Pembroke pass Weston examination; Horsfield confirms for Kelburne

Neville Cup: Round One

Weston 1 (Shane O'Hare) Pembroke 3 (Scott Furlong, Michael O'Connor, Patrick Good)

Pembroke were pushed hard by a vastly improved Weston at Griffeen Valley Park this evening but still had enough in the tank to comfortably take the second round place on offer against either Corinthian or Avoca.

Mick O'Connor hit a post from an early corner before Scott Furlong broke the deadlock with a drag-flick for the first half's only goal. Paddy Conlon's battle with Alan Browne was a particular highlight of a tight-knit but fast-paced encounter.

O'Connor doubled the lead from close range, tapping in from Craig Fulton's fine run but Shane O'Hare scored in bizarre fashion, goalkeeper Simon Thornton leaving the ball believing the shot to have been hit from outisde the circle, to pull one back.

Patrick Good, though, on his return to the purple scored from close in, too, to confirm the win in front of a decent sized crowd.

Elsewhere, former Monkstown skipper Ian Horsfield has confirmed he will join up with Scottish champions Kelburne for the upcoming season with the possibility of making their EHL panel. Should he make their 18, he could be in line to face Pembroke in round one of the competition on October 9.

Kelburne have been in rude form to date in their domestic league, winning their first three matches and scoring 26 goals in the process.

Saturday fixtures, Neville Cup round two:

Fingal v Dublin University/Monkstown, 2pm, ALSAA; Skerries vs Glenanne, 2pm, Skerries; Corinthian/Avoca v Pembroke Wanderers, TBC; YMCA v Clontarf, 3pm, Alexandra College

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

Revington lays out international availability

With the World Cup Qualifier fast approaching, men’s national coach Paul Revington has issued guidelines to all club coaches over the availability of central squad members ahead of the tournament which gets underway in Argentina on November 14.

The build-up sees Ireland play eight matches in quick succession in the next couple of weeks. Revington states that Irish squad players are ‘free to play’ in the provincial leagues during this time with the caveat “unless there is a prior international event or training day”.

The schedule laid out sees one major clash; the Irish series with Scotland will coincide with a full series of Leinster division one matches, currently pencilled in for October 3.

That weekend was set to take in Pembroke's trip to Glenanne, though both sides will likely request a postponement until after the WCQ.

The other fixtures affected are Clontarf vs TRR, Fingal vs YMCA and Monkstown vs UCD while Railway Union vs Corinthian can currently be played barring a late call up.

A further issue that weekend to affect those fixtures, though, is the U-16 and U-18 interpros which take place in Grange Road from October 2 to 4. Otherwise, the international players currently remain free for league fixtures on September 26, October 10, 17, 24 and 31. Ireland are likely to depart for a holding camp in South America on November 1.

As for the Neville Cup, however, Revington adds “that Irish Senior Squad players are not permitted to play in other regional cup competitions during the period 7 September – 29 November 2009”.

These guidelines, however, do not refer to goalkeepers who are clear to play in all competitions barring a specific request from Revington.

The coach has circulated these guidelines to all Leinster league clubs and invited club coached to make contact with him should they seek any clarifications.

Ireland set for international triple bill

Paul Revington has named three sets of squads for what promises to be a hectic 12 day schedule that will see Ireland potentially play eight full international fixtures.

The first panel sees 18 players travel to Paris for a mid-week battle with the French on September 23 and 24.

From the side that played in the Europeans, Andy McConnell returns to the panel after missing the tournament with exams while Phelie Maguire, David Ames and Mikey Watt (pictured) come in too.

The scoring threat of John Jermyn, Stephen Butler and Timmy Cockram are among the absentees while Alan Giles is the other player not to travel from the Euro squad.

Geoff McCabe appears to have shaken off a hand injury sustained in Belgium while Watt features for the first time since picking up an injury in the Champion’s Challenge.

Argentina have still yet to fully confirm their trip to Dublin but are pencilled in for a three-match series in on September 28 and 30 and October 1. Paul Gleghorne, Butler, Cockram, Jermyn, Giles, Johnny Jackson and Chris Cargo are additions for this panel with Ames and Peter Caruth stepping out of the panel.

