WOMEN'S HOCKEY:ROUND THREE of the Irish Hockey League takes place this weekend with pool leaders Railway Union and Pegasus looking to maintain their perfect records in the competition when they travel away to Ballymoney and UCC, respectively.
Railway made it five wins out of five in the Leinster League on Wednesday night, a Jean McDonnell hat-trick giving them a 3-0 win over Corinthian, so they head north again, a week after beating Ards in the Irish Senior Cup, in good spirits.
They won’t, much to their relief, face a third trip north in as many weeks after the Irish Hockey Association, at the request of UCD, rescheduled the date for the ISC semi-finals, a switch necessitated by Ireland’s build-up to and involvement in April’s World Cup qualifier in Chile.
Initially the semi-finals were switched to Saturday week but with many of UCD’s players busy with exams it was agreed that the new date would be January 16th. Railway, who were drawn away to Pegasus in the competition (Loreto host UCD in the other game), expected to be without a number of key players for the game, so the January switch will have been welcomed.
The fourth round of the IHL will now take place on February 27th and 28th, with the fifth scheduled for March 14th.
The dates for the semi-finals and final – May 15th and 16th – are unchanged. The ISC final will be on the weekend of May 8th and 9th, with the date determined by television coverage.
All focus for now, though, is on the pursuit of places in the IHL semi-finals, with last year’s finalists, Hermes and champions Loreto, currently fourth and fifth in Pool B, in need of points from their games against Old Alexandra and Randalstown.
With The Mardyke unusable after the recent floods in Cork UCC, third in the table, host Pegasus at Church of Ireland’s Garryduff ground.
In Pool A, second and third-placed Pembroke Wanderers and Cork Harlequins meet in a key game at Farmers’ Cross, with Ards hosting Church of Ireland in the clash of the pool’s bottom two clubs.
FIXTURES: Irish Hockey League – Pool A – Tomorrow: Ballymoney v Railway Union, Joey Dunlop Centre, 2.30; Cork Harlequins v Pembroke Wanderers, Farmers Cross, 4.0. Sunday: Ards v Church of Ireland, Ards Leisure Centre, 1.0. Pool B – Tomorrow: UCC v Pegasus, Garryduff, 12.30; Old Alexandra v Hermes, Milltown, 3.0. Sunday: Loreto v Randalstown, Beaufort, 3.0.
Leinster League – Division One – Tomorrow: Trinity v Glenanne, Santry, 12.0; UCD v Bray, Belfield, 1.0. Sunday: Corinthian v UCD, Whitechurch, 12.30; Glenanne v Hermes, St Mark’s, 1.30.
