ISC Previews and fixtures

The most action-packed weekend of the hockey calendar - both Irish Senior Cups begin the business end of the competition this weekend with all the main players being introduced to the fray.

On the men’s side, an intriguing tie pits C of I against Lisnagarvey to take on one of their own. Former Munster-man, Jason Lynch now plies his trade in Hillsborough for Garvey who currently lie fifth in Ulster’s Senior League – trailing table toppers Banbridge by a massive 9 points after just five games.

C of I for their part have already overcome Harlequins locally and are averaging six goals a game, thus far. How much you should read into their local form, though, is hard to tell. Garvey, the most decorated ISC side of recent times will certainly be no pushover for whom Mark Robinson, Johnny Bell and Cameron Black all return.

Mark Tumilty, the Garvey coach is also glad to see John Jermyn is off his opposing team-sheet: “C of I are one of the top Irish teams, and we probably go in as underdogs admits but they are not as strong this season, now that John Jermyn is in Holland and Jason is with us. Jermyn's influence was immense, not only in attack but from penalty corners, so we have as good a chance as ever of beating them."

Locally, holders Glenanne against Corinthians should prove the toughest contest but the Glens still hold the mantle, for the moment, as the best team in Ireland in cup competition.

In the women’s draw, two young up and comers meet at Park Avenue, with Railway taking on Armagh. Mick McKinnon coached Armagh for seven years before moving to Railway last September and under his guidance the Northern club – which only emerged in the mid 90s - produced a number of current international names including Amy Stewart, Rachel Mulligan, Emma Stewart and Stephanie Quinn.

Pembroke Wanderers take on Loreto in a test of their new found credentials as a top-table side while Cork C of I ladies follow their men to Garvey.

ESB Irish Senior Cup 17th November
15.00 Railway Union V Armagh (Park Ave); 13.00 Randalstown V Ashton ( Antrim Forum); 14.00 Cork Harlequins V Ballymoney (Harlequin Park); 14.30 Lisnagarvey V Cork C of I (Hillsborough); 14.30 Victorians V Old Alex (UU Jordanstown); 14.30 Pembroke Wanderers V Loreto (Serpentine Ave); 14.45 Ards V Hermes ( Ards Leisure Centre); 15.00 Belfast Harlequins V Pegasus (Deramore)

Men’s Irish Senior Cup 17th November
14.30 Bangor V Cork Harlequins (Ballykillaire Sports Ground); 13.00 Belfast Harlequins V Bray (Deramore); 14.30 Antrim V Bandon ( Antrim Forum); 14.30 Kilkeel V Banbridge (McCauley Park); 14.30 Cookstown V Cliftonville (Coolnafranky); 13.30 PSBPP V Catholic Institute (Dardistown); 14.30 Lisnagarvey V Cork C of I (Hillsborough); 13.15 Suttonians V Pembroke Wanderers (Sutton Park); 14.30 Mossley V Annadale (The Glade); 14.00 Belvedere V Fingal (Ballincollig); 13.00 Ballynahinch V Instonians (Donard Park); 13.00 Three Rock Rovers V UCD (Grange Road); 14.45 Glenanne V Corinthian s ( Glenanne Park); 14.00 YMCA V NICS (Claremont Road); 14.00 Dublin University V Kilkenny (Santry); 13.30 Monkstown V Railway Union (Rathdown)

The Draw For the ESB Irish Senior Cup quarter finals will take place live in Pembroke Wanderers , Serpentine Avenue at 16.45. The Draw for the Fourth Round of the Men’s Irish Senior Cup will also be announced at this time.

Who's going through? who do you want to play in the next round? Have you say...

A comment about commenting

First up, its great to have so many comments rolling in and opening an extra channel of communication was one of my main aims in setting this little site up. My hope, though, was to never have to moderate messages. Unfortunately, I've started getting a load in which are just slagging other people off (mainly references to people's parental origins or the perceived lack of style in a chosen haircut... all followed up by the mandatory c**t) and have no place on this site.

