Tough tie for leaders at halfway stage

"If we beat Glenanne out there on Saturday, we'll win the (Leinster Senior) League" is the bold prediction of one of Corinthians's most sociable supporters who may wish to remain anonymous but is known to be an ex-goalkeeper from Enniscorthy who regularly infiltrates the Pembroke Wanderers camp.

The trouble for Corinthians - though they are top of the table for the first time - is that their recent record against Glenanne is disturbing, losing last season's two league games (5-1 and 2-1) and succumbing 3-1 to the Tallaght side in the Stephen Doyle Trophy final at Hallowe'en.

Once more for Corinthians it will be a case of whether Colin Stewart can boomerang free of Rory O'Donoghue's unstinting marking while the defence needs to cut down the number of set-piece opportunities on which Glenanne's marksman Stephen Butler thrives.

This is an equally important match for Glenanne, for if they were to win at St Mark's, they would re-emerge among the challengers for Pembroke's title as the championship reaches the halfway stage.

Three Rock Rovers, playing with some bounce, at least must retain hopes of finishing in the top three (and gaining a place in the all-Ireland play-offs) but another draw may well be the outcome of tomorrow's visit to Railway Union. Here, too, the shackling, say by Alan Bothwell, of free-shooting overseas player Graham Berry will be a key factor, though both the Railway coach Brian Delaney and Berry himself face the dilemma of whether the South African striker should rest his tweaked hamstring.

Elsewhere, Pembroke and Monkstown are bound to be too lively for Kilkenny and YMCA, respectively, but Avoca may have a more testing passage against Aer Lingus at the airport where David Bane will be foremost in the resistance.

In Munster, Catholic Institute will be hoping to reduce Cork C of I's winning margin at Garryduff to considerably less than the Limerick side's 7-0 defeat at Harlequins before 'Institute started their upsurge.

Countrywide, all the premier grade clubs will be keenly awaiting next week's draw for the third round of the Irish Senior Cup. In the meantime, tomorrow the inter-varsity champions, UCD, are in with a chance of being the only second-division team from the South to survive the preliminary stages as the Dubliners travel with reasonable buoyancy to Larne. The assignment facing Naas at Kilkeel is more demanding.