Lisnagarvey’s 2-0 win over Annadale on Wednesday moves the Ulster side to within eight points of league leaders Glenanne with two matches in hand. A serious scrap is now beginning in earnest for the play-off places and a long journey to Cork awaits Lisnagarvey this weekend. After a mileage haul from Lisburn, Garryduff can be an inhospitable place.

Three Rock Rovers, who travel to Rathdown school to meet Monkstown, are also eagerly looking for points. Fresh back from their success in the Eurohockey Indoor Club Challenge II, Rovers return from Georgia with what might just be a record score for an Irish team.

With a 23-2 win against Lokomotiv, the Grange Road side won’t expect such light resistance from Monkstown although Liam Canning, the speedy and nimble former international player and Rovers coach, will remember that during his days playing with Avoca on the European circuit, the next weekend adjusting back to the outdoor game was sometimes problematic.

Glenanne But Glenanne will want to keep their show on the Road. A visit to Belfast this weekend to face Annadale in Strathearn School should not fill them with dread. The Ulster side have won just three from 13 matches but they might recall last year’s meeting in Dublin when the home side narrowly won 1-0 in St Andrews School.

Elsewhere Railway Union meet Cookstown in Park Avenue in a battle of the bottom two sides. Cookstown lead that on six points to