Basically people, use the site for a place of debate. The ongoing Pembroke debate is lively and interesting, showing up some people's deep-seated concerns about the club and drawing an enviable show of pride from those involved at the club. Everyone has an opinion - but keep it as an opinion based on logic, facts etc rather than part of prejudice.

Yeah, I know it sounds all hippy dippy, but readers will get more out of that and be able to respond accordingly than just abusing someone. This type of comment is liable to spill over onto the pitch and as such would be a complete failure of what I, and I'm guessing most of Leinster hockey, hope to acheive.

Finally, a lot of people have asked me to encourage people to leave their names on their posts. There is a facility to put your names to your comments if you like. I understand people want to know the background where the comment came from. But to be honest, though, I'm not going to enforce it beacuse a perfectly good point can be made in an anonymous vein and it may never be aired if forced to be labelled. Use a pseudonym if you're really bothered...

Fair enough or a pile of new age rubbish? Have your say...

Women's Round-Up

Three Rock coach Tony Barry saw Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Old Alex “as a definite point gained” and part of the club’s ongoing plans to mould a squad able to push for higher honours in Leinster.

Aoife Dalton, one of the youngsters promoted from the 2nds, tapped in at the back post to take the lead before Zanya Dahl equalised with 15 minutes remaining. Railway moved into a share of top spot, overcoming Trinity 4-1, gaining three points they lost last season.

Pembroke and Loreto both maintained their unbeaten records with a 1-1 draw at Serpentine Avenue.

Results: Three Rock 1 (A Dalton) Old Alex 1 (Z Dahl); Pembroke 1 (S Clarke) Loreto 1 (S Scott); Genesis 1 (L Barry) UCD 4 (C Quinlan, R Flinn, C McGlip, R Bourke); Trinity 1 (D Costigan) Railway 4 (J McDonnell 2, S Walsh, S Dooley)

Men's Round-up

Once again the difference between the haves and have nots were ruthlessly exposed with Pembroke and Glenanne rattling home a heap of goals against Bray and Kilkenny. Elsewhere in division 1, though, whilst winners were as expected the results were much tighter.

UCD pushed Fingal all the way, succumbing to goals from the Bane brothers while YM, the subject of much debate on this site, almost pulled off a result against All-Ireland chasing Monkstown. Their 4-1 cup win over Railway probably shows they have enough in the tank to pull clear at the bottom.

Indeed, the Leinster Senior Cup served up more of the same, Pembroke thrashing Skerries and the Glens putting seven past their former coach Nasir Munir’s side, Suttonians.

Results: UCD 1 (R McFarlane) Fingal 2 (D Bane, E Bane); Monkstown 1 (B Groves) YMCA 0; Glenanne 7 (S Butler 3, E Tucker 2, Gary Shaw, A Goulding) Kilkenny 2 (G Sharman, T Manning); Bray 0 Pembroke 11 (A Giles 2, A Sothern 2, J McInroy 2, C Harte, I Symons, P Good, G Elliott, C Fulton)

Mills Cup Round 1: YMCA 4 (W Powderly 2, M Fry, D Robinson) Railway Union 1 (G O’Meara); Pembroke 8 (J Sheriff 5, C Wilson, J McInroy, P Good) Skerries 1 (B McMahon); Suttonians 1 (P Phillips) Glenanne 7 (J Brennan 2, A Browne, A Goulding, P Fitzpatrick, J Kane, E Tucker)

*Apologies for the brevity of the reports this week but I had a very busy weekend with my graduation and so on. If you were at any of the matches and want to tell me about it, email me at stevie_findlats@yahoo.com

Have your say, leave a comment...

Leinster claim Interpros

Leinster's under 16 and 18s have both won their respective interprovincial championships, with the under 18 side completing the tournament unbeaten. The 18s, consisting of nine St Andrews players, took the title with a 2-0 win over Ulster on Sunday morning and a 3-3 draw with Munster later in the afternoon. They won the tournament on goals scored, after finishing level with Ulster on points and goal difference. Corinthian's Brian Doherty ended the series top scorer with four.

