Last weekend’s eagerly anticipated National League derby between the Scotts Lakers and the Killarney Cougars was postponed to a later date due to a lack of referees.

The match was scheduled to go ahead on Saturday evening (November 12) at the Presentation Gym but both clubs were notified on Thursday (November 10) that it would not go ahead.

Speaking to the Killarney Advertiser, representatives from both clubs expressed their disappointment that the match had been cancelled.

Basketball Ireland spokesperson Nathaniel Cope told the Killarney Advertiser that the shortage of referees was due to a "larger than normal volume of games". Some referees were also unavailable due to injury or illness.

"Despite all this, only one fixture had to be postponed [last] weekend and we are working with both Killarney Cougars and Scotts Lakers to find a suitable new date for their game."

The Lakers felt they had found an immediate solution last Thursday when St Paul’s ladies’ coach James Fleming offered to switch his side’s home game against the Limerick Sport Huskies from the Aura to the Cougars’ home venue, the Pres Gym. The ladies game was due to tip off at 7.30pm the same evening but they were willing to bring it forward to 5pm.

Paul’s believed that this would allow the referees from that fixture to also referee the men’s game, which was due to start at 7.15pm.

The only catch was that the men’s game would need to be delayed by 15 minutes due to Basketball Ireland ruling that states that both teams need to have access to the court at least one hour before tip-off.

Ultimately the Lakers’ suggestion was not agreeable to all parties so the match will now go ahead at a later date.

The Lakers will take on SETU Carlow away from home tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm. The Cougars do not have a fixture this weekend.