Browne set for baptism of fire

The first of a trio of midweek Neville Cup fixtures tip off tonight with Weston hosting Pembroke at Griffeen Valley Park for the first time with new boss Alan Browne facing a baptism of fire.

Brian Scully and Vikram Singh are two notable signings but Pembroke, even without Conor Harte, Tim Lewis, Ronan Gormley, Alan Giles and Alan Sothern will be confident of a result.

They had a productive weekend in England, picking up a 4-3 win and a 3-3 draw against fellow EHL-bound outfit East Grinstead. Sothern cracked in six of the goals but while his scoring threat will be absent, Gordon Elliott and Justin Sherriff were unavailable for that trip and are likely to return.

Corinthian begin their season under Andrew Cronje full of optimism with a side who have potential to push on this year. A strong second half of the season in 08/09, highlighted by their Mills Cup win, gives hope and the impending return of Darren Kimfley is a big boon.

Barry Glavey could be a key signing while Lucas Piccioli is back in the fold after a year across Marlay Park. Avoca have done some recruiting over the summer, raiding Bray for a couple of players with Jamie Crawford and Rob Pearson among those moving further up the Dart line.

The final tie of the round on Thursday night sees Dublin Uni and Monkstown play for the right to face Fingal in round two. Trinity once again have a big exodus to contend with. Ben Hewitt (Clontarf), Glavey (Corinthian) and Nick Odlum (Aberdeen) have all moved on while Aengus Stanley and Jonny Orr are not available until the new year.

Monkstown have similar departees with Filip Jaros moving to Glenanne, Fran Lee travelling and Ian Horsfield moving to Scotland for work reasons.

Neville Cup Round 1

Tuesday, September 15: Weston vs Pembroke Wanderers, 7.15pm, Esker Lucan

Wednesday, September 16: Corinthian vs Avoca, 8.15pm, Whitechurch Park

Thursday, September 17: Dublin University vs Monkstown, 7.30pm, Santry Avenue