DO YOU remember the name of the Irish song that won the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest? No? Well, Muckross Hockey Club do - in fact their players probably sang The Voice all the way to Sicily when they set off for this week-end's European Club Championships.
Before Eimear Quinn maintained Ireland's musical domination of Europe in Oslo last year, Muckross had been due to host the European Division B Club Championships in Belfield this month. However, those plans had to be abandoned once it was discovered that every hotel room in and around Dublin had been booked out by the Eurovision organisers for the contest's annual visit to these shores - leaving no room for seven visiting hockey squads and their companions.
Italian club Cus Catania came to the rescue and offered to stage the event . . . so, Muckross jetted off to Sicily this week, instead of busing it to Belfield.
"Very disappointing, isn't it," commented one of their players recently, before producing a grin of Cheshire Cat proportions.
Promotion to the A division of the club championships is the goal for Muckross in the eight-team tournament, made up of two pools of four. To achieve that they must finish top of their pool to take one of the two available promotion places.
They should overcome the challenge of Finland's ABC Team today and SK Slavia Praha of the Czech Republic on Sunday, so tomorrow's match against Ukrainian champions Dynamo Sumy looks decisive.
The winners of Pool A and B will meet in Monday's final to determine who will be crowned Division B champions. Pool B is made up of AHTC Wien (Austria), RITM Grodno (Bulgaria), Lokomotiva Raka (Slovakia) and Cus Catania.
Meanwhile, for the Irish men, six weeks without a competitive fixture and the absence of two first-choice players have left Instonians with a difficult task in their bid to clinch promotion from the B Division of their European club championship in Cagliari, Sardinia. It was here that the side's leading figure, Neil Cooke, played for Ireland in the World Cup qualifier last October.
Goalkeeper Philip Carson and defender Kenny Rutherford were unable to make this week's trip due to work commitments, as the deposed Ulster champions aim for a top two finish which would elevate Lisnagarvey into the top flight next season.
Today's opener against Scottish side Grange and Sunday's encounter with Belgium representatives White Star, who clinched the bronze medals in the A Division of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1992, will undoubtedly pose the sternest challenge.
Instonians coach Philip Anderson has indicated that he intends to rest several members of today's starting 11 against Yugoslavian side Zorka Subotica on Sunday. They are probably the weakest team in the competition, having fallen to a 9-2 defeat by Lisnagarvey in their last assignment against an Irish side back in 1989.
