The enforced rejig of the Leinster men’s Division One calendar this week is set to cause headaches for UCD as clashes with exams loom large.
The Belfield club were already looking to refix their game with Three Rock Rovers on December 14th, saying eight of their first team panel have exams that day.
But this week’s confirmed amendments have brought forward the return of the Leinster league after Christmas by a week, to January 11th, when exams will be still on.
The change in calendar is a knock-on effect of the International Hockey Federation’s scheduling of the Champions Challenge I in late April when Ireland will compete in Kuantan, Malaysia.
This competition clashes directly with the initial dates for the Irish Hockey League finals weekend. As such, the IHA moved their event back to March, meaning the Leinster league must now finish by February 15th. It means packing in the 11 remaining rounds of league games as well as two rounds of the Mills Cup into 12 available weeks.
FIXTURES (Saturday): Men's Leinster Division One: Fingal v Pembroke, 12.30pm, ALSAA; Glenanne v YMCA, 2pm, Glenanne Park; Corinthian v Monkstown, 2.15pm, Whitechurch Park; Railway Union v UCD, 3pm, Park Avenue; TRR v Rathgar, 3pm, Grange Road. Division Two: Clontarf v Three Rock Rovers II, 2pm, Mount Temple; YMCA II v Weston, 12.30pm, Claremont Road; Monkstown II v Suttonians, 4pm, Rathdown; Pembroke II v Kilkenny, 4pm, Serpentine Avenue. Men's Irish Hockey Challenge, round one: Naas v Wicklow, 11.45am, Caragh Road; Galway v Bray, 12.30pm, Dangan; Ballynahinch v Armagh, 1pm, Ballynahinch; St James Gate v Ballymena, 1pm, Iveagh Grounds; Limerick v Portrane, 2pm, Villiers.
