Dublin, October 30: With a considerable amount of the 2024/25 EY Hockey League season complete, pressure is beginning to mount at both ends of the table.
In the Men’s EYHL, Three Rock Rovers face a significant challenge as they look to maintain their status at the top as they travel to current champions Banbridge. Similarly, Lisnagarvey visit Monkstown, who have been a perennial stumbling block for leading sides in recent years. YMCA will hope the sides above them falter, as they look to collect another three points in their game against Avoca. And pressure mounts on UCD and Annadale at the bottom of the table, with both sides facing tricky matchups against Pembroke Wanderers and Corinthian respectively.
In the Women’s EYHL, Ards travel to Dublin in search of an upset against table topping Loreto. Pegasus aim to continue their unbeaten start to the season as they face an Old Alex side who sit just one place and one point below them. UCD & UCC will play out a collegiate clash at the bottom of the table, as both sides attempt to build on some good recent form. Railway Union will hope to turn the tides on a difficult start to the season but face a formidable challenge in the form of Ulster Elks. Lastly, Catholic Institute travel to Ballsbridge in hopes of narrowing the gap to Loreto with a win over Pembroke Wanderers.
Women’s EY Hockey League Fixtures
OLD ALEX vs PEGASUS
12:30 | Wesley College
One of the ties of round 7 sees 5th placed Old Alex host Pegasus who sit just one place and one point ahead of them in 4th. The visitors have established themselves as a force so far this season and are the only side excluding top of the table Loreto to have maintained an unbeaten start to the season with 2 wins and 4 draws. There is a lot on the line for both sides in the race to catch the current league leaders.
Umpires: Fiona Davitt, Zoe Hall
UCD V UCC
13:00 | Belfield Water
A recent change in the tides for both of these teams will make this collegiate match one to keep an eye on. UCC are in a fine vein of form after a challenging start to the season, recording three draws and three shootout bonus points in their last three games. UCD sit below them in 10th, unfamiliar territory for a side that has been perennial title challengers over the last few seasons. However, the home side will enter the game after a convincing first league win over Ards last weekend.
Umpires: Oli Brown, Ellie Duffy
PEMBROKE WANDERERS vs CATHOLIC INSTITUTE
13:00 | Serpentine Avenue
Still in the process of hitting their stride, Pembroke face a Catholic Institute side who will be sky high on confidence following their 1-1 draw versus Loreto last week, a game they arguably could have one if their last-minute effort had struck the backboard rather than the post. Both Pembroke and Catholic Institue boast similarly potent attacking threats, with the former being led by the likes of Kathrine Egan, and the latter by Naomi Carroll. This game could be separated by which side’s defensive unit can keep the other scoreless for longer.
Umpires: Julie Beamish, Aaron Donnell
RAILWAY UNION vs ULSTER ELKS
13:30 | Park Avenue
Seventh placed Railway Union have already exceeded their total number of defeats of three in 2023/24 going into Round 7 of the Women’s EYHL. The home side have been without the services of Katie Mullan and Roisín Upton for large parts of this season so far, which goes some way into explaining the tricky opening period for last year’s EY Champions Trophy winners.
By contrast, Ulster Elks are enjoying a much-improved start to the season versus last year and find themselves in third place with 3 wins and a draw to their name. Gabriella Scott will be hoping to continue her form in front of goal this week, having scored 3 goals in the last 2 games for Elks.
Umpires: Liz Clifford, Amy Jones
Loreto vs ARDS
14:00 | Loreto Beaufort
Sixth placed Ards are the visitors at Beaufort where the league leading Loreto will be seeking to continue their unbeaten start to the season. Loreto have only dropped one point out of a possible 18 in their opening 6 games and have recorded an impressive four clean sheets so far making them a force both offensively and defensively. Ards have been fearless on their return to the EYHL and in Zara Malseed they have a goal scoring forward playing at the top of her game. Could Ards be the team to end Loreto’s unbeaten run? Only time will tell.
Umpires: Linda Coughlan, Sarah Craig
Men’s EY Hockey League Fixtures
BANBRIDGE vs THREE ROCK
14:00 | Havelock Park
League leaders Three Rock Rovers travel to Havelock Park to face reigning league winners Banbridge. Neither side have lost a game yet this season, but Three Rock boast a better record after Banbridge’s draw to YMCA last weekend.
An impossible game to predict, this one is definitely one of the most important games of round 6.
Umpires: Bruce Bale, Shane O’Donnell
MONKSTOWN vs LISNAGARVEY
15:00 | Rathdown School
Another potential candidate for Tie of the Round sees 1st placed Lisnagarvey travel to 6th place Monkstown. Monkstown will have their work cut out trying to shut out this free-scoring Lisnagarvey attack who are averaging over 6 goals per game and remain unbeaten. However, if the home side can find a way to nullify that attacking threat and provide Lee Cole opportunities at goal from penalty corners, they could well cause an upset.
Umpires: Alison Keogh, Aaron Saunders
YMCA vs AVOCA
15:00 | Wesley College
Fourth placed YMCA have shown no ill effects from losing high scoring forward Tevin Kok from their ranks as they sit 4th in the table with an impressive goalscoring record so far. They face an Avoca side who are still adjusting to the intensity of Ireland’s topflight competition, despite adding considerable EYHL experience to their ranks of the form of Shane O’Dononghue and Brad Venter to name a few.
A strong start for the visitors is needed if they are to get something from this game.
Umpires: Malcolm Coombes, Colm Kavanagh
CORINTHIAN vs ANNADALE
15:15 | St Columba’s College | Live on HITV
Corinthian have made a bright start to the 2024/25 campaign, finding themselves in fifth, having acquired 7 points from a possible 15 so far. Annadale on the other hand are still in search of their first league points but are starting to show signs of being a threat in front of goal. Things will start to get uncomfortable for the visitors if they can’t find a way to record points soon, and Saturday’s game against Corinthian gives them a possible opportunity to do that.
Umpires: Russell Donaldson, Gary O’Connor
PEMBROKE vs UCD
16:15 | Serpentine Avenue
Pembroke Wanderers did not get off to the best of starts initially this season but have picked up valuable points in the last couple of games. They are beginning to score more regularly now with Alan Sothern’s return to his original club culminating in an impressive 4 goal haul in last week’s game leaving him top of the Men’s EYHL scoring charts. This week’s outing gives them a great opportunity to continue building the positive momentum and close the gap with the upper half of the table.
UCD are starting to show gradual signs of improvement, staying in games for longer each week. They are yet to put together a ‘complete’ 70-minute performance to date and as a result find themselves joint bottom without any points. They’ll hope this is the week they manage to change that.
Umpires: Simon MacAllister, Neil Mackay