Thursday, March 12, 2009

North Kildare, Muckross and Avoca II take league honours

Kickstarting the busy season for trophy-engravers, the first three Leinster women's league titles were confirmed in the past week with numerous others up for decision on Saturday afternoon.


North Kildare's firsts took the division three crown last Saturday with a 2-0 victory away to Diocesan before extending their advantage to ten points over the chasing pack, with just two games remaining, with a 1-0 win on Sunday in Fingal.

Their success was built on an incredible home defensive record that did not concedea single goal all season.

A division down, Muckross moved ten clear of Weston when they beat Trinity 3-1 in Santry to bounce back up to division three.

Division 11, meanwhile, went the way of Avoca IIs who have built up an 11-point margin over the chasing pack. They were the first side to win their league, taking the honours on February 28 with an 8-2 win over Muckross IV.

On the men's side, nothing has been decided just yet but Dublin University III are closest to taking league honours. They need a point from their remaining two games or Fingal III to drop a point in their last four games.

Having presided in the now defunct division ten nine years ago, this could prove a fifth promotion in recent years. They set up the acheivement with a 3-0 victory over Avoca - the Blackrock side featuring former Trinity stalwarts Alan Stokes, Paddy Frankel and Hugh Passmore.

*For more pictures from Dublin University III vs Avoca, taken by Jessica Pakenham-Money, click here and for more Dublin University photos, click here

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

North Kildare will struggle next year on astro........anyone know where they will be playing their Home games next season????

Stephen Findlater said...

From my understanding, there are plans in place for North Kildare to put in an astro-turf pitch. I'm not sure what the time frame is at the moment but it is definitely at an advanced planning stage.

Anonymous said...

monkstown not wrapped up division 14 and ym divison 9??

Anonymous said...

have Monkstown ladies not won their Div by now?

Anonymous said...

It's no suprise teams like North Kildare, Brendans, Mullingar etc stay up every year when they can me almost guaranteed to win their home games.
It's ridiculous, they should be made play on astro or they can't play in the league, simple as.

Stephen Findlater said...

As for Monkstown and YMCA ladies, both are having fine seasons and look likle they could take their respective divisions.

However, from the data I have to hand, YM can still be caught by Malahide in div 9 and Monkstown can be caught by YMCA 2nds.

Anonymous said...

North Kildare pitch will be in place by Sept. so they will play at home.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to North Kildare on winning Div 3 they are a tough team to play against in a very tight division. It will be interesting to see if they can keep the same home record in Division 2 as playing on grit this year was definitely to their advantage.

Anonymous said...

John Waring draw is up Stephen!



http://www.hockey.ie/competitions/boys.cfm

Anonymous said...

wat about ucd mens 3's in div 8 ?? have they not won it yet

Anonymous said...

woohoo go AVOCA ladies II!!!

Anonymous said...

UCD mens 3's have obviously not won division 8, they aren't even coming first!

Anonymous said...

To March 12, 2009 6:24 PM

Thats exactly the type of attitude that'll see more clubs fall by the wayside. Most clubs currently playing on girt/grass would love to have an astro of their own and are pursuing ways of procuring them.

On the men's side, we have lost about 3/4 divisions in the last ten years and we need to buck the trend and encourage people to take up the game not prohibit those from playing.

Naas survived for ages without an astro and has got a very healthy youth section, as do a couple of other clubs who may now develop further now with their new pitch and hopefully be stronger in the future

Anonymous said...

I think we are actually very lucky with regards to playing surfaces over the last 10 years a huge number of clubs have layed them and the facilities in the country have improved dramatically. This can only be a good thing as far more young people are likly to take up the game on the modern surfaces.

Anonymous said...

Look at Navan,3 mens teams and two ladies teams, no astro, no floodlights, No future! I think that the clubs outside greater dublin should be assisted where possible to provide these type of facilitys if hockey is ever to become a mainstream sport outside dublin! The fact that there is a rule prohibiting teams without astro pitches from senior hockey is a bit of a joke! But at the same time it suits the big wigs in south dublin not to have to travel too far for away games!!!!Fair play North Kildare and all the best for the Future!

Anonymous said...

Played in Enniscorty recently and they have a fine new pitch. Ideally Navan would have a new pitch however if they want to really exploit the opporunities available to them.

Anonymous said...

Division 6 Result

Avoca 3rd lost 7-0 to fingal!