The third series in quick succession takes place in Banbridge with a three game series against Scotland with the panel currently extended still further.

Mark Ruddle, Adam Pritchard, Karl Burns, Mick Maguire, Keith Black, Andrew Herbert, Simon Todd, Gareth Watkins and Peter Blakeney all return to get their chance to reprise their Celtic Cup heroics.

Ireland vs France, September 23&24, Paris, France
David Harte (Pembroke W); Iain Walker (YMCA); Ronan Gormley (Capt Pembroke W); Tim Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers); Joe Brennan (Glenanne); John Jackson (Loughborough); Conor Harte (Pembroke W); David Hobbs (Cork C of I); Graham Shaw (Glenanne); Geoff McCabe (Dragons); David Ames (Cookstown); Andy McConnell (Pembroke W); Eugene Magee (Dragons); Michael Watt (Dragons); Mitch Darling (Leuven); Peter Caruth (Annadale); Alan Sothern (Pembroke W); Phelie Maguire (Leuven)

Ireland vs Argentina, September 28&30 and October 1, Dublin (TBC)
David Harte (Pembroke W); Iain Walker (YMCA); Ronan Gormley (Capt Pembroke W); Tim Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers); Joe Brennan (Glenanne); Paul Gleghorne (Loughborough); Conor Harte (Pembroke W); Geoff McCabe (Dragons); Graham Shaw (Glenanne); Stephen Butler (Glenanne); Phelie Maguire (Leuven); Andy McConnell (Pembroke W); Alan Sothern (Pembroke W); Eugene Magee (Dragons); Alan Giles (Pembroke W); Michael Watt (Dragons); Chris Cargo (Reading)); John Jackson (Loughborough); David Hobbs (Cork C of I); John Jermyn (Cork C of I); Mitch Darling (Leuven); Timmy Cockram (Lisnagarvey)

Ireland vs Scotland, October 2-4, Banbridge.
Iain Walker (YMCA); David Harte (Pembroke W); Ronan Gormley (Capt Pembroke W); Tim Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers); Joe Brennan (Glenanne);John Jackson (Loughborough); Conor Harte (Pembroke W);John Jermyn (Cork C of I); David Hobbs (Cork C of I); Stephen Butler (Glenanne); Graham Shaw (Glenanne); Geoff McCabe (Dragons); Eugene Magee (Dragons); Michael Watt (Dragons); Timmy Cockram (Lisnagarvey); Mitch Darling (Leuven); Phelie Maguire (Leuven); Mark Ruddle (Cork C of I); Adam Pritchard (Cork C of I); Paul Gleghorne (Loughborough); Karl Burns (Cork C of I); Michael Maguire (Three Rock Rovers); Keith Black (Cookstown); David Ames (Cookstown); Andrew Herbert (Cork C of I); Simon Todd (Mossley); Gareth Watkins (Monkstown); Peter Caruth (Annadale); Peter Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers)

Match Schedule
September 23 (6pm): Ireland v France(Paris)
September 24 (2.30pm): Ireland v France(Paris)
September 28 (8.30pm): Ireland v Argentina (UCD)

September 30 (8.30pm): Ireland v Argentina (UCD)

October 1 (8.30pm): Ireland v Argentina (UCD)

October 2 (8pm): Ireland v Scotland (Banbridge)

October 3 (6pm): Ireland v Scotland (Banbridge)

October 4 (2pm): Ireland v Scotland (Banbridge)

YM, Fingal and Glens advance: Neville Cup results

Neville Cup, Round One
YMCA 3 (Richie Pedreschi, Mikey Fry, David Robinson) TRR 1 (Garry Ringwood)
YMCA continued their fine recent form against Three Rock Rovers to record a comfortable opening day win and reach the last eight of the Neville Cup at Alexandra College.

Shane Madeley had an early goal chalked off but, from then on, YM were comfortably in control with Richie Pedreschi's fine touch opening the scoring before Mikey Fry finished off a good team move. David Robinson completed their tally in the 60th minute with a drag-flick.