The 16s secured their title with 4-2 (over Ulster) and 4-1 (over Munster) victories on the final day. Richard Sykes top scored with six goals out of a total of fifteen scored in their four match series.

The under 18 girls, meanwhile, took their Interpro title after a final game victory over Ulster in Belfast. Goals Alison Meeke and Hannah Matthews gave the Leinster side a 3-1 victory to bag the title.

For full details, go to www.hockey.ie

Muller Announces Squad Selection for Scotland

Armagh's Stephanie Quinn is included in Gene Muller's 18 woman squad to travel to Scotland later this month and could earn her first Irish Cap after recent strong performances in defence against Australia A. The 17 year old joins the growing Armagh contingent with clubmates Rachel Mulligan and Emma Stewart also included. Emer Harte and Emma Clarke return after bouts of injury.

The squad has been pared down from the 27 players that took part in the recent series against Australia. Coach Muller said about earlier that “This team is starting to accumulate both training and competition experience so we will be expecting good individual performances from the players prior to an important tour to South Africa in the New Year.”

Squad (Club, Caps): Emma Clarke (Randalstown, 31), Eimear Cregan (Cork Harlequins, 116), Roisin Flinn (UCD, 25), Emer Harte (Pembroke Wanderers, 27), Louisa Healy (Loreto, 22), Mary Goode (Pembroke Wanderers, 31), Lisa Jacob (UCD, 10), Shirley McCay (Randalstown, 31), Jenny McDonough (Belfast Harlequins, 88), Cathy McKean (Loreto, 81), Bridget McKeever (Ballymoney, 93), Rachel Mulligan (Armagh, 14), Ciara O’Brien (Chelmsford, 129), Clare Parkhill (Randalstown, 47), Stephanie Quinn (Armagh, 0), Cliodhna Sargent (Cork Harlequins, 14), Emma Stewart (Armagh, 34), Nikki Symmons (Loreto, 79)

Match Times (Stirling):
Friday 23rd November (1800) Ireland V Scotland
Saturday 24th November (1500) Ireland V Scotland

Sunday 25th November (1100) Ireland V Scotland (Unofficial match)

News in Brief - The Irish at the EHL

* Leinster umpire Geoff Conn has been promoted to the level of "International Outdoor Umpire". Geoff umpired at the EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy in Prague earlier this year and following another good performance in the recent EuroHockey League Round 1 in The Hague he got his new accreditation.

Ulster's Warren McCully and Chris McConkey both also umpired in the recent rounds of the EHL while Ramon Davey was a judge.

* Irish Junior and Development players John Jackson, Paul Gleghorne and Chris Gregg were part of the Loughborough Students (England) side that got through a group containing Luzerner SC (Switzerland) and Azzurri Kelburne HC (Scotland).

* Michael Watt meanwhile scored in the first set of group matches for his Scottish side, Grange.

Women's Round Up

Loreto 1-1 Old Alex
"Pleased with the result but not with the performance" was the verdict afterwards from Alex coach Arul Anthoni. Loreto piled on the pressure in the second half but were unable to nab the decisive score after Cathy McKean had levelled from a counter-attack early in the second half. Louisa Murphy gave Alex the lead from a short-corner rebound after thirteen minutes. The result, though, doesn't really help either team as they failed to gain ground on early pace-setters Pembroke and Railway.

Scoring sequence: 13mn 0-1 Murphy (pc); 38mn 1-1 McKean (fg)

Hermes 3-3 Corinthian
Report to follow...

Women's ESB Senior Cup Round Up

Leinster's two form sides continued their winning ways, Railway Union and Pembroke beating North Down (4-2) and Bandon (1-0) respectively to join Old Alex, Hermes and Loreto in the ESB senior cup thrid round. Student sides UCD and Trinity, however, fared less well with the Belfield side going down 1-0 Victorians whilst Trinity lost on golden goal to Cork side Ashton.

