Weekend preview...

So, where to start this weekend? In both men’s and women’s leagues there are absolutely massive encounters. Glenanne against Pembroke on Sunday is the obvious fixture that stands out on the men’s side. Both have 100 percent record so far and whilst Pembroke’s results have been more clear-cut, the Glens have an uncanny knack of winning in their head to heads.

The Neville Cup match last week proved that Wanderers need to kill off the game better as they almost conceded a final minute equalizer. Both also have big matches on Saturday playing TRR and Monkstown. Neither opponent will be a pushover and dropped points will raise the importance of Sunday's face-off. All internationals will be playing this weekend, their last domestic action for some time.

On the women’s side, Pembroke’s ladies face an enticing fixture against Railway. They have been the two outstanding sides so far this season and show definite signs of breaking the stranglehold Loreto and Hermes have on the title. Whilst I’ve said it before, a win over a rival at the top of this league is becoming increasingly more important. With the teams at the top so closely matched, it has led to a glut of draws and four unbeaten sides going into the Christmas period. Pembroke’s draw with Hermes on Monday shows they have the appetite for the battle.

Elsewhere, the Railway Cup gets under way, with Pembroke seconds looking to retain one part of their quadruple, starting off with Corinthians 3rds.

Irish Women Secure Two Wins Over Scotland

The Irish women picked up two 1-0 wins over Scotland last weekend at a freezing cold Stirling last weekend. Jenny McDonogh scored the winner in the second match while in the first game Lisa Jacob got the decisive score. Armagh’s Stephanie Quinn made her debut in that first game.

Commenting on the weekend Coach Gene Muller said “Overall, I was very happy with the way in which we played over the two games. The goal we scored today was a very well taken goal. I thought that we played very well in the first half but in the second half Scotland came back into it, it was a big learning experience for us as we were winning the ball but not holding onto it that well something to work on”.

“Preparation will begin now for the South African tour, we have worked quite hard for the last few weeks, so it will be more of the same, I am happy with how our preparation is going but we will continue to work hard.”

News in Brief...

* The IHA has done a nice little job on previewing club action all round the country. Click here to have a look...

* Whilst not exactly news as such, a lot of people complain that there is very little hockey in the newspapers. A quick suggestion on this would be to look up some of your local papers - the Tallaght Echo had reports from the Glenanne men and Loreto women. The Dundrum Gazette had stuff on TRL, Loreto and Andy McConnell while its Lucan counterpart had a page long spread about Weston. Finally, of those I've seen this week, the Southside People. had a feature on the ISC draws for southside clubs. If you've seen others, leave a comment...

* The Champions trophy has tipped off in Malaysia with some pretty entertaining stuff. Click here to watch live match trackers while you are at work or go to http://www.fieldhockey.tv/ to see extended highlights.

Seen anything you want to tell me about? Leave a comment...

FIH announce Women's All Star team

The second Women’s WorldHockey All Star Teams was announced by the FIH yesterday, with those selected voted for by hockey fans the world over. The vote produced this final list of world class Hockey players and is composed of 18 players and two coaches.

The voting for the men’s All Star Team starts on Wednesday 28 November and the result will be published after the end of the Samsung Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur.

GK: Amy TRAN ( USA ), Maria Jesús ROSA DURAN (ESP)

DEF: Minke BOOIJ (NED), Tina BACHMANN (GER), Janneke SCHOPMAN (NED), Magdalena AICEGA (ARG), Crista CULLEN (ENG), MA Yibo (CHN)

MID: Luciana AYMAR (ARG) Capt, Fanny RINNE (GER), Maartje GODERIE (NED), Marsha MARESCIA (RSA), Madonna BLYTH (AUS)

FWD: Maike STOECKEL (GER), Marilyn AGLIOTTI (NED), Kaori CHIBA (JPN), Peta GALLAGHER (AUS), Mi Hyun PARK (KOR)

Coaches:Marc LAMMERS (NED); Michael BEHRMANN (GER); Coach

Leinster looking for clean sweep...

