Dublin, November 14: The Women’s EY Hockey League reaches its halfway point this weekend, with Round 9 promising some exciting matchups. Loreto continue their dominance, topping the league with an impressive tally of 22pts, and are the only side who maintain an unbeaten record. In pursuit is Old Alex and Catholic Institute, who face each other in a battle over second place.
In the Men’s EY Hockey League, last weekend’s result between former league leaders Lisnagarvey, and last season’s winners Banbridge has opened the title race up to all possibilities, with Three Rock Rovers currently seated at the top. Lisnagarvey face another challenge this weekend to keep pace with the league leaders, as they travel south to face YMCA, a team that sit two places below them in 4th and came close to forcing a draw against Three Rock last week.
On Sunday, the Boys Inter Provincial Series plays its final round as Ulster face Munster in the Sport Ireland Campus. For Ulster, the game is a must win if they are to secure the silverware. Leinster will be watching closely, and in support of Munster, as should Munster come out on top, it is Leinster who will come away as 2024 Champions.
Women’s EY Hockey League – Saturday
UCD vs PEGASUS
13:00 | Belfield Water
Sixth place Pegasus make the trip to Dublin to face eight place UCD in the earliest game of Round 9, with the away side coming off the back of a 1-1 draw with league leaders Loreto last week. Pegasus have made themselves a very tricky side to beat so far this campaign, recording just 1 defeat in their eight games. UCD will need to identify the defensive chink in Pegasus’ armour if they are to get anything from this game.
Umpires: Liz Clifford, Aaron Donnell.
LORETO vs PEMBROKE WANDERERS
13:15 | Loreto Beaufort
Table topping Loreto entertain a Pembroke Wanderers side who have enjoyed a gradual climb up the table over the last few weeks. The hosts, however, would be expected to put a stop to their ascent given their almost perfect record of 22pts from a possible 24 so far. Having said that, Pembroke have already taken one scalp in the form of Catholic Institute just a fortnight ago and have lost just one of their last five games so are not to be written off.
Umpires: Julie Beamish, Linda Coughlan.
OLD ALEXANDRA vs CATHOLIC INSTITUTE
13:30 | Alexandra College | Live on Hockey Ireland TV
The Game of the Week sees 2nd placed Old Alexandra take on 3rd placed Catholic Institute, with the two sides separated by just a single point. Both sides boast significant goal threat in the form of joint top scorer Naomi Carroll for CI and Jessica McGrane with both players scoring four times in the last five games. This is likely to be a game decided by which defence can thwart their opposition more effectively; this one is just too close for us to call!
Umpires: Ellie Duffy, Amy Jones.
RAILWAY UNION vs UCC
13:30 | Park Avenue
Fourth place Railway Union host bottom of the table UCC, with Railway hoping to continue the climb up the ranks with a third win on the bounce. UCC are no rollovers though and have forced penalty shootouts against the likes of Pembroke and Pegasus since the start of the season. While Railway will likely be favourites, UCC could well cause their opposition plenty of problems as they continue to improve in their first season in the EYHL.
Umpires: Kris Cholewa, Gary O’Connor.
ULSTER ELKS vs ARDS
14:30 | University of Ulster
Ninth placed Ards travel to Jordanstown to take on Ulster Elks in an Ulster derby in the last women’s game of the day. Ulster Elks will be slight favourites but if Ards can start scoring goals again, after their recent drought, they can make a match of this occasion.
Umpires: Sarah Craig, Aaron Saunders.
Men’s EY Hockey League – Saturday
ANNADALE vs UCD
13:30 | CIYMS Sports Complex
This bottom of the table clash is a real six pointer with Annadale hosting UCD. Both teams are still searching for their first league win despite gradual improvements as the weeks have gone on. Annadale have gradually shored themselves up at the back but have yet to really get going in front of goal. UCD are almost entirely the opposite and have begun to find the net in recent games but are still struggling to keep the opposition out late in games. An intriguing matchup which could have major implications for both sides.
Umpires: Russell Donaldson, Zoe Hall.
PEMBROKE WANDERERS vs BANBRIDGE
14 :30 | Serpentine Avenue
Banbridge have dropped points this season, but they arrive at Serpentine Avenue fresh from defeating Lisnagarvey having reminded the rest of the league that they haven’t gone anywhere. A win in their game in hand, that is set to be played at the end of this month, would likely put them within touching distance of whomever occupies top spot.
They could be on their way to that should they manage to beat newly promoted Pembroke Wanderers who have found their scoring mojo but are still not the finished article defensively despite noticeable improvement in recent games.
Umpires: Simon McAllister, Neil Mackay.
THREE ROCK ROVERS vs AVOCA
15:00 | Grange Road
Three Rock Rovers currently sit in first place and are leading the challenge from outside Ulster for this year’s title. EYHL newcomers Avoca are next on the list of sides attempting to knock Three Rock from their perch. The home side have looked almost impenetrable at the back and lethal in front of goal, giving them all the components of a potential-championship side. Given recent form, it will take a mammoth performance from Avoca to grab a result here as they continue their fight to stay in the league, and potentially break into the EY Champions Trophy spots.
Umpires: Malcolm Coombes, Robert Johnston.
CORINTHIAN vs MONKSTOWN
15:15 | St. Columba’s College
High –flying Corinthian host Monkstown in St. Columba’s in a Dublin Derby. Corinthians are 4 points ahead of Monkstown in the table after 7 rounds of matches. Monkstown are slowly climbing the table after a relatively slow start to the season not helped by some long-term injuries to key players. Monkstown could close the gap on their opponents by beating them on their own patch.
Umpires: Alison Keogh, Shane O’Donnell
YMCA vs LISNAGARVEY
15:15 | Wesley College
YMCA take on Lisnagarvey at Wesley College. Garvey who led the League until last week will be looking to return to the top of the table, or at the very least maintain pace with fellow challengers Three Rock Roves. They will find YMCA a difficult obstacle to those aspirations as they have started the season almost where they left off last season.
This one could go require a shoot-out to separate the sides.
Umpires: Bruce Bale, Oli Brown.
Boys U16 & U18 Inter Provincial Series – Sunday
In the final round of the 2024 U16 & U18 Boys Inter Provincial Series, Ulster face Munster in the Sport Ireland Campus. Must win games for Ulster, they currently sit just 1pt and 2pts below Leinster in the U16 table U18 table, respectively. Both Leinster sides, will have keen eyes on this fixture, with a win for Munster meaning Leinster secure the silverware.
Ulster will enter the ties as favourites, having previously beaten Munster in the competition by a margin of three goals in both games back in September. However, Munster have grown continuously as the competition has gone on, causing their opposition plenty of problems.
Umpires: Cameron Slade, Marcus Blake, Ciaran Lyons.