Rovers only response came late on from the penalty spot while Neil Lyons picked up his first yellow card since U-16 level hockey.

UCD 2 (Ronan Flannery, Tim Hill) Fingal 3 (Trevor Parsons, David Bane, Paddy Gahan)
Three goals in 14 second half minutes swung this tie in Fingal's favour as they over-turned a 1-0 half-time deficit to beat John McInroy's UCD at Belfield.

Ronan Flannery's first half corner gave the students the lead in a tetchy first half which saw four green cards and Fingal reduced to nine men when Paddy Gahan and Brian Gray were both sin-binned.

But they bounced back with goals from Trevor Parsons, David Bane and Gahan to lead 3-1 with 20 minutes left. Tim Hill scored on debut to pull one back late on.

Glenanne 6 (Shane O'Donoghue 2, Mark Lambe 2, Eddie O'Malley, Alan Lewis) Suttonians 0
Glenanne enjoyed a comfortable easing into the competitive season with a half-dozen goals against Suttonians at St Mark's this afternoon. Teenager Shane O'Donoghue responded to his recent call-up to the Ireland A futures panel with a brace while the more experienced Mark Lambe also netted twice.

* For more of Adrian Boehm's photos from YMCA vs Fingal, click here; for Emer Keogh's photos from the same game, click here. UCD vs Fingal pics can be found here.

YM aim to Rock Rovers: Neville Cup

A hectic preseason of transfers will begin to take a more formal shape this week with the first round of the Neville Cup tipping off in the coming week. The tie of the round takes place at the unfamiliar surroundings of Alexandra College as YMCA host Three Rock Rovers.

YM all but put paid to Rovers’ league chances last time out, drawing 2-2 twice in the league run-in and if they can continue their post-Christmas form into the 2009/10 season, they may have quite a say in the race for IHL qualification.

Jacob Webber was a big factor in that run and YM will hope Aussie imports Simon Mills and Todd Gill will be able to take up that momentum. Cliff Bailey also makes the move up the Dart line from Bray.

David Robinson and Andy Walker have missed much of a preseason that brought wins over Clontarf, Avoca, Railway, UCD and Bristol Uni but should be fit for Saturday’s tie.

They will hope that training and playing on the more player and spectator friendly Alex water-based will aid their quest. Patrick Good, however, has made the short hop back to Pembroke while Rob Anderson and Jamie Tobin are set to join UCD.

Rovers, for their part, have endured a tough summer which has seen Mitch Darling and Phelie Maguire take up contracts in Belgium, Andy McConnell move to Pembroke and assistant coach Lucas Piccioli move back to Corinthian.

Sven Galjaardt comes in from Holland while Pieter Steins-Bisschop lands in Dublin tonight in the club’s efforts to fill the gaps. Peter Blakeney and Mick Maguire are still in Australia where they contested a state final.

Rovers have had a decent pre-season, results-wise, beating Fingal and Cork Harlequins twice a piece as well as former coach Turloch O’Siochain’s Bristol Uni outfit.

Fingal, buoyed by the arrival of Gary Sharman, Hugh Kelly, Stephen Thompson (right) and Mark Sandell, face a new-look UCD in the round's other all-division match-up.

Tom Manning and Derek O’Gorman will also add to the former Kilkenny contingent in due course but are still involved with Dicksboro in the current Kilkenny inter hurling championship which has the potential to stretch into October.

It will be UCD’s first game with John McInroy at the helm and they have already undergone an intense physical ‘boot-camp’ in their bid to escape the nether regions of division one.

Ronan Flannery is the biggest addition. An injury-free version of the Pembroke player would be an excellent addition to any division one side and the students will hope he can return to his form of two seasons ago.

Tim Hill and Ross Gribben have also come in while Stephen O’Keefe has departed for Railway Union.

In Saturday’s other tie, Frank Byrne gets an immediate chance to pit his wits against Arul Anthoni, the man he assisted last year, as Suttonians face Glenanne.

