Hermes looking to increase lead with win at Muckross

Until this season only in their dreams have Hermes ever imagined holding a 10 point lead over Muckross, the club that has dominated the Leinster League for the past six years. However, should they win their eighth successive league match at Rathdown School tomorrow morning Hermes will have just such a cushion between themselves and the defending champions, whom they meet for the first time this season.

Even now the league table has an unfamiliar look about it, with Muckross back in third place having dropped five points after a score draw against Old Alexandra and two 0-0's against Pembroke Wanderers and Loreto. Hermes, on the other hand, have picked up maximum points in every game since drawing 1-1 with Loreto in the opening match of the season.

Their 2-1 victory over Muckross in last season's Irish Senior Cup final and a significant strengthening of their squad during the summer (Carol Devine, Zanya Dahl, Aoife Byrne and Aisling Keane) sent Hermes in to the new league campaign with a firm belief in their ability to win the title. "It was just a case of convincing them that they could do it. That's the difference between the top four sides - Muckross know they can do it, we just all think maybe we can," said Hermes coach Roy Horsfield after their Irish Cup success.

Maybe the "maybes" are a thing of the past. Although Horsfield preaches caution about his team's prospects he knows that even Muckross would find it difficult to close a 10-point gap between now and the end of the season, should Hermes beat them tomorrow.

But you don't win six league titles in a row without resilience and quality in abundance and Muckross have a habit of rising to the big occasion. Victory for them tomorrow will narrow the gap at the top to just four points, with a game in hand, and suddenly that seventh-title-in-a-row will look a real possibility once again.

Second-placed Loreto would like nothing better than a scoreless draw between Muckross and Hermes - that, or a defeat for the leaders, would see them go top of the table on the weekend of the official opening of their new u380,000 pitch at Beaufort School in Rathfarnham. The team play a Leinster President's Selection at Beaufort on Sunday afternoon (3.15), following the opening ceremony at 2.45, to mark the occasion.

Loreto played their first league match on the astro-turf pitch on Wednesday night, when a Caitriona O'Kelly goal 10 minutes from time gave them a 1-0 victory over Glenanne. The new development at Beaufort - which also includes state-of-the-art floodlighting and a fully-equipped pavilion - was jointly funded by the Loreto Order, Loreto High School and the hockey club.