Top 3 seeds, Pegasus, Hermes and Loreto have all been handed tricky ties in the draw: Hermes travel to Ards, Loreto to league-leaders Pembroke and Pegasus across town to Belfast Harlequins. The most interesting tie, though, pits two of Ireland's up and coming club sides as Armagh visit Park Avenue while Cork C of I ladies and men will both travel to Lisnagarvey.

Results: Trinity 2 (L Watson, M Horan) Ashton 3 (C Murphy, J Casey, M Ryan) on golden goal; North Down 2 (L Stevenson, R Bill) Railway Union 4 (S Dooley, K Dillon, E Smith); Armagh 5 (S Holdsworth, E Thornbury, A Stewart, L Colvin, R Mulligan) Knock 0; Belfast Harlequins 3 (R Miller, A Gordon, S Wilkinson) UL 0; Ards 2 (C Watson, J McGill) Ballyclare 1 (S Bell); Pembroke 1 (S Clarke) Bandon 0; Victorians 1 (H McMillan) UCD 0; Lisnagarvey 1 (D Hood) Omagh 0

Draw for Round 3:
Railway vs Armagh; Randalstown vs Ashton; Cork Harlequins vs Ballymoney; Lisnagarvey vs Cork C of I; Victorians vs Old Alex; Pembroke vs Loreto; Ards vs Hermes; Belfast Harlequins vs Pegasus

Pembroke 2-3 KS Pocztowiec Poznan

Pembroke were left heartbroken as Marcin Michniak’s deflected goal thirty seconds from time dumped the Dublin side out of the Euro Hockey League in Antwerp. Needing only a draw to qualify for the 2nd round of the inaugural European competition, Pembroke threw away a two nil half-time lead to Polish side KS Pocztowiec Poznan.

Player coach Craig Fulton said afterwards he was absolutely devastated by the Polish side’s late show. “I’m really disappointed, we had the opportunity to finish it out but we didn’t do it. We played for 69 minutes and had our chances but we just didn’t do it.”

Prior to the match, Fulton said the mood in the camp was extremely positive after picking up a bonus point in Friday’s 3-2 loss to Egara – one of Europe’s top sides and a favourite for the overall title. Egara took the first qualifying spot on Saturday, beating Poznan emphatically 7-2 with a hat trick from Edouard Arbos.

Friday’s bonus point, therefore, meant a draw with Poznan would be enough for qualification. Fulton added “we outplayed them for long periods in the second half and played some of our best hockey.”

And the Dubliners carried that form into the first half against Poznan, taking a 2-0 lead – Ian Symons on target from a short corner and player-coach Fulton netting a rebound after initial efforts by Justin Sheriff and Alan Sothern.

The match turned, though, early in the second half, when a Symons’ drag-flick crashed against the crossbar. From the breaking ball, Poznan counter attacked through Piotr Mikula (pictured playing for Poland) who set up Krysztof Wybieralski.

From a potentially unassailable three-goal lead to a nervous 2-1 lead, Pembroke found it difficult to get back into the game and conceded again with 10 minutes left. In the tense final moments, David Harte saved from a penalty stroke while captain Paddy Conlon was given a two-minute suspension over a disputed penalty corner.

With Pembroke down to ten men, Poznan launched their late show, to knock Wanderers out of the competition at the first hurdle.

EHL Results:Friday: Pembroke Wanderers 2 (Fulton, Elliott) Egara 3 (Arbos 2, Schickendantz)Saturday: Egara 7 (Tubau 3, Romeu 2, Schickendantz 2) KS Pocztowiec 2 (P Mikula, Juszczak)Sunday: Pembroke 2 (Fulton, Symons) Poznan 3 (Mikula, Wybieralski, Michniak)

Men's Irish Senior Cup Round-up

Leinster sides Dublin University, Railway Union, PSBPP and Suttonians all made it through to the 3rd round of the Irish Senior Cup. The 3rd round draw pits Suttonians against All-Ireland champions Pembroke while Trinity host Kilkenny. PSBPP will be pleased with their home draw against Catholic Institute, conquerors of Avoca (see below). The tie of the round, though, sees Lisnagarvey host Cork C of I, while the all-Leinster tie of Glenanne against Corinthians could prove to be a feisty affair.

