As the IHL takes precedence around the country, domestic action is limited to four back matches in men's division one and two. Corinthian have the most to gain with their match in Belfield as they can break into the top four for the first time this season.
Peter Darley and John McInroy's side have had an added pep in their step in recent times though they face a UCD side fighting for positions for their annual colours game next Tuesday afternoon.
Corinthian face former team-mates Karl Smith, Ronan Motyer and Rob Lynch who are playing for a side in desperate need to close the gap on Kilkenny.
Elsewhere, as with most YM previews, it comes with injury worries. Patrick Good has a niggle while David Robinson's shoulder is still acting up. Their Sandymount derby with Railway sees two sides who look to have distanced themselves from the relegation battle and freed up to give their young charges more division one experience.
In division two, Clontarf can extend their lead to nine points with the rearrangement of the controversial fixture with Navan. Some good has come out of it with what seems to be a standardised ruling for abandoned matches.
Subsequent IHL and Ladies division one games have all led to confirmation that matches abandoned - no matter what score or circumstances - will have to be replayed in their entirety.
Its tough on Clontarf who held a 5-0 lead last time out as it is on Dublin University who had only a quarter of their game with Naas to play with a 4-2 advantage. Both those games are rescheduled for Saturday.
Division One (Saturday):
UCD vs Corinthian, 1pm, Belfield; Railway Union vs YMCA, 2.30pm, Park Avenue
Division Two (Saturday):
Naas vs Dublin University, 1pm, Caragh Road; Clontarf vs Navan, 2pm, Mount Temple
15 comments:
Rob llyod is a legend.some man for one man.
Any truth the rumor about Gleghorne declaring for GB
Some seriously contreversial journalism from Johnny Watterson in todays Irish times,sure to be a few eyebrows raised as a result,I for one think it was written in what seems to be very bad taste,bound to attract conflict both within the Irish men's squad and within Irish hockey circles,can't believe that the paper would allow such a confrontational article based on hearsay to be allowed to go to print
T
I'll post a full story on this later in the weekend but am currently snowed under with work but suffice to say there is a quite a few issues to be addressed!
Read the article alright! Some serious issues raised alright and answers are needed!
Johnny Watterson's article is pretty scathing alright, particularly since he hasn't confirmed anything with the player...
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0130/1232923375713.html
Watterson bemoaning the early retirements that have become common over recent years? If ever there was an issue that has blighted Irish hockey, it is the early retirement of some of our most talented (and not so old) internationals. About time somebody publicly highlighted this.
it's perfectly reasonable for these internationals to want more from the sport. they commit so much, are expected to do so much and are constantly looking for leniency from their employers, something that must be harder and harder to get these days.
the options are play hockey professionally, or with some amount of financial incentive, or retire and focus on family and work.
that's what made Watterson's comparison of Hockey internationals with Brian O Driscoll ridicuulous. Ultimately what should be taken from this is that the IHA have to encourage players to stay on in international hockey or have a conveyer belt of youth coming through. i think the former is easier.
Any idea on how the IHA plan to deal with this poissible exodus of players?
Watterson made references to Brian O driscoll and how at 30 he is still hoping to play on for Ireland for another 3 or 4 years,and then made the point that why at 28/29 were our top athletes retiring from the sport?money and support structures,thats why.The senior athletes are given minimal funding and support from behind and with the economy so weak these days it is difficult for employers to allow players extra time off for training camps and international competitions.Watterson appears to have gotten his information from one of the players re the Gleghorne issue,and his pointing out of this will no doubt cause trouble within the irish camp,i'm sure Paul Revington will be delighted with this if its true and will be glad to see he can trust his squad with confidential matters!!Really bad work in my opinion from Johnny Watterson.
Interesting times ahead
A very sloppy and arrogant piece of journalism by Mr W --making comparisons with BOD is ludicrous--if hockey players were getting half his ( BOD's not JW's) money they too would play to 35 --the reality is that it is an amateur sport and people have to earn a living and take decisions as to whether they can commit to another Olympic Qualifying campaign in 3.5 years time-- asking employers for extra time off in this climate is even more difficult --salute them as amateurs who are not getting paid despite making extraordinary commitments --salute them for standing down after 100+ caps -- the real truth is that such pieces are easy to write from the comfort of an armchair compared to the more insightful contributions that we read on this Blog
Any publicity for hockey is good publicity. The more controversial the better I say.
getting some publicity if fine but he only perks up when there's someone to slate
The greater problem with JW's work is that he only seems to bother putting any effort in when its something really negative - has anyone seen him at a game in years?
what about all the good games which would be worth writing about or maybe the rising talent or anything like that... seems he just reads a few results and fleshes out the rest of the column from there.
I get the feeling that JW is pining for an opinion piece in the Irish Times and is using what is supposed to be a news story to get his opinions across.
Clontarf 14 - 0 Navan
UCD 0 - 9 Corinthian.
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