Monkstown held by Fingal

MEN'S HOCKEY:A 1-0 WIN for UCD moved them away from the bottom of the Leinster Senior League table over the weekend. Weston now look destined to stay at the bottom where they have been from the beginning of a difficult season for them. In Division Two Avoca currently lead the race for top place, although that too remains tight with themselves, Clontarf, Rathgar Chiefs and also Trinity still in contention.

In Division One the top four positions keep changing and three teams – Glenanne, YMCA and Pembroke – look strongly poised to take the top three places with Monkstown and Corinthians in a dog-fight for fourth.

Monkstown, currently three points ahead of Corinthians on the table, could manage only a 3-3 draw with Fingal in Rathdown. Fingal will look at that result as important for them while it makes Monkstown’s fight to stay in the top four that little bit harder.

In Leinster and Ulster, the top four teams from the provincial leagues qualify for the Irish Hockey League while in Munster the top two teams progress. There are also two wild card places to be won.

Pembroke are the IHL holders from last season and have not been as dominant this year. While their rare scoreless draw with Corinthians didn’t harm them greatly, the wider league competition seems to be more open. The cherry at the end of it all is that the IHL champions represent Ireland in Europe. There is a lot to play for and most teams have six games or so to play, Weston with just one draw to their name and Glenanne still unbeaten at the top.