Paul Revington’s guidelines for international outfield players means Stephen Butler, Joe Brennan and Graham Shaw will not be on show at St Mark’s but there could be debuts for Mick McGuinness – facing one of his former clubs – and Filip Jaros (left).

In the ties up for decision next week, Alan Browne's Weston debut sees Pembroke visit Lucan. A trip to England and international players stipulations means the line-up for the Serpentine Avenue club is currently up in the air.

Corinthian face an Avoca side who have been busy in preseason, too, while Monkstown should have too much for a Dublin Uni side, who installed Niall Denham as their trainer for the season, whose college term does not begin for another three weeks.

Neville Cup Round 1
Saturday, September 12: UCD vs Fingal, 1pm, Belfield; Glenanne vs Suttonians, 2pm, Glenanne Park; YMCA vs Three Rock Rovers, 2pm, Alexandra College, Milltown
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

Neville Cup fixtures: News in Brief

* This season's men's Leinster senior hockey action this Saturday with the first round of the Neville Cup. Here's the fixtures:

Neville Cup Round 1
Saturday, September 12: UCD vs Fingal, 1pm, Belfield; Glenanne vs Suttonians, 2pm, Glenanne Park; YMCA vs Three Rock Rovers, 2pm, Alexandra College, Milltown
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

A full preview of Saturday's fixtures will appear tomorrow afternoon.

* Loreto HC are looking to fill a few junior coaching positions for ladies 3rd to 6th XI teams. If you are interested in taking on the role, contact Cara Taaffe at dctaaffe@eircom.net, or 086 343 2922. Training for these teams takes place on Thursday nights in Beaufort.

* Munster's annual coaching conference takes place this Saturday in Harlequins Hockey Club on from 9am to 5pm. The day will include presentations and four on-pitch sessions from some of Ireland 's top coaches:

Paul Revington (right) – Ireland Senior Mens Coach; Richie Malone – Ireland U18 Girls Asst Coach; Stephen Watt – HP Manager Ulster Hockey and Wesley Bateman – Harlequins men's assistant Coach

Registration is required as places are limited - attendees are asked to email their details to munstercoaching@gmail.com to reserve a place.

* Geoff Conn, following excellent performances at the EuroHockey Nations Challenge I, has been promoted to the Promising Umpires List by the FIH Umpiring Committee.

Carol Metchette has been assigned to the pool of Umpires for the Women's World Cup Qualifiers, which are due to be played in Santiago (CHI) and two as yet unidentified venues during the February - April 2010 period.

Also, Warren McCully has been appointed to the Umpires panel at the Men's World Cup Qualifier, due to be played in Invercargill (NZL) from November 7-15, 2009.

* Finally, to watch the RTE hour-long special from the Irish women's European campaign in Amsterdam, click here

Loreto set for Italian job; UCD off to Prague

Inaugural IHL winners Loreto will travel to Rome for the EuroHockey Club Champion's Trophy next May 20-23, 2010, following an EHF announcement today.

They have been drawn in a group with Belgian champions La Gantoise - home club of former ALex and Trinity player Ciara Murphy - Russian club Izmaylova Moscow and Scotland's Kelburne.

The other group features Ukraine's Borispol, Azerbaijan's Baku, Italian club Libertas San Saba and Belarussians Ritm Grodno.

UCD, meanwhile, are in Prague for the Club Champion's Challenge I event. They face Belgian runners-up Royal Uccle, Cambrai from France and Switzerland's Rottweiss Wettingen.

The alternate group includes Italian, Belarussian, Lithuanian and Czech opposition and takes place from May 21 to 24.

AIQ raises curtain on schoolboy's season

The boy’s schools hockey competitions get underway next week with the curtain-raiser for the 2009/10 season coming in the form of the All-Ireland Schools qualifier.

Wesley, St Andrews and Kilkenny have already pre-qualified for the tournament by virtue of last year’s league results with Leinster, leaving two places up for grabs in the main event to be won.

A tournament, to be played in Grange Road on September 16, will consist of four teams playing off in a series 30 minute matches to establish the top two.

With the increased competitiveness of the likes of High School, Mount Temple and Dundalk, along with the re-emergence of St Columba’s, this looks set to be a hotly contested competition.