Leinster have the chance this weekend to complete a clean sweep of the school’s Interprovincial titles. This weekend in Galway they take on Ulster, Munster, Connacht and South East to battle it out for the ESB U16 Interpros Titles.

Ulster has won the title for the last two years and before that Leinster held the title. Ulster will no doubt be out to claim this title having lost to Leinster in the ESB U18 Girls; U16 & U18 boys Interpros in the last month.

The competition takes place at Dangan Sports Centre, Galway, Connacht . To see the squad lists, click here…


Match Schedule
Saturday 1st December: 9.00 Connacht V South East; 11.00 Leinster V Munster ; 14.00 Ulster V South East; 15.30 Connacht V Munster ; 17.00 Leinster V Ulster
Sunday 2nd December: 9.00 South East V Munster ; 10.30 Connacht V Leinster; 12.00 Munster V Ulster ; 13.30 Leinster V South East; 15.00 Connacht V Ulster

Squad for Chile and match times...

With just nine weeks until the Irish Men compete at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in New Zealand , Dave Passmore has named a squad of twenty for their tour to Chile following last weekend’s match’s in Scotland.

Andrew McConnell retains his place after impressing in his first cap last weekend while Irish stalwarts Butler , Shaw and Barbour have all been left at home due to work commitments.
This tour will give the Irish experience and acclimatisation against the fast pace of the South American countries in a climate the management say is akin to New Zealand.

One of the most positive parts of the trip is that funding has been received from both the Irish Institute of Sport and Irish Sports Council, giving our boys a chance to achieve the best pssoible preparation.

Passmore said of the support received: 'This trip has been possible due to the support and additional funding of the Irish Institute of Sport and Irish Sports Council. It is disappointing that we have three players unavailable due to work commitments. But these athletes will be working hard physically and technically over the period we are away to ensure they are fully prepared for the final period of preparation and selection for New Zealand.”

The players depart for Chile on 11th December returning just in time to spend a few days at home for Christmas on December 23rd. During this time Ireland will play South Africa, Chile and Argentina .

"Chile will provide the perfect climate, training and competitive environment to develop towards the qualifier. It is ideal that we have a variety of opposition playing styles and an opportunity to develop some of the areas we fell short on in Manchester . We showed signs of progress in Scotland last weekend but there is a long way to go given the difficult opposition we face in Auckland" continued Passmore.

Squad: Andy McConnell, David Hobbs, Eugene Magee, Gareth Lennox, Iain Lewers, Jason Black, Karl Burns, Mark Black, Mark Gleghorne, Mark Irwin, Paddy Brown, Phelie Maguire, Ronan Gormley, Michael Watt, Tim Lewis, David Harte, Timmy Cockram, Mark Ruddle, Geoff McCabe, John Jermyn

Schedule: Warm up Game:14/12 Ireland V Chile
Four Nations Tournament, Santiago Chile (Irish Time)
17/12 (8pm) Ireland V South Africa; 18/12 (10pm) Ireland V Chile; 20/12 Ireland V Argentina

Senior League Round-ups

Men: Corinthian 6 (Lucas Piccioli 2, Chris Pelow 2, David Carson, Jack Kirwan) UCD 3 (Robbie McFarlane, Glenn Holmes, David Storey): A five-star second half performance from Corinthians saw them overcome a half-time deficit and deny the students their first points of the season. The sides went in at half-time at 2-1. But a big turnaround at Whitechurch Park saw Coritnthians home. Youngsters Jack Kirwan and Davy Carson both got on the scoresheet. The win sees them into sixth place but a win in their game in hand against Rovers would move the side up to third. As it happens, losses for Rovers at Glenanne and Monkstown at home to Pembroke and they should take the spot with a win in Bray.

