WOMEN'S HOCKEY: Having contested the last two Leinster Senior Cup finals, winning one each, Loreto and Hermes meet at the semi-final stage of this year's competition on Sunday, with Pembroke Wanderers and Corinthian contesting the second semi-final at Grange Road.
Hermes' 2-1 victory over Loreto last year gave the club its first Leinster Senior Cup since 1978, reversing the previous year's result. Whichever team prevails on Sunday will go in to the St Patrick's Day final as favourites and will also gain a significant boost ahead of the teams' crucial league game, a date for which has yet to be set.
Pembroke, meanwhile, will look to make up for a disappointing week that saw them drop points to Genesis on Monday, in a 2-2 draw. Roy Horsfield and Gino Barnwell come up against the team they coached before their switch to Pembroke this season.
League form suggests Pembroke should win on Sunday but Corinthian will take heart from their display at Serpentine Avenue in the league earlier in the season when managed a scoreless draw.
By the time they play their semi-final on Sunday Pembroke could have dropped from third to fifth in the league, if Old Alexandra and UCD win their games tomorrow. The students' 2-0 win over Glenanne on Monday lifted them into fourth place, above Alexandra, and three more points against relegation-threatened Trinity at Belfield would boost their hopes of a top-three finish in the second half of the season, guaranteeing them a play-off for entry to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
With two games in hand on Hermes and Pembroke, and one on Loreto and UCD, Alexandra also have an excellent chance of at least finishing in the top three, having missed out on goal difference in the first phase of the season. They play Genesis at Rathdown tomorrow while Loreto will expect to move within three points of Hermes at the top when they play bottom club Glenanne at Beaufort.
Home advantage, at Belfast Harlequins' Deramore ground, should make Ulster favourites to retain their Junior Interprovincial Tournament this weekend while holders Cork Harlequins should prove too strong for the University of Limerick at Farmers' Cross in the semi-final of the Munster Cup - Catholic Institute and Bandon meet in the second semi-final at Moylish.
JUNIOR INTERPROVINCIAL TOURNAMENT (at Deramore Park, Belfast) - Tomorrow: Connacht v Ulster, 9.30; Leinster v Munster, 11.0; South East v Connacht, 12.30; Ulster v Munster, 2.0; South East v Leinster, 3.30. Sunday: Munster v South East, 9.0; Connacht v Leinster, 10.30; Ulster v South East, 12.0; Connacht v Munster, 1.30; Ulster v Leinster, 3.0.
LEINSTER CUP - Semi-Finals - Sunday: Hermes v Loreto, Grange Road, 12.45; Corinthian v Pembroke Wanderers, Grange Road, 2.45.
LEINSTER LEAGUE - Division One: Loreto v Glenanne, Beaufort, 11.0; Genesis v Old Alexandra, Rathdown, 12.0; UCD v Trinity, Belfield, 1.15. Division Two: Corinthian II v Our Lady's, Whitechurch, 12.15; Old Alexandra II v Three Rock, Milltown, 1.15.
MUNSTER CUP (Division One and two) - Semi-finals: Harlequins v Univ of Limerick, Farmer's Cross, 12.0; Catholic Institute v Bandon, Moylish, 1.0.