A new cup, meanwhile, will be initiated this year for senior boys with the two finalists progressing to the semi finals of the main senior cup to meet the two top seeds from last year – Wesley and St Andrews – giving schools outside the top two a fair chance of silverware.

Kilkenny would be considered favourites for the tournament. The full league structure for 2009/10 will be released in the coming week.

Donabate Community School, meanwhile, will be a new addition to the Leinster schools map as they will take part in the development leagues.

A massive amount of groundwork has gone in from the likes of Adrian Henchey, among others, with a new water-based pitch being built in the area, too, to hopefully aid the advancement of hockey in the area.

UCD draw tough ISC-defence opener

UCD will begin the defence of their women's ESB Irish Senior Cup with the toughest tie of the first round drawn today when they host Cork C of I at Belfield on October 10.

Both sides are likely to be much changed from the 2008/09 vintage with Roisin Flinn moving to Old Alex and Holly Jenkinson on her way to Railway Union while Australian Michaela Mihailou is no longer with the Munster side.

Nonetheless, it looks the stand-out tie of the first round which was drawn at the Hooked conference in front of an audience of 120 coaches from clubs all around Ireland.

Hermes play Trinity in the only all-Leinster tie. Leinster league champions Railway travel to Victorians while Corinthian host last year's finalists Pegasus. Pembroke face Lurgan on home turf while Glenanne have a tough opener at St Mark's, facing IHT winners and ISC semi-finalists Ulster Elks.

National champions Loreto, Alex and Bray all received byes to the second round, set for November 7.

First round draw (October 10): UCD v Cork C of Ireland; Cork Harlequins v Belfast Harlequins; Victorians v Railway Union; Corinthian v Pegasus; Pembroke Wanderers v Lurgan; Glenanne v Ulster Elks; Hermes v Dublin University
Byes to second round (November 7): Ballymoney; Ards; Lisnagarvey; Loreto; Old Alex; Randalstown; UCC; Armagh; Bray

New Premier League debuts this week

With the new school year beginning, the revamped senior girl’s Premier League tips off this week with eight games on show.

As announced on The Hook in June, the League has changed format radically, from four pools of four teams to two pools of nine teams.

The aim is for players to experience a genuine 'league campaign', with all the fluctuations that entails and lead to an exciting race for semi-finals hotting up around Christmas time – the two teams qualify from each section.

The groups were compiled using a seeding system based on last years performances, and the two newcomers to this level, Sutton Park and Mount Temple, were drawn into different sections. Many eyes will be focused upon last year’s winners, Alexandra College.

St Andrew’s will also be keenly followed as winners of both last year’s Senior Cup and Junior League. Mount Anville, winners of the Junior Cup last season, will be hopeful that squad is able to translate that success to Senior level.

* Weekly updates will be posted on the site, along with league tables, top-scorers chart, and clean-sheet lists.

Week 1 fixtures (to be played by September 12)
Section A: Mount Temple v Our Lady's Terenure; Loreto, Dalkey v St Andrews College; Mount Sackville v Rathdown; Wesley College v Muckross Park

Section B: Loreto, Foxrock v St. Gerards; Holy Child, Killiney v The High School; Loreto, Beaufort v Sutton Park; The Kings Hospital v Mount Anville

League Format:
• Two pools of 9 teams play each school once

• Top two qualify for semi-finals (Wednesday, February 3, 2010)

• Final to be played on Thursday, February 11, 2010

• Seedings for 2010/2011 season will be based on final league position in this year's competition

Revington announces re-jigged squads

Three weeks since completing a hectic international schedule, Paul Revington (pictured in discussion with manager Peter Jackson) has already begun formulating plans for the upcoming World Cup qualifier and, indeed, the much longer term future for the senior men’s team.

Stating his ambition to “create more depth around the senior Ireland men’s team” he has named a 35 man central training panel, 12 players as part of the Ireland A panel and a further 19 as potential A squad members of the future.

The aim of increasing the squads is to help assist the core players while creating a healthy competitive spirit.