Featured match: Avoca 2 -4 Catholic Institute

A hat-trick from former Avoca player and all-Ireland medallist, Brian Downes gave Limerick-side, Catholic Institute the edge at Newpark. Downes opened the scoring after just 3 minutes, latching onto a long diagonal ball to coolly slot past the on-rushing keeper. Feargal McGuinness got Avoca back on terms from a corner switch but that was as good as it got for the Blackrock side. Further goals from Downes (one penalty stroke) and Simon Brickenden put the game beyond the home side before Andrew Byrnes scored a consolation goal.

Scoring sequence: 0-1 3mn Downes (fg), 1-1 10mn McGuinness (pc), 1-2 18mn Brickenden, 1-3 37mn Downes (fg), 64mn 1-4 Downes (ps), 2-4 69mn Byrnes (fg)

Irish Senior Cup Round Two Results:Dublin University 4 (J Orr 2, D Coady, C Moore) Portadown 1 (D Winter); Cliftonville 4 (S Caruth 2, L Burrows, D Hurley) Down 2 (S Ferguson, P Tate); NICS 3 (P Johnson 2, J Anderson) Queen’s University 2 (D Bell, M Adamson); PSBPP 2 (A Carroll, D Ledwidge) South Antrim 1 (C Henry); Ballynahinch 2 (D Ross, P Murray) Skerries 1 (A Butterly); Raphoe 3 (W Wauchob 2, R Harrison) Belfast Harlequins 4 (D Anderson, J Stevenson, R Quigley, N Crawford) after golden goal; Navan 1 Suttonians 2; Clontarf 1 (R McMullan) Antrim 2 (R Maybin, S McIllroy); Avoca 2 (A Byrnes, F McGuinness) Catholic Institute 4 (B Downes 3, S Brickenden); North Down 1 (A Forrest) Railway Union 2 (P O’Brien, K O’Brien)

Draw for Round 3:
Bangor vs Cork Harlequins; Belfast Harlequins vs Bray; Antrim vs Bandon; Kilkeel vs Banbridge; Cookstown vs Cliftonville; PSBPP vs Catholic Institute; Lisnagarvey vs Cork C of I; Suttonians vs Pembroke; Mossley vs Annadale; Ballynahinch vs Instonians; TRR vs UCD; Glenanne vs Corinthians; YMCA vs NICS; Trinity vs Kilkenny; Monkstown vs Railway Union

Men's Round Up

Fingal 3-2 Monkstown

In a key match for All-Ireland qualification, Fingal edged out a Monkstown side shorn of Ian Allen, Filip Jaros and Zack Dutton. Fingal, for their part had to call upon Tony Doyle in goal, one of a select number of grandfathers to play in division 1, after Nigel Grothier was called away for work reasons at late notice. Fingal started the stronger and raced into a 2-0 lead. They created a number of chances to extend this but couldn't, allowing the 'town to draw level. They were only on level terms for 30 seconds - as Monkstown had barely finished celebrating - Mick McGuinness won it for Fingal.

Scoring sequence: 1-0 4mn McGuinness (fg), 2-0 15mn Dunne (fg), 2-1 44mn Watkins (pc); 2-2 56mn Watkins (fg); 3-2 57mn McGuinness (fg)

TRR 7-1 UCD

Three Rock easily swept past UCD to record their fourth win of the season and get back into the title race after last week's setback against Pembroke. Leading 4-0 at half-time with goals from international trio, Phelie Maguire, Peter Blakeney and Mitch Darling, Rovers strolled through the second half with Michael O'Connor providing the sole response from the Belfield students.

