The country-wide first round of the Irish Junior Cup offers quite a few ties with a distinctive tingle tomorrow. Most notably, the leading Cork sides, Church of Ireland II and Harlequins II, are at home and away, respectively, to the strong Leinster contenders, Glenanne II and Pembroke Wanderers II. All four clubs have won the trophy in the last decade. Three Rock Rovers II, winners and runners-up in the last two seasons, will tackle Monkstown II with gusto at Grange Road, while holders Annadale II, who host Kilkenny, will probably have zealous rivals in Lisnagarvey II in the later stages.

There will be special interest, too, in the fortunes of Robert Ryan's debutants, Limerick HC - already set for promotion to the Munster premier division - who face tough opponents in Cookstown II at Moylish. Bandon, who reached the semifinals before losing to Three Rock last season, on a fresh visit to Dublin may find Corinthians II hard to match.

Meanwhile, the cosmopolitan Corinthians first XI will be hoping to consolidate their third place in the Leinster Senior League when they meet Avoca at Rathdown tomorrow. It was 5-2 in their autumn fixture and Corinthians look even sharper now. But Avoca, while their resources are stretched, have been playing with such determination of late that a point could be salvaged.

There can be little doubt that Glenanne will reverse the startling 3-2 autumn defeat they suffered at the hands of Three Rock Rovers at Grange Road. Now they are being chased by Glenanne, Pembroke Wanderers cannot afford an echec like last week's by Monkstown. It is unlikely YMCA will contain them at Ballinteer this weekend, though the margin may well be slimmer than the 4-0 scoreline at Serpentine Avenue in September.

Monkstown, 4-0 winners at home at the start of the season, should again beat Railway Union with something to spare at Park Avenue. And Trinity, away to fellow relegation-threatened Aer Lingus, should at least emulate last month's 2-2 draw.