Speaking about the central panel, Rveington said: “Our regional training programme through September and October aims to create such an environment for our elite players to improve themselves.

“While the 22 players selected between Champions Challenge II and ENT in Wrexham currently sit in prime position for selection, there will be opportunities for players to force their way into the team through consistency of performance. The training panel will be reviewed again in 2010 after conclusion of the WCQ."

On the A panel, he added: “The purpose is to establish a strength and conditioning base for these players at a critical developmental age, to introduce these players to important senior Irish team playing principles, and develop a 10 month programme that works toward an end goal for these players to be assessed by the end of July 2010.

"The peripheral group of players aged 16-20 we believe has the potential to force their way into the Ireland A Squad. The A Squad is by no means a closed squad, and this peripheral group will reward consistent performer."

Ireland senior men's training squad 2009/10: D Ames (Cookstown), K Black (Cookstown), P Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers), J Brennan (Glenanne), K Burns (Cork C of I), S Butler (Glenanne), C Cargo (Reading), P Caruth (Annadale), T Cockram (Lisnagarvey), M Darling (KHC Leuven), A Giles (Pembroke Wanderers), P Gleghorne (Loughborough), R Gormley (Pembroke Wanderers), C Harte (Pembroke Wanderers), D Harte (GK, Pembroke Wanderers), A Herbert (Cork C of I), D Hobbs (Cork C of I), J Jackson (Loughborough), J Jermyn (Cork C of I) G Lennox (GK, Banbridge), T Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers), E Magee (Dragons), M Maguire (Three Rock Rovers), P Maguire (KHC Leuven), G McCabe (Dragons), B McCandless (Banbridge), A McConnell (Pembroke Wanderers), A Pritchard (Cork C of I), M Ruddle (GK, Cork C of I), G Shaw (Glenanne), A Sothern (Pembroke Wanderers), S Todd (Mossley), I Walker (GK, YMCA), G Watkins (Monkstown), M Watt (Dragons).

Ireland A men's squad 2009/10: D Carson (Corinthians), B Doherty (Corinthians), D Fitzgerald (GK, Monkstown), K Good (Three Rock Rovers), S Hunter (Lisnagarvey), J Kane (Glenanne), S Loughrey (Pembroke Wanderers), J Lynch (Lisnagarvey), S O'Donoghue (Glenanne), S Smyth (Cookstown), T Smyth (Cookstown), C Sweetnam (Bandon), D Robinson (YMCA)

Players identified for future Ireland A men's squad selection: D Best (Cookstown), P Brown (Banbridge), P Catchpole (Cork C of I), S Cole (Monkstown), A Daunt (Cork C of I), S Dowds (Banbridge), S Forbes (Banbridge), D Hobbs (Cork Harlequins), K Lynch (Cork C of I), P MacDonnell (Lisnagarvey), R McCrea (Mossley), P Purcell (Annadale), W Robinson (Instonians), P Shanahan (Three Rock Rovers), I Sloan (Cookstown), S Sloan (Cookstown), C Speers (Monkstown), A Thom (GK, Cookstown), S West (GK, Three Rock Rovers)

* For more of Paul Revington's thoughts on these selections, click here

LHUA roll out two major initiatives

In an incredibly busy summer of international hockey, Irish umpires yet again picked up top appointments across the board, culminating in Carol Metchette (left) and Colin Hutchinson taking charge of semi-finals and bronze medal matches at last week’s Europeans.

The Leinster Hockey Umpires Association has been working equally hard in the summer months to ensure this level of appointments continues and this week announced a series of initiatives to encourage a new generation of whistle-blowers.

To this end, the LHUA will launch their search for new umpires with a seminar welcoming two of the world’s best umpires, Peter von Reth and Henrik Ehlers (right), to the Montrose Hotel on September 19 and 20.

Between them, they have officiated at over ten Olympic Games and World Cups and are seen as two of the foremost authorities on the art in the world.

They will explain over a series of seminars on the weekend how the world of umpiring works as well as the pathway from club umpiring through to getting appointed to an Olympics.

