MENS HOCKEY: If he adds a Connacht appointment to his hockey CV before he calls time on his coaching career Stephen Jackson will have a "provincial" full house. Having worked before now with clubs in Munster and Ulster, of both genders, as well as the Munster team and the Irish women's under-21 side, Jackson began his spell as Monkstown coach in the Leinster League on Saturday, away to Glenanne.
Predictably enough, Noel Keogh's team proved too strong for Monkstown, taking a 3-0 lead through two players who have rejoined the club this season, John Goulding (back from Australia) and Joe Brennan (back from Belgium), with Brennan scoring twice from penalty corners - Gareth Watkins scored a goal 10 minutes from time.
Jackson is looking at his Monkstown adventure as a long-term project. "It's really a two, three-year plan, building for the future," he said. "We just want to improve on what Monkstown did last year, to try and get players to develop - the likes of Watkins, to see if he can really make the step up from under-21 hockey. I think this wee guy is every bit as good as Mark Gleghorne, who has made that step."
While Jackson has "left" Ulster (he lives in Dromore, Co Down, but will commute to Dublin for training and matches) for Leinster Graham Shaw has taken the opposite route, via Belgium.
After completing his stint with Royal Dragons of Antwerp, Shaw, who will be studying at the University of Ulster, is joining up with Irish team-mates David Smyth and Chris Jackson at Ulster champions Annadale (who have also recruited their former midfielder Andrew McBride, as well as Steven Redpath).
Three Rock, coached by Simon Filgas, opened on Saturday with a comfortable 4-1 win over newly promoted Clontarf, half of whose team had never played in the first division. Stephen Tilson (two), Christian Judd (stroke) and Robbie McFarlane got Three Rock's scores, with Dougie Goode replying for Clontarf.
Corinthians, coached by Peter Darley and Ivan Ovington, staged a spirited comeback against Railway Union at Whitechurch, with second-half goals from James Benson and Robbie Burns (stroke) enough to take a point after Brendan Parsons and Martin Lynch had given Railway a 2-0 lead at half-time. Paddy Gahon and Adrian Sweeney scored after the break to seal a 3-1 win for Aer Lingus over YMCA.
