Leaders against champions: Railway Union v Loreto tops a stacked EY Hockey League Saturday
Irish hockey has squeezed its whole weekend into one day, and what a day. All ten EY Hockey League games, men’s and women’s, are played this Saturday, and the fixture list has thrown up the meeting everybody wanted early: the league leaders against the reigning champions.
All times below are Irish local time. Two games, UCD v Pegasus and Lisnagarvey v Avoca, are live on Hockey Ireland TV.
Women’s fixtures, Saturday 17 October
- Railway Union v Loreto, 1:40 pm, Park Avenue
- Pembroke Wanderers v Queen’s University, 2:00 pm, Serpentine Avenue
- Monkstown v Portadown, 2:15 pm, Rathdown School
- Ards v Old Alex, 2:30 pm, Londonderry Park
- UCD v Pegasus, 3:00 pm, UCD Belfield (live on Hockey Ireland TV)
Railway Union have been perfect so far. Every game won, top of the table, and now Loreto come to Park Avenue, the champions, the team that has set the standard in this league for years. If Railway win this one, it’s not a good start anymore. It’s a statement.
There’s quality everywhere else too. Pembroke have started superbly and host a Queen’s side that won emphatically in round four. Ards lost for the first time last weekend and get an Old Alex team fresh from taking a draw and a bonus point off Loreto themselves. And Pegasus, still hunting their first league win of the season, go to UCD in the televised game. Nobody hands you points in Belfield.
Men’s fixtures, Saturday 17 October
- Monkstown v Corinthian, 12:20 pm, Rathdown School
- Portrane v Cork Harlequins, 2:00 pm, Donabate Community College
- Lisnagarvey v Avoca, 2:30 pm, Comber Road (live on Hockey Ireland TV)
- Pembroke Wanderers v Banbridge, 4:00 pm, Serpentine Avenue
- Three Rock Rovers v YMCA, 5:00 pm, Grange Road
The men’s headline is at Comber Road. Lisnagarvey are back from a successful Euro Hockey League trip to Eindhoven with their perfect league start intact, and Avoca, also unbeaten, are exactly the kind of side who ruin homecomings. That’s the game of the day in the men’s league, no debate.
Serpentine Avenue gets a cracker too: Pembroke in third against Banbridge in fourth, two more unbeaten sides, something has to give. Three Rock Rovers are chasing top spot and host a YMCA team that finally got its first win last weekend, while at the other end Portrane v Cork Harlequins is the head-to-head between the two promoted sides, both of them fighting to stay in the top flight. Monkstown, who haven’t taken a point since round one, host a Corinthian side going for a third win.
Five women’s games, five men’s games, unbeaten records scattered all over both leagues. By Saturday night, several of them will be gone. That’s not a problem with the Irish league. That’s the whole point of it.
