killester
Doing so would cement their status as a threat to defending champions UCC Demons as the seasons hits top gear.
Last weekend saw a slate of thrillers with EJ Sligo All-Stars, Flexachem KCYMS, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors and St. Vincents all take wins in the dying embers of the game. Most notably was Elijah Faapitos buzzer-beater for Sligo to get the All-Stars their first victory of the season against Limerick Celtics.
The biggest statement last weekend was made by Belfast Star who defeated Energywise Ireland Neptune by 36 points led by the Irish international Rapolas Buivydas, who had 24 of his own points which put the Stars to 2-0 after they beat Sligo in week one by 26. Adrian Fulton’s men host Limerick Celtics this weekend hoping to me it three from three as we take a look at week three.
Belfast Star v Limerick Celtics, Saturday, 6:30pm
These two teams had two polar opposite Saturdays last weekend. For Celtics, AJ Williams and Abdul Wurie were the driving force in a game where the lead changed 11 times and unfortunately for the Limerick side, it was not a repeat of their late week one triumph over Ballincollig. It was EJ Sligo All-Stars who took home the win 88-86 to leave the newly-promoted Celtics side at 1-1 to start the season. They will be hoping to get their season back on track when they travel back up north this weekend to face Belfast.
Star have had a convincing start to the season with two double-digit victories, edging the favourites tag ever closer to Adrian Fulton’s charges. With Ireland’s next international window fast approaching, Rapolas Buivydas will be aiming to continue his fine form from last weekends game. Flanked by a supporting cast of Aidan Quinn, Max Richardson and Conor Liston, who combined for 56 of the 112 points that Belfast put on the board, Buivydas and company know another notch on the win column will really throw down a marker to the rest of the league that the side from the North really mean business.
Energywise Ireland Neptune v Ballincollig, Saturday, 6:30pm
Both Cork sides Ballincollig and Energywise Ireland Neptune have endured a rather sobering start to the season in the Domino’s Men’s Super League. A tough opening loss for Neptune to local rivals UCC Demons and then a heavy defeat to Belfast last Saturday didn’t do any favours for the Cork side. Averaging 90.5 points and being 0-2 is surely going to be weighing on the minds a bit, as they prepare for another Cork derby this weekend against Ballincollig.
Ballincollig have been slightly more unlucky when it comes to their record this season. In week one, they lost in the final moments of the game to promoted side Limerick Celtics 88-87. And just last week, they had led for the majority of the third and fourth quarter but surrendered the lead to St. Vincent’s in the final four minutes as they lost 95-91 to go 0-2. Having two players averaging 19 and 23 points in Latavious Mitchell and Latrell Jossell, is more comforting for the men from Cork that their fortunes are sure to turn around quite quickly.
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors v UCC Demons, Saturday, 7pm
Defending champions UCC Demons lost their unbeaten status after falling to Flexacham KCYMS last Sunday. As for Tralee, they started off the season also with a defeat to Killorglin, but they bounced back last Saturday with a massive win at home to UCD Marian.
A 21-point showing from Jordan Perkins was enough to just get the Warriors over the line against UCD in a game where both sides led by as much as seven points, had been tied up on 14 occasions and switched leads a total of ten times. But in the fourth quarter, Tralee took the lead inside the opening minute of the final ten and never let up from there as they took home a 77-74 victory.
As for the Super League champions, UCC welcomed Jordan Blount and Flexachem KCYMS to the Mardyke Arena last Sunday. In a game where the Demons felt firmly in control with a 16-point lead in the third quarter, it was Eche Okeke with a stunning 35-point performance in his Super League debut for the team. For UCC, it was the duo of Tala Fam Thiam and Shariff Black that were the driving force behind their offence with Thiam scoring 19 points and adding 5 rebounds whilst Black scored 16 and added 10 rebounds to go with it.
With both sides looking to tilt their 1-1 records in their favour, we are in for a hotly contested game with two times that have strong offensive showings in their pockets so far.
UCD Marian v EJ Sligo All-Stars, Saturday, 7pm
Another two teams that are even in the win and loss column so far sees UCD Marian hosting EJ Sligo All-Stars on Saturday night. Both teams were involved in nail-biting finishes last time out, suffering mixed fortunes in the process.
