Pegasus and Loreto tie set to go ahead

HOCKEY WEEKEND PREVIEW: PEGASUS AND Loreto will, they hope, finally get to play their second-round Irish Senior Cup tie in Belfast…

HOCKEY WEEKEND PREVIEW:PEGASUS AND Loreto will, they hope, finally get to play their second-round Irish Senior Cup tie in Belfast tomorrow, with Ulster Elks and Armagh also due to meet in their rearranged game after both ties were postponed due to frozen pitches last month.

Lurgan await the winners of the Pegasus v Loreto game in the quarter-finals, while whoever emerges from the Elks v Armagh tie will host Hermes in the last eight.

The two remaining quarter-final games take place tomorrow, with UCD at home to Munster champions Cork Harlequins and Old Alexandra meeting Ballymoney at Milltown.

Alex Speers, meanwhile, has been chosen by Gene Muller to succeed the retired Eimear Cregan as Ireland captain. Speers, one of the stars of the Royal School Armagh team that won the All-Ireland schools’ title in 2004, is playing her hockey in Dublin with Railway Union, after spells with Pegasus and Dragons in Belgium. Leicester’s Emma Clarke, who played with Randalstown and Ulster Elks before moving to England, has been appointed vice-captain.

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FIXTURES: Irish Senior Cup: Tomorrow: Second round:Pegasus v Loreto, Queen's, 2.30; Ulster Elks v Armagh, Jordanstown, 1pm. Third round: UCD v Cork Harlequins, Belfield, 1pm; Old Alexandra v Ballymoney, Milltown, 1pm. Leinster League: Division One: Tomorrow: Railway Union v Glenanne, Park Avenue, 1.15; Pembroke Wanderers v Trinity, Serpentine Avenue, 2pm; Hermes v Bray, St Andrew's, 2.45.

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times