Scoring sequence: 1-0 Peter Blakeney (fg), 2-0 Peter Blakeney (fg), 3-0 Phelie Maguire (fg), 4-0 Mitch Darling (fg), 5-0 Maarten Sier (pc), 5-1 Michael O'Connor (fg), 6-1 Phelie Maguire (fg), 7-1 Mitch Darling (fg)

YMCA 1-4 Glenanne

In a fiery encounter that saw Keith Benson (YM), Alan Browne and Joe Brennan (Glenanne) yellow carded and Geoff Walker shown red, YM started well but couldn't turn their possession into clearcut chances. Glenanne, though, soon got into their stride with Graham Shaw slotting home a short corner, doubled soon after by Stephen Butler's low dragflick. Five minutes before halftime, Shaw finished a good move down the right to make it 3-0, a scoreline that perhaps flattered the Tallght side. In the second half, Mikey Fry forced home a short corner with 15 mins left. Mark Lambe, though, provided the sucker punch to score Glenanne's fourth.

Scoring sequence: 18 mins 0-1 Shaw (pc), 22 mins 0-2 Butler (pc), 30 mins 0-3 Shaw (fg), 55 mins 1-3 Fry (pc), 65 mins 1-4 Lambe (fg)

Kilkenny 8-3 Bray
Kilkenny, once again, got the better of one of their close rivals in the lower reaches of the league, crushing Bray 8-3 - doing it without the injured Lloyd Pearson and South Africa bound Stephen Thompson. Gary Sharman bagged a hat-trick and there was a goal too for former Monkstown player Richie O'Malley on his return to Leinster hockey action.

Scoring sequence: 1-0 Sharman (fg), 2-0 Sharman (fg), 3-0 Maher (fg); Half-time 3-0; 3-1 Cox (fg), 3-2 Hinge (fg), 4-2 Manning (fg) 5-2 Manning (fg), 6-2 Dore (pc), 6-3 Lewis (fg), 7-3 O'Malley (pc), 8-3 Sharman (fg)

Were you at any of these games? Did you see them differently? Have your say...

Egara 3 - 2 Pembroke Wanderers

Pembroke lost their opening Euro Hockey League match 3-2 against Egara but picked up a bonus point for finishing within one goal. The sides were tied at 1-1 after the first quarter after Edourard Tubau opened the scoring - with a deft deflection from the left wing - before Craig Fulton levelled matters, reacting quickest with a waist-high volley on his reverse stick after Ian Symons initial effort was saved.

The Spanish side built up a two goal lead in the second quarter, Tubau crashing in a rebound while Justin Sheriff was in the sin bin and Guillermo Schickendantz slotting home after being found unmarked by another left wing cross.

Pembroke had chances to narrow the gap with Sheriff's cross just evading Paddy Good's stick before Gordy Eliott gobbled up a rebound to give Pembroke a chance with 12 minutes remaining. They couldn't capitalise and has to settle for a single point.

Egara 3 (Edouard Tubau 2, Guillermo Schickendantz) Pembroke 2 (Gordon Elliott, Craig Fulton)

To see full match highlights, go to http://www.eurohockeyleague.eu/, click on Match Schedule and then on Video Highlights in the left hand panel.

While you're there, check out HGC vs An der Alster from last week to see Eugene Magee score an absolute cracker. A great moment for Irish hockey...

Pembroke to begin European adventure

Pembroke Wanderers will break new ground this weekend when they represent Ireland in the inaugural Euro Hockey League in Antwerp.

The tournament, which tags itself as “the best way hockey has ever been presented”, pits Europe’s top 24 clubs against each other in a format akin to football’s Champions league.

Pembroke must come in the top two places from a group including Spanish Copa del Rey holders, Egara and Polish champions KS Pocztowiec Poznan, to qualify for the second round in March.

South-African player-coach Craig Fulton can call on a full squad, with all 18 players coming unscathed through last week’s league encounter with Three Rock with the front pairing of Justin Sheriff and Alan Sothern in irresistible form.