Kilkenny 1 (Lloyd Pearson) Monkstown 4 (Brian Groves 2, Simon Groves, Alan Lewis) A solid away win in the Cats den has seen Monkstown continue their current, quiet form as they have stealthily moved into a tie for third place. The Groves' brothers did the damage at Kilkenny College and they will also be anxious viewers when Rovers play Corinthians - that match will have an increasingly important bearing on the destination of the All-Ireland league spots.

Women: Pembroke 1 Hermes 1

As with all encounters between the top four this season, it ended in stalemate between two of the title chasers but this was hardly a dull affair. Hermes took a deserved lead after 20 minutes with Pembroke on the back foot in an intense, physical encounter. Hermes, indeed, had chances to double their lead before the break. Pembroke fought back in the second half, equalising from a Siobhan Kane pile-driver from the left. Pembroke could have snatched the win, too, when Shona Doyle's cut-back just narrowly missed the on-rushing forward. On balance, a fair result to a fantastic game - the value of a win against a rival at the top becomes increasingly valuable.

The point gives Pembroke the lead at the top but they are in the bizarre situation of having three unbeaten sides below them in the league. They face another biggie this Saturday when they host Railway who trail by one point.

Trinity 3 (D Costigan, M Horan, C Hearnden) Corinthian 0

Trinity continued their strong run this season and have now already won more games than last season after just eight outings. Former club captain Danielle Costigan opened the scoring in a match that probably confirms their safety this season already with wins at a premium throughout the league.

Alex 3 (S Markey, B Fitzgerald, Z Dahl) Genesis 1 (L Barrie)

Alex stay in touch with the leading pack with a win against bottom of the table Genesis. Genesis, though, unlike a number of the sides at the bottom are probably cursed by their endeavour. Their attempts under Maarten Sier to play attractive hockey has seen them caught short at the back where rivals have striven to have greater numbers in defence.

Loreto 3 (Z Delaney, C Greally, N Keegan) TRL 1 (L Lehane)

Loreto move to within a point of Railway in third, albeit with an extra game played with a routine victory over ninth place TRL.

Irish Junior Cups round-up...

TRR needed a golden goal from Christian Judd to get past local rivals Corinthians. The game was level at the end of normal time after short corners from Ross Harris and Chris Pelow. Both Fingal and Clontarf had to go a stage further, needing penalties to dispatch YMCA and Weston respectively. Other Leinster winners were Glenanne (0ver Bray 6-1) and Monkstown (against Dvision 8's RCSI).

In the women's competition, four goals from Hazel Agar saw Alex home against Newbridge, Hermes fired seven past Fingal while Our Lady's had the best of Corinthian 5-2. Loreto, Pembroke, Suttonians, Railway Union, Clontarf, Bray and Genesis all made it into the hat for the second round.

ESB Irish Junior Cup Results (women) ROUND ONE
Belfast Harlequins 2-0 UUJ ; Lisnagarvey 2XI 1-4 Randalstown 2XI; Ards 2XI 0-6 Pegasus 2XI; Newry 1-2 Portadown 2XI; Omagh 2XI 0-6 Banbridge ; Priorians 2XI 0-3 Knock 2XI; Annadale 1-2 Armagh 2XI; Lurgan 2XI 2-2 (3-2 strokes) Parkview ; Old Alex 2XI 7-1 Newbridge ; Our Lady’s Terenure 5-2 Corinthian 2XI; Hermes 2XI 7-0 Fingal ; Naas 5-3 Three Rock 2XI; North Kildare 0-0 (1-3 Strokes) Loreto 2XI; Weston 1-2 Clontarf ; Glenanne 2-0 Diocesan ; Muckross 0-3 Genesis 2XI; Skerries 0-3 Pembroke Wanderers 2XI; Avoca 2-3 (GG) Suttonians ; UCD 2XI 1-2 Railway Union 2XI; Bray 6-2 Dublin University 2XI; NUIG (SUNDAY) Fermoy ; Galway 1-0 (GG) Cork Harlequins 2XI; Waterford 2-1 Kilkenny ; UCC 2XI 0-1 Wexford ; Greenfields 1-2 Catholic Institute

Byes to round 2 (December 15th)
Victorians 2XI; Ashton 2XI; Bandon 2XI; Belvedere 2XI; Cork C of I 2XI; Moyne Thurles ; Yeats Co.

Men’s Irish Junior Cup Results ROUND ONE
Down 2XI 1-2 South Antrim 2XI; Instonians 2XI 5-1 Newry 2XI; Lisnagarvey 2XI 6-0 Portrush ; Raphoe 2XI 1-7 Cookstown 2XI; Cliftonville 2XI 1-10 Belfast Harlequins 2XI; Larne (Postponed) Portadown 2XI; Saintfield 2-4 Campbellians ; N.I.C.S. 2XI 4-1 Mossley 2XI; Armagh 12-0 East Antrim ; Antrim 2XI 1-5 North Down 2XI; Banbridge 2XI 7-1 Omagh ; Ballymena 2-3 Parkview ; Kilkeel 2XI (walkover to Kilkeel ) PSNI 2XI; Corinthian 2XI 1-2(GG) Three Rock Rovers 2XI; Glenanne 2XI 6-1 Bray 2XI; Monkstown 2XI 13-0 R.C.S.I. ; Clontarf 2XI 2-2 (4-1 strokes) Weston 2XI; YMCA 2XI 3-3 (3-4) Fingal 2XI

Byes to round 2 (December 15th)
Annadale 2XI; Bangor 2XI; Queens University 2XI; Avoca 2XI; Mullingar ; Pembroke Wanderers 2XI; Railway Union 2XI; UCD 2XI; Bandon 2XI; Cork C of I 2XI; Cork Harlequins 2XI; Galway ; Midleton ; UCC .

How did your club do? Have your say...

Weekend preview - Irish in Scotland, IJC and Ulster...

Another massive weekend of action with the Irish team heading off to Scotland, the Irish Junior Cup and Ulster's top two men's sides taking each other on.

You can read previews about the women and men's matches in Scotland on this site and also in today's Irish Times. Three Rock's Andy McConnell could amke his debut while David Hobbs could be the youngest player to reach 100 caps if he plays over the weekend. To see a full biography of Hobbs' career to date, check out the IHA site.

the Irish Junior Cup kicks off with 18 matches in the Men’s Irish Junior Cup and 25 in the ESB Irish Junior Cup (women) this Saturday. Last year’s champions Old Alex 2XI take on Newbridge in the unusual venue of Mount Anville as Alex are currently rebuilding their pitch. Last year’s runners up Bray expect to do well, they are currently sitting top of the Leinster Division Two table. Up North Pegasus 2XI take on Ards 2XI, Pegasus were knocked out at the quarters last year by eventual winners Alex.

On the Men’s side of the Irish Junior Cup, both finalists from last year Pembroke 2XI (who are currently on a 100pc run after last year’s quadruple season) and Cork Harlequins 2XI have received byes to round two. Ulster’s two top teams from the Junior 1 leaguer will be in round one while Banbridge 2XI take on Omagh and Instonians 2XI take on Newry who are at the bottom end of Junior 1. Elsewhere Rathfranam rivals Corinthians and Three Rock Rovers go head to head - both are currentrly locked on 12 points in division 3.

Up North, there is two titanic battles between the men's biggest rivals. Top two Cookstown face Banbridge in Coolnafranky while perennial rivals Instonians host Lisnagarvey.

There is also three women's matches in Leinster while Kilkenny host Monkstown in the men's section along with Corinthian 1sts taking on UCD.

About the site...

Two things -

1) The site has just gone beyond 10,000 hits which is pretty cool. It means that a couple of you are reading and so there is a definite reason for the site to exist.

2) Basically, you may notice some comments have been deleted and some now appear with "
This post has been edited slightly from the original " written at the bottom of them. In hindsight, it was a bit naive to give carte blanche.

