After a five-week break, the Hockey League resumes on Saturday with a collapse of dramatic proportions required if runaway leaders Hermes are to fail to reach the last four. Below them, though, just five points separate the next six teams – Railway Union (18), Pegasus (16), UCD (16), Cork Harlequins (15), Ulster Elks (14) and Pembroke Wanderers (13) – so that battle will most likely go all the way to mid-April when the league phase ends.

And it’s UCD who have the next turn at ending Hermes’ flawless start to the campaign when they meet at Booterstown. They came close to giving the leaders a losing start to the league back in September when they twice led before going down 3-2, Hermes winning all eight games since then to give them a nine-point lead at the top of the table – with, for good measure, a game in hand over Railway.

Railway head south to take on Cork Harlequins who have had a rollercoaster of a campaign so far, winning five and losing five of their 10 games. Pegasus have had a similarly uneven set of results, although after a miserable start they’ve won five of their last six games to put them back in contention. Their latest opponents are third-from-bottom Ards, with whom they drew 3-3 in their opener.

Games in hand

With two games in hand on most of the teams above them (their pre-Christmas games against Ards and bottom club Greenfields were both postponed), Ulster Elks’ position may yet prove a false one – win them both and they’d move from sixth to second. Their campaign began with a 3-1 win at home to Pembroke, their hosts on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the bottom two meet in Cork, UCC taking on Connacht champions Greenfields.