Leinster get interpro boost

Men's Hockey Weekend round-up: Leinster are likely to be able to call on the services of three of their Belgium-based players for the interprovincial series on February 28th. The three, Graham Shaw, Stephen Butler and Joe Brennan - all from Glenanne - have made themselves available for selection for the Ulster-based competition, with Shaw taking on the captaincy.

Shaw and Butler were part of the Irish squad that competed in last September's European Championships in Barcelona. Also eligible to play is James Benson, who last year picked up the player-of-the-year award in Leinster and has been a consistently dominant force for the Rathfarnham-based Corinthians club. It is also believed the attacking midfielder, who is Australian, has been in Ireland long enough to qualify for the national squad. He is, without doubt, one of the best players in the country.

Ireland's leading scorer at international level, Justin Sherriff, who scored for Pembroke in their 5-1 win over the weekend, has not yet made himself available for Leinster.

Sherriff's colleague and partner in the Irish strike line Gordon Elliott is back in harness. Elliott made a return to playing on Saturday, having been out injured for some time. He too grabbed one of Pembroke's five goals.

Elsewhere it was pretty much the same as the top four clubs on the table all won their league matches.

Of the four, Three Rock Rovers would have had most to talk about at their annual dinner on Saturday night as they had to scramble for their win over UCD in the dying minutes of the match.

The students, who are struggling this year at the bottom of the table, shot to a 2-0 lead before the visitors climbed back into the game.

Three Rock Rovers left it until the final 10 minutes to start scoring but then did so ruthlessly. Gary Ringwood, Niall Denham and the winner from Michael Yeats ensured they held on to their appetite and their position in the top three.