Planet Field hockey, a predecessor in a way, basically turned into a slagging match before it closed and I'd hate for that to happen here. The basic premise is, no personal attacks and only reasoned out comments. I really hate doing it but for all concerned its for the best. Listen to Leona Lewis to get the full picture...

TRR 5 - 1 Fingal - Neville Cup Semi

A fluid second half performance saw Three Rock rack up a comprehensive 5-1 win but it was Fingal who made the brighter opening. Enjoying much of the possession, David Bane got a deserved opener with a low drag-flick in the sixth minute.

Rovers fought back straight away, Colin Huet scoring gracefully two minutes later. The game meandered around the midfield for much of the half until Mitch Darling - a constant thorn all night - took the initiative; whacking in a quick free hit on the edge that Kyle Good slid onto with a beautiful deflection.

While the first half was hardly a thing of beauty, the style was turned on in the second. Bane broke clear but could not get his reverse shot past Richie Irivine and from the resulting free out, Rovers sealed the win. A sweeping move saw Darling win the decisive corner which Tim Hill scrambled home. Maarten Sier fired in two corners to embellish the scoreline in the closing stages.

Pembroke 3-1 Glenanne – Neville Cup Semi-Final

Pembroke edged the first official encounter of top two this year but were almost dragged into extra time despite dominating for large periods. In a scrappy first half, Ian Symons drag-flick on 10 minutes separated the sides.
Sheer brilliance from Stephen Doran though, meant that’s how it stayed at the break. His double save on the hooter came after Alan Sothern robbed Devin Kehoe and fed John McInroy. His rocketing shot was plucked out of the air. The rebound fell to Justin Sheriff who played in Sothern but from three yards, Doran scrambled to save a point-bank effort.

Pembroke’s second goal a minute after the break, though, was unstoppable. McInroy produced an outrageous one-handed drag back from the end line to Ronan Flannery who selflessly passed up an open goal to lay off for Alan Giles. The broke drew further heroics out of Doran as Paddy Good’s pull back pulled the keeper out of position. He managed to recover in time to first save Sothern’s shot with his knee at the top D before scurrying to his near post to block Gordy Eliott’s chance.

And with ten minutes left, the Glens got back a lifeline – David Shaw blasting home a knee breaker off Stephen O’Keefe’s boot from a short corner. Pembroke protested in vein to umpire Geoff Conn about its height. In the final throes, they almost forced extra time – a booming hit from left-back Paul Fitzpatrick found Brendan Parsons on the back line and his deflection almost snuck in. Parsons forced home at the second attempt but Conn’s whistle had just blown for a prior infringement.

From the ensuing free out, Wanderers broke quickly, finding themselves in a 4 on 1 with only Richie Shaw covering. Sheriff found McInroy for the simplest of tap-ins and the 3-1 win.

Were you at the game? Did you see it differently ? Have you say...

Men's qualifiers schedule known...

The Irish men’s match schedule for the Olympic qualifiers in Auckland, New Zealand, from the 2nd to 10th of February, was made known today by the FIH.

The tournament is a six team round-robin event which will be decided by a final between the top two teams from the preliminary round on Sunday 10 February 2008. The winner of this final will earn a place in the hockey tournament of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ireland open the tournament against their nemesis, France, before facing host side New Zealand, Trinidad, the US and Argentina. Ireland go into the competition as the third highest ranked team.

Match schedule:2nd Feb (12pm) vs France; 3rd Feb (115pm) vs New Zealand; 5th Feb (2pm) vs Trinidad and Tobago; 6th Feb (6pm) vs USA; 9th Feb (1215pm) vs Argentina

How do you think we will do? Have your say...

ESB Women's Irish Cup round-up

Loreto and Railway both made it through on penalty strokes to the quarter finals of the ISC. Railway's win, though, came at a cost with Isobel Joyce breaking fingers in a tough clash.

Indeed, it will be interesting to see how the young Railway side perform in latter rounds - their rise this season will be tested in the new year when both Joyce twins join up with the Irish cricket squad and Emma Smyth and Kate Dillon go on their travels. Yesterday, Sinead Walsh scored the decisive stroke.

In the quarters draw, Hermes must travel again up north to Ballymoney after they were relieved to overcome Ards after the four hour drive while Loreto will face Old Alex's conquerors Victorians.

Results Round 3: Railway Union 1 (Dooley) Armagh 1 (Patterson) (Railway Win 3-2 on Stokes); Randalstown 6 (Orr 2, Parkhill, Elkin, Clarke, Doyle) Ashton 0; Cork Harlequins 1 (Bateman) Ballymoney 2 (McVicker, Stewart-Moore) (aet); Lisnagarvey 1 Cork C of I 3; Victorians 2 (Hamilton, Patton) Old Alex 0; Pembroke Wanderers 0 Loreto 0 (Loreto win 3-2 on strokes); Ards 0 Hermes 5 (O'Flanagan 2, Harte, Evans, Burke); Belfast Harlequins POSTPONED Pegasus

Draw – ESB Irish Senior Cup Quarter Finals: Ballymoney V Hermes ; Loreto V Victorians ; Pegasus / Belfast Harlequins V Randalstown ; Railway Union V Cork C of I.

ISC Men's Round up

Leinster has nine of the last 16 in the Irish Senior Cup - including two division 2 sides - after yesterday's 3rd round matches. As a result, seven of the eight 4th round matches will take place in and around the Dublin area.

There were shocks galore, with Ulster table-toppers Banbridge beaten by bottom of the table and pointless Kilkeel 3-1 while Trinity overcame higher division opposition when they beat Kilkenny. PSBPP overcame Catholic Institute on a day where no Leinster side lost when facing opposition from another province. Cookstown were the biggest winners, they fired 17 past hapless Cliftonville.

The draw pits last season's finalists Glenanne against Annadale while Fingal continue their history with Lisnagarvey who will visit ALSAA.

Results – Men’s Irish Senior Cup (Round Three): Bangor 0 Cork Harlequins 1; Belfast Harlequins 2 (Hamill, Anderson) Bray 3 (Cox 2, Hinge); Antrim 2 (McIlroy, Criton) Bandon 3 (Smith, Kingston, Sweetnam); Kilkeel 3 (Annett, Cunningham, Niblock) Banbridge 1 (Magowan); Cookstown 17 Cliftonville 2; PSBPP 3 (de Nortichoke 2, Borne) Catholic Institute 1; Lisnagarvey 3 (Cockram 2, Black) Cork C of I 1 (Smith); Suttonians 0 Pembroke Wanderers 9 (Giles 2, Fulton, Conlon, Sheriff, Sothern, Wilson, Gormley, C Harte); Mossley 0 Annadale 5 (Mills 2, N Hamilton, McKeown, Persil); Belvedere 0 Fingal 5 (Sweeney, Gahan, D Bane, McGuinness, Neville) ; Ballynahinch 0 Instonians 8 (Barnes 5, Watson, Irwin, og); Three Rock Rovers 5 (P Maguire 2, Darling, Ringwood, Blakeney) UCD 0; Glenanne 2 (Butler 2) Corinthian 1 (Warren); YMCA 2 (A Walker, Whelan) NICS 1 (Posnet) ; Dublin University 4 (Orr, Coady, Gorman, Moore) Kilkenny 3 (Pearson, Sharman, Gray); Monkstown 3 (Allen, Lewis, Lee Railway Union 1 (Lynch)

Draw – Men’s Irish Senior Cup Round Four (8th December): Monkstown V Kilkeel ; Three Rock Rovers V Dublin University ; PSBPP V Cork Harlequins ; Bray V Pembroke Wanderers ; Glenanne V Annadale ; Fingal V Lisnagarvey ; YMCA V Cookstown ; Instonians V Bandon