In UCD, they’ll feel they could have been at 2-0 heading into this weekend after putting on a solid performance in Kerry against Tralee but lost grip in the game as time ticked down in the fourth eventually leading to a three point defeat. Led by Joshua Reynolds, who scored 22 and added 6 rebounds and 6 assists to push Tralee all the way but it just wasn’t meant to be.
As for Sligo, they dug in and put on a gritty performance to take down the promoted Limerick Celtics at the buzzer thanks to Elijah Faapito’s steal and jumper to get the All-Stars their first victory of the season after what was a rather damning defeat to Belfast in week one by 26 points. 67 of Sligo’s 88 points against Limerick came through three men. Jazere Noel dropped 26 with 8 boards, Christian Michael Williams hit 23 points and Ryell Rodney Etyle-Rock hit 18 of his own on debut to give all the confidence for the Connacht side heading into this weekend in Dublin.
Griffith College Éanna v St. Vincent’s, Saturday, 7pm
Both sides here managed to get their seasons back on track last weekend with Éanna taking down Killester in a Dublin derby and St Vincent’s were in a thriller against Ballincollig which resulted in them taking home a win 95-91.
For Éanna, a 12-point loss to UCD Marian was not the way they had hoped the season would get underway for them. However a 24-point performance from Sean Jenkins supported by the cast of Mikah Blackwell and Kristijan Andabacka, who combined for 37, was exactly what the doctor ordered as Éanna beat Killester by 11-points last Saturday to go 1-1.
When it comes to St. Vincent’s season it has been a very mixed bag. A hefty defeat to Killester in week one really knocked the Dublin side for six as they lost by 24. A big response was required last weekend and it was delivered as they turned over Ballincollig 95-91 with 36 points from Jaylyn Richardson being the standout performance from the game. Newly-acquired from Portlaoise, James Phelan contributed 18 points in a way that will surely enhance his reputation to the Vincent’s faithful.
Flexachem KCYMS v Killester, Saturday, 7:15pm
Flexachem KCYMS have really put the league on notice so far this season. Starting off with a convincing seven-point victory against Tralee in a game where they led by as much as 17. Killorglin really solidified their status as a challenger last weekend when they managed to take down the defending champions UCC Demons in Cork where they came back from 16 points down to win by 6. Eche Okeke will be hoping to continue his form after dropping 35 on his debut against Demons.
As for Killester, it has been quite the bumpy start to the season. Defeating St. Vincent’s by 24 in their opening game gave them as much confidence as require to head into week two against Éanna with all the confidence in the world. Yet it didn’t turn out as planned as 48 points from the duo of Paul Dick and Robert Braswell IV didn’t get Killester over the line and Éanna took home the win to put Killester at an even mark two weeks into the season.
Killorglin will be hoping to stay unbeaten after Saturday evenings fixtures come to a close but they’ll face a tall task against a Killester side who have shown they have the ability to pile on the pressure when they need to and they themselves will be hoping to go 2-1 and go level with Killorglin come Saturday night.
It’s another huge week early in the Domino’s Women’s Super League campaign, as four teams enter with a perfect record, while four more currently sit winless at the start of week three.
Killester, Brunell, Killarney and Trinity are all still unbeaten as we approach the third weekend of the season. We have an early top of the table clash closing out the weekend, but before that we have a battle at the opposite end of the table to see who will get to 1-2 first. And in the midst of all that, we have three more fixtures to whet the appetite live on basketballireland.tv .
McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles v Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers, Saturday, 3pm
New girls on the block Cavan have had a rough start to life in the Super League. Starting off with a tough loss to Trinity in week one, the Eagles didn’t favour out too much better last weekend, losing by 17 to Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell. The starting side for Cavan hasn’t exactly been at a low standard however. Soleil Barnes, Ciara Tolan and Mazatkan Harris are all averaging over 10 points per game for the newly-promoted team. They’ll see this as an even bigger opportunity to get that elusive first Super League victory this weekend.
As for Portlaoise, they have their own finely-performing trio in Jessica Fressle, who is averaging 18ppg, Christiana Ojide Boiko, who is averaging 16 and Irish 3×3 international Lynn Tunnah, who is averaging 12 points. In terms of the results, they have had a mixed bag. The Panthers opened the season with a late win over Fr. Mathews in Cork, but couldn’t keep up the form as they lost by ten to Utility Trust St. Pauls Killarney last Sunday. The concerning issue for the Panthers will be that there was not one occasion on Sunday where they took the lead in the game.
Utility Trust St. Pauls Killarney v Catalyst Fr. Mathews, Saturday, 4pm
We have a tale of two cities here as Killarney have gotten off to a flier, going two for two to start the season. Unfortunately for Fr. Mathews, they have struggled a bit more with a two-point defeat to Portlaoise and that was followed up with a hefty 18-point defeat to Trinity last weekend.
The Fr. Mathews duo of Laila Blair and Lexie Givens has been a shining light in what has been a dull start from the Cork side. Notably, Blair is currently averaging 27 points and will be hoping she can keep up her fine shooting form and get that first W for the Cork ladies. Grainne Dwyer has been a great supporting factor recently as she got 11 of her own points against Trinity and added 12 rebounds to stuff up the box score. Fr. Mathews will be looking to get on the board with a win this weekend and start getting the season back into good shape.
As for the home side, Killarney have had two very solid performances to go full steam ahead with their season. The season was kicked off with a 12-point triumph over Waterford and was followed by a 10-point win over Portlaoise last weekend. Both Tara Cousins and Maisie Burnham are averaging over twenty points for St. Pauls and will be hoping that average only increases from this weekend and they go 3-0 to keep their status as undefeated.
Trinity Meteors v SETU Waterford Wildcats, Saturday, 5:30pm
Trinity have made one of the strongest starts to the season in the league averaging 70 points between both games and only conceding an average of 59 points is a solid reason as to why they are now 2-0 in the Super League. Newly-acquired talent Hazel Finn has hit 15 points in both wins and star player Kylie Horstmeyer dropped 21 in an 18-point victory over Fr. Mathews last weekend. The trip down to Cork was the game where Trinity really showed an offensive prowess, leading by as much as 22 in the 75-57 win over Fr. Mathews. They will be hoping the offensive ascent continues when the Wildcats come to Dublin on Saturday.
As for Waterford Wildcats, their resiliency was to the fore in a must-win game against FloMAX Liffey Celtics a week ago. Needing to get on the board following a 12-point loss against Utility Trust St. Pauls Killarney on opening weekend, sister act Kate and Sarah Hickey dovetailed for 30-points to claw the Wildcats to 1-1. New American signing Sanija Brikmane added 22 points to maintain her season average at 21ppg.
Waterford will be looking to spoil the unbeaten party and drop Meteors to 2-1 while also getting to 2-1 themselves. Trinity on the other hand will be looking to make it 3 for 3.
UCC Glanmire v FloMAX Liffey Celtics, Sunday, 1:30pm
Our opening game this Sunday sees a battle at the foot of the table with both Glanmire and Liffey looking to grab that win that has proved evasive to this point in the Domino’s Super League.
UCC Glanmire, after having a tough loss late in week one against Brunell, were dealt a huge blow in week two with Killester knocking them for six and handing the Cork side a 28-point loss. Jewel Watkins has been the star of a clouded sky for UCC hitting 17 points in both of her performances for Glanmire and will be looking to finally make a statement this weekend and take down the National Cup holders.
With Liffey Celtics, they have been handed a nightmare-ish initiation to this season with an opening loss to Killester by 27. Week two wasn’t much better with a 15-point loss to Waterford where Liffey had led by as much as ten early on in the game. With the start of their defence of the National Cup not to far in the distance, FloMAX Liffey Celtics will be looking to correct things sooner rather than later and will start by visiting Glanmire looking to go 1-2 for the season.
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell v Killester, Sunday, 2pm
To close out the weekend, we have a clash between 1st and 2nd with defending champions Killester making the trip from Dublin to Cork to take on 2nd placed Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell to see who remains undefeated until week four at the earliest.
For Brunell, it has been a rather convincing beginning to the 2025/26 season with two wins against UCC Glanmire in week one and Cavan Eagles in week two. Maddie Cluse and Brailyn Jarrell Joseph are both averaging at least 20 points to start the season has seen Brunell be watched as potential challengers. They have put on two performances that see them averaging 80 points as a team and only letting in 65 to put the rest of the league know that they mean business.
As for the defending champions, Killester are making a title defence look like an absolute breeze winning in week one by 27 against Liffey Celtics and winning by 28 against Glanmire last weekend. Just like Brunell they are brushing teams aside and the stats show that. Killester are averaging 89 and conceding just 56. But as is the case in all of these title fighting fixtures, something has got to give.