Pembroke have won all their matches so far this term, including a friendly against Glenanne (3-1) where they practiced the new ‘quarters’ system, one of a number of new innovations being introduced at the tournament.

Matches will be divided into four periods of seventeen and a half minutes, to aid greater advertising revenue from television.

Fulton said of the new system: “it makes the game feel a lot longer and can also let your opponents off the hook a bit if you get some rhythm going in one quarter”.

He also sees it as important to make the “right changes at the right time” in the new format as his regular substitution patterns are likely to be affected.

Egara go into the group as top seeds counting top internationals Eduard Tubau and goalkeeper Francisco Cortes among their number and are two time winners of the European Club Championships – the forerunner of this tournament.

Poznan, for their part, have several Polish internationals and base their game around 31 year old Piotr Mikula. They finished seventh in European competition last year.

Fulton says of his side’s tournament strategy “it would be foolish to stick all your eggs in one basket” and focus on getting a result against the Polish side given the number of methods of picking up points.

Wins gain five points, a draw gets two points and a loss by less than two goals picks up one point. The South African added “there are so many scenarios you can come up against so you have to see how it goes. But the squad is in a good place right now and we’re positive.”

As to whether Fulton agreed with the format and range of new rules being introduced, he said that “anything that gets hockey on the television, it is important to give it a go”.

Whatever happens for Pembroke, Ireland is guaranteed three players in the second round of the EHL.

In last weekend’s first series of group games in the Hague, Irish trio John Jermyn, Iain Lewers and Eugene Magee were part of Dutch side HGC who qualified for the second round, beating German side Club an der Alster and drawing with Belgium’s Waterloo Ducks.

Pembroke squad: David Harte, Nigel Henderson, Paddy Conlon (Capt), Ronan Flannery, Craig Fulton, Patrick Good, Ronan Gormley, Alan Giles, Conor Harte, Colin Kelly, Tim Lewis, John McInroy, Peter Priestly, Alan Sothern, Justin Sheriff, Ian Symons, Craig Wilson

Euro Hockey League – Group F - for more details click here
Friday 2nd November – (20:30) Pembroke vs Club Egara (Spain)
Saturday 3rd November – (1630) Club Egara vs KS Pocztowiec Poznan (Poland)
Sunday 4th November – (1630) Pembroke vs KS Pocztowiec Poznan

Irish Senior Cup times...

With Pembroke playing in the Euro Hockey League and the two Irish Senior Cups taking place this weekend, hockey fans are spoilt for choice. If you haven't been able to book the flight to Belgium, here are the times and venues for some locally based fare. Highlights include the Santry double header, with Trinity ladies hosting Ashton and the men playing Portadown. Railway Union ladies and men both travel to Comber to play against North Down.

ESB IRISH SENIOR CUP (W) – ROUND TWO
3rd November

Dublin University V Ashton (Santry 1pm), North Down V Railway Union (Comber 2.30pm), Armagh V Knock (Ardmare, 2.30pm), Belfast Harlequins V UL (Deramore Park, 2.30pm), Ards V Ballyclare (Ards Leisure Centre, 3pm), Pembroke Wanderers V Bandon (Serpentine Avenue 2.30pm), Victorians V UCD (Jordanstown, 2.30pm), Lisnagarvey V Omagh (Hillsborough, 2.30pm)

MEN'S IRISH SENIOR CUP – ROUND TWO
Dublin University vs Portadown (Santry, 3pm); Cliftonville vs Down (CIYMS, 2.30pm); NICS vs Queen’s (Stormont, 2.30pm); PSBPP vs South Antrim (RCSI, 1pm); Ballynahinch vs Skerries (Donard Park, 1pm); Raphoe vs Belfast Harlequins (Raphoe, 2.30pm); Navan vs Suttonians (Sportslink, 1.30pm); Clontarf vs Antrim (Mount Temple, 1.45pm); Avoca vs Catholic Institute (Newpark, 2pm); North Down vs Railway Union (Comber, 1pm)