Women's Hockey Interprovincial TournamentMunster women's hockey must feel there's a curse on its efforts to retain the senior interprovincial title.
The last two times the province went into the tournament as defending champions (1996 and last February) wintry weather intervened to force its postponement. The rescheduled event goes ahead this weekend at Queens but the unavailability of their two most experienced players, Rachael Kohler and Karen Bateman, is a serious blow to Munster's hopes of a two-in-a-row.
Both players were in the original squad in February, as were Aoife McCarthy, who so impressed for Hermes in their recent club finals triumph, and UCC's talented young Sinead Connery - they, too, have been ruled out because of exam commitments.
While none of the provinces can call on any of the players who competed in March's Olympic Qualifier for Ireland, Leinster and Ulster are better equipped than Munster to withstand their loss.
The absence of Eimear Cregan, Fiona Connery, Deirdre Casey, Elaine Bromell and Kristen Farrell, added to that of Kohler, Bateman, McCarthy and Sinead Connery, means, then, that coach John McGrath brings a significantly weakened squad to Belfast.
But Leinster, too, have had their "withdrawal" problems. Caitríona O'Kelly, Catherine Murray and Rachel Brophy are gone from February's squad (they have been replaced by Rachel Keegan, Linda O'Neill and Clara Hayes), while injury has ruled out Caitríona Carey and Jenny Osborne of Hermes.
Old Alexandra provide the bulk of the Leinster squad, with two of their six representatives, Anya Bowers and Kerry Hiles, former senior interprovincial winners with Ulster. Coach Fred McDarby can call on the experience of Trish Conway and Cathy McKean but also includes a batch of newcomers, among them Leanne Ryan, Fiona Purcell, Sarah O'Connor, Triona Doyle and Sinead Dooley.
The Ulster squad also has a youthful look about it, with seven of the 16 making their senior interprovincial debuts. With eight current internationals and several former internationals (including Arlene Boyles, Claire McMahon and Karen Humphreys) unavailable to him, Graham Quincey has been playing down Ulster's hopes of their first title since 2001, while his assistant, Simon Bell, has been playing up the strengths of Connacht, Ulster's opponents in the opening game. Last year's game between the provinces finished 2-2 and having retained the experienced core of that squad, Connacht coach Orla Bell is hopeful of at least a repeat performance this evening.
SENIOR INTERPROVINCIAL TOURNAMENT (at Queens, Belfast) - Today: Ulster v Connacht, 6.0; Leinster v Munster, 8.0. Tomorrow: Leinster v Connacht, 10.0; Ulster v Munster, 2.0. Sunday: Munster v Connacht, 9.0; Ulster v Leinster, 1.0.
CONNACHT: E Glanville (Galway), T Browne, D McDermott, A Mitchell (all Hermes), A M Cullen, C Grealy, O Ryan (all Loreto), C Deacy (Montpelier), S Collins, P Ryan (both NUIG), O Canavan, S Clarke, E MacNicholas, J Morris, L O'Hagan (all Pembroke Wanderers), S Scott (Richmond). Coach: Orla Bell.
LEINSTER: F Purcell, T Doyle (both Corinthians), L Healy, L O'Neill, C McKean (all Loreto), T Conway, K Hiles, S O'Connor, L Ryan, Z Dahl, A Bowers (all Old Alexandra), M Goode, K Little, C Hayes (all Pembroke Wanderers), S Dooley (Railway Union), R Keegan (UCD). Coach: Fred McDarby.
MUNSTER: K Barry (Bandon), C Ronan, S Hall (both Catholic Institute), K Hales, J Hales (Cork Church of Ireland), O McCarthy, S Canning, J Chapple, J Dillon, J Hyland, N Kearney (all Cork Harlequins), J Hodgins (Hermes), N Lyons (Loreto), E O'Reilly (Old Alexandra), A O'Gorman (Pembroke Wanderers), J Bourke (UCD). Coach: John McGrath.
ULSTER: J Gibson, L Feeney (both Belfast Harlequins), J Magowan (Coleraine), H Cathcart (Hightown), C Parkhill (Leicester), J Lynch (Loreto), F Ferguson, N Graham, P Magill, S Martin, C Redpath, S Wilkinson (all Pegasus), A Lappin, S Parkhill (both Randalstown), S McMaster (UCD), L Haffey (Portadown). Coach: Graham Quincey.