To register your interest in attending, contact your Club Secretary for inclusion on your club’s list. Places are strictly limited and are offered on a first come first served basis.

The second major initiative being put in place has seen the association set up a Leinster Umpire Development Programme in a bid to help train and mentor young male and female umpires aged between 16 and 30.

Training will commence in mid-October and will run once a fortnight for 10 to 12 weeks. Umpires packs including a whistle, cards and a set of cards will be provided and it is anticipated participants will be umpiring at junior level within the first year.

* Apply, in the first instance, to Crozier Deane at deniseandcrozier@hotmail.com or 086 828 1393

* On a related note, Ray O'Connor will be back in the next week or two with a column on the rule changes being introduced this year. If you have questions on what's being introduced, what interpretation is being used and so on, leave a comment or email stevie_findlats@yahoo.com to help us get a flavour of what issues you feel are important.

Argie Bargie confirmed for Irish men

Ireland’s men will travel to Argentina for their World Cup qualifier, the FIH has confirmed this morning, for the tournament to be played from November 14-22.

They are the third ranked side in the six team group with Belgium, USA, the Czech Republic, Chile as well as the hosts.

The Belgians represent the friendliest of three top-ranked sides available – the others being Pakistan and New Zealand – especially in light of their inconsistent at the Europeans.

They produced an exhilarating performance against Germany only to lose 3-2 before struggling badly against Austria and England, the latter an 8-2 defeat in what was supposed to be the group’s defining game.

Ireland’s close relationship with the Belgians has seen numerous ‘Ryanair’ internationals in recent years while five senior Irish internationals will play in the Belgian top tier in the upcoming season to add to the intrigue.

Argentina is the second ranked side and another which Ireland knows well. In the most significant recent meeting, the Irish nicked a 1-0 win with Ronan Gormley scoring the vital goal in February 2008’s Olympic qualifier.

Ultimately, Ireland needed a second goal to oust the Argentines from a final place in that competition. On home territory in Quilmes, though, they are likely to be a much tougher proposition.

Ireland got the better of the USA 8-0 in that same tournament while a Champion’s Challenge win over Chile suggests those games are eminently winnable.

The Czech Republic showed enough in the Euros in Wrexham to suggest they will be a challenge but Gino Schilders’ side has never so much as drawn with the Irish in four attempts.

As such, it was always likely to be a tough draw as a third seed but Paul Revington will no doubt relish the challenge.

Furthermore, the dates suit Ireland’s EHL chances with the maximum distance between Round 1a and this, the third of three WCQ competitions.

Full WCQ draws:
FIH Men’s World Cup Qualifier Lille, France, 31 October-8 November 2009:Pakistan, Japan, France, Poland, Russia, Italy (as reserve country)

BDO FIH Men’s World Cup Qualifier, Invercargill, New Zealand, 7-15 November 2009: New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Austria, Scotland, Wales

BDO FIH Men’s World Cup Qualifier, Quilmes, Argentina, 14-22 November 2009:Belgium, Argentina, Ireland, USA, Czech Republic, Chile

No ranking change for men or women

Despite improved performances for both the Irish men and women in their respective European competitions, the pair remain at 18th and 15th in the latest world rankings list, released on September 1.

The ranking list takes in the recently completed European series but points gained in the Champion’s Challenge events will not be calculated until Champion’s Trophy is completed – October for the women, December for the men.

Neither competition is likely to make a massive impact on current standing but the upcoming World Cup qualifiers will have a much bigger say – with final tallies to kick in 2010.

To that end, a major shark has been thrown into the women’s mix with Australia ousted on penalty strokes by New Zealand in the Oceania zone last Saturday.

Indeed, Ireland are likely to be the sixth ranked country for the qualifiers – behind the Australians, USA, Azerbaijan and two Asian sides – and could well draw the Hockeyroos as a result, which would represent an incredibly tough draw.

This situation, though, is dependent on how the exceptionally competitive Asian qualifying zone pans out.

For the men, Argentina looks increasingly likely to be the destination. Ireland will be the ninth ranked of the 18 sides in the WCQs, meaning two higher ranked sides will need to be overcome to secure a place in India next March.