Loreto face key games

WOMEN'S HOCKEY:A week after they were drawn against each other in the third round of the Irish Senior Cup Pembroke Wanderers and Loreto will have a dress-rehearsal for the tie when they meet in the league at Serpentine Avenue tomorrow. A key game it is too, even so early in the season, with Pembroke able to open up a seven-point lead over the reigning champions should they win the encounter.

The top four in the table - Pembroke, Railway Union, Hermes and Loreto - remain unbeaten, but Hermes have drawn four of their six games so far, and Loreto three of their five, those slip-ups leaving them trailing the top two.

A shortage of goals has been Loreto's weakness in the opening third of the campaign, the team managing just seven in their five games, a problem that will hardly be eased by the absence for much of the season of internationals Cathy McKean and Nikki Symmons. The champions do, though, have a chance to get right back in contention in the league over the next four days if they can take maximum points from the games against Pembroke and, on Tuesday night, UCD.

The students will look for their first league win of the season when they play bottom club Genesis tomorrow, while fifth-placed Old Alexandra could do with a win against Three Rock to give their top-three aspirations a boost.

In Munster, Church of Ireland have been bolstered by the arrival of 22-year-old Michaela Mihailou, a former Australia A and youth international, who is expected to make her debut against Belvedere in Ballincollig tomorrow. Meanwhile Ulster will be looking for their eighth successive under-18 interprovincial title when they host this year's tournament in Belfast over the weekend.

FIXTURES: Leinster League - Tomorrow - Division One: Three Rock v Old Alexandra, Grange Road, 1.0; Pembroke Wanderers v Loreto, Ballsbridge, 2.0; Genesis v UCD, Belfield, 2.30. Division Two: Hermes II v Corinthian II, Booterstown, 1.0; Glenanne v Railway Union II, Tallaght , 2.0; Clontarf v Bray, Clontarf, 2.0; Pembroke II v Loreto II, Ballsbridge, 3.30; Suttonians v Old Alexandra II, Sutton, 3.30.

Munster League - Tomorrow - Division One: Univ of Limerick v Catholic Institute, Crescent School, 3.0; Ashton v UCC, Ashton, 12.30; Belvedere v Church of Ireland, Ballincollig, 11.30.

Under-18 Interprovincial Tournament (at Belfast) - Tomorrow: Ulster v Connacht, 9.0; Leinster v Munster, 10.30; Connacht v South East, 12.0; Ulster v Munster, 3.30; South East v Leinster, 5.0. Sunday: South East v Munster, 9.0; Connacht v Leinster, 11.0; Ulster v South East, 1.0; Connacht v Munster, 3.0; Ulster v Leinster, 5.0.