MARY LOGUE will win a special place in Irish hockey history at Belfield tomorrow when she becomes the first woman to win 100 caps in the international against Spain, the first of Ireland's two matches in the Sharwoods sponsored tournament.
The Muckross star reaches her century in what will be Ireland's final warm up tournament before departing for August's World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe.
"I'm delighted too to be winning my 100th in Dublin, I didn't want to win it anywhere else," said Logue, by common consent, the finest player in the country.
The 29 year old made her senior international debut in 1989 and first captained her country against Wales in Cardiff last April. She relinquished the captaincy when Ulster's Jeanette Turner came back into the squad.
Logue concedes that her displays in the five nation tournament in Canada last month were below her normal standards and will use the loss of the captaincy to focus on her own game on this occasion. She expects "two tough games against Spain and Scotland, both of whom are in Pool B in the World Cup qualifying tournament (Ireland are in Pool A).
Meanwhile the Irish under 21 team is preparing for a four nation tournament in Stirling where they will play Scotland, Wales and Canada over the weekend. Despite suffering a serious nose injury in a practice match against the Irish senior team a fortnight ago, Trinity sweeper Kerry Hiles has declared herself fit and will travel.
