WOMENS HOCKEY: Having won their Irish Senior Cup semi-finals last weekend Old Alexandra and Hermes will have a "dress rehearsal" for the final when they meet in the league at Milltown tomorrow. A crucial game it is too, for both sides, with Alexandra needing a win to revive their hopes of a top three finish and Hermes seeking the points to hold off the chasing pack.
No less important in the title race is the meeting of Loreto and Railway Union at Beaufort, with the winner - if there is one - more likely to emerge as Hermes' chief challengers for the rest of the campaign. Pembroke Wanderers and UCD, meanwhile, simply must win their games away to Corinthian and Clontarf, respectively, if they are remain in touch with the top three.
While the debate continues about the Irish Hockey Association's proposals to reform the domestic game, former Irish captain Arlene Boyles has expressed concerns about one practical aspect of the reforms, the travel and accommodations cost to the clubs that will be competing in the proposed National Superleague. "The bottom line is that it looks like the clubs concerned will have to finance two or three trips to the likes of Dublin or Cork," said the Pegasus player.
"It costs around £2,000 for us for a squad weekend in Cork, for example. In my opinion it shouldn't be up to the clubs to finance their involvement - that should be the responsibility of the IHA. As for gate receipts, at Pegasus we have never taken one and we don't intend to start now. You'd be asking your husband, your mum or dad or two men and a dog for money and to me that's not on."
However, Irish coach Riet Kuper, in an interview with the International Hockey Federation magazine, gave a rather damning assessment of the quality of club hockey in Ireland, underlining her support for the proposals to shake up the domestic game. "The Irish league is very weak," she said, "and these girls (international players) are the best in their clubs and can basically do what they want and get away with it. They pick up bad habits in the league and then they have to learn a whole new game when they get into the national set-up."
When asked how many more years she planned on staying in the Irish job the 64-year-old Dutch woman said: "I'll take it from year to year and tournament to tournament and see how it goes, but it has nothing to do with results. Whatever happens, when I do decide to leave, I hope that the level I have achieved will be maintained. I don't know when that will be - it could be next year or the year after that."
Kuper is in Argentina this week with the Irish squad preparing for next week's four nations tournament.
LEINSTER LEAGUE - Tomorrow - Division One: Corinthian v Pembroke Wanderers, Whitechurch, 12.30; Clontarf v UCD, Clontarf, 1.0; Three Rock v Trinity, Grange Road, 1.30; Old Alexandra v Hermes, Milltown, 1.30; Loreto v Railway Union, Beaufort, 2.15. Division Two: Diocesan v Genesis, Rathgar, 12.30; Loreto II v Pembroke Wanderers II, Beaufort, 12.45; Bray v Old Alexandra II, Bray, 1.15; Glenanne v Hermes II, Tallaght, 2.0; Corinthian II v Loreto III, Whitechurch, 3.30. MUNSTER LEAGUE - Division One - Sunday: Bandon v Catholic Institute, Bandon, 2.0. MAY COSTLEY CUP FINAL (at Belfield) - Tomorrow: Moyne Thurles v Yeats County, 2.30.
