The pick of Saturday’s EY Hockey League fixtures is the meeting of fourth-placed Ards and third-placed Cork Harlequins.

The Ulster side’s run of four wins in a row putting them among the leading contenders after the worst possible start to the campaign that saw them lose their opening three games.

Two of those early defeats, though, came at the hands of the top two, Hermes-Monkstown and UCD, Ards rebounding in some style since with wins over Railway Union and the bottom three, Ulster Elks, Belfast Harlequins and Pembroke Wanderers.

Cork Harlequins, too, found the going tough against the leaders the past fortnight, losing to Hermes and drawing with UCD, having won their first five games.

Both Hermes and UCD will expect to maintain their progress when they take on teams from the bottom three, Pembroke and Belfast Harlequins respectively, while Pegasus will be looking for their first win in five games when they travel to Dublin to take on Railway. Ulster Elks, meanwhile, host Loreto.