Domestic action resumes as Irish return

HOCKEY:AFTER IRELAND established in Argentina at the World Cup Qualifiers just how much ground they have to make up to compete against teams around the top 10 in the world (three goals conceded against Belgium, four goals conceded against Argentina), this weekend in Dublin, Glenanne and Pembroke come back into domestic circulation.

Without being too harsh on UCD, they face an opening game at Glenanne Park, while Clontarf also meet Pembroke in a match that could be the difference between the top of the Leinster league and the lower end.

The match of the weekend is probably Rovers’ meeting with Pembroke on Sunday at Grange Road, when the two Neville Cup semi-finals will also be played with Monkstown facing Glenanne in Rathdown, and Leinster league leaders Corinthians playing YMCA in Whitechurch.

Glenanne and Pembroke have some catching up to do with just five and four league games played respectively compared to Rovers’ nine games and UCD’s 10.

So Pembroke are six games behind the students and Glenanne five, which could add up to a nasty backlog at the end of the season especially as Pembroke have other commitments.

Away from Leinster they have Irish Hockey League, Europe at Easter, Irish Senior Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. In the IHL they play Banbridge in December, Cork Harlequins in January and Instonians in March, while Glenanne face Cookstown, Rovers and Cork C of I.

What it could mean, if the clubs don’t start to clear away the league matches, is that they will be faced with an end-of-season schedule that could compromise the outcome of the Leinster championship with crazy three-games-a-week finishes.

It’s happened before and is, perhaps, the nature of success. For now, depending on what kind of physical and mental condition the international players are in post-Argentina, Rovers might see themselves as having a chance of grabbing some useful points on Sunday

FIXTURES: Saturday – Leinster Senior League: Division One: Railway Union v Three Rock Rovers, 1.0, Park Avenue; Monkstown v YMCA, 1.30, Rathdown; Glenanne v UCD, 1.0, Glenanne Park; Clontarf v Pembroke Wanderers, 2.45, Mount Temple; Fingal v Corinthians, 1.30, ALSAA.

Sunday – Leinster Senior League – Division one: Three Rock Rovers v Pembroke, 3.0, Grange Road. Neville Cup semi-finals –Monkstown v Glenanne, 2.30, Rathdown; Corinthians v YMCA, 2.30, Whitechurch.