WOMEN'S HOCKEY IRISH SENIOR CUP FINAL:AFTER PLAYING four games in five days at the World Cup qualifier in Chile before returning to Dublin on Tuesday, the Irish squad could probably do with a break from hockey.
Five of the players, though, will have to dig deep into their energy reserves as they get set for Sunday’s ESB Irish Senior Cup final at Belfield.
Loreto’s Louisa Healy, Liz Colvin, Nikki Symmons and Niamh Small, and Railway Union’s Emma Smyth, helped Ireland to a third-place finish in Chile, behind Australia, the tournament winners, and Scotland.
Now their focus is back on club duty and Sunday’s all-Leinster affair.
A year ago, Railway won the first Leinster League title in the club’s history, and they retained it holding off the challenge of Hermes and Loreto last month.
Should they succeed on Sunday, they would add the ISC to the club’s roll of honour for the first time since its foundation in 1904.
That would leave Mick McKinnon’s team on course for the ultimate treble, with an Irish Hockey League semi-final against Hermes still to come (on Saturday week).
But Loreto should be formidable opponents, one of only two teams to take points off Railway in the league this season (in a 1-1 draw in March).
Loreto also have the advantage in terms of cup experience: six of their squad – Healy, Symmons, Clodagh Grealy, Sarah O’Meara, Caitriona Tipping and Cathy McKean – won back-to-back finals in 2002 and 2003.
Railway’s form this season has, though, been outstanding; they won every game they played, in all competitions, until losing to Hermes in the league at the end of January.
A day later they lost to the same opponents in the Leinster Senior Cup, but those remain their only defeats all season.
En route to the final, Railway, drawn away in every round, beat the might of Hermes and Pegasus, while the highlight of Loreto’s run was their defeat of cup holders UCD in the semi-finals.
Both sides, then, had to work hard to reach Sunday’s showpiece and they’ll have to up their effort once more if the Irish Senior Cup is to be their reward.
RTÉ 2 will show highlights of the final on OB Sport at 8pm on Monday.
LORETO SQUAD: L Healy, A Meeke, N Daly, C Grealy, N Symmons, N Keegan, C McKean, S Barnwell, S O’Meara, R Keegan, L Colvin, N Small, C Baker, M Harkin, H Matthews, A Campion, C Tipping, S McGirr. Coach: Graham Shaw.
RAILWAY SQUAD: H Stevenson, I Joyce, K Dillon, S McDonald, H Jenkinson, S Walsh, K McKenna, E Dillon, J McDonnell, C Joyce, R Hutchinson, E Smyth, E Lucey, H de Burgh Whyte, P O’Dwyer, E Dolan, N Evans, S Dooley. Coach: Mick McKinnon.
IRISH SENIOR CUP final (at Belfield) – Sunday: Loreto v Railway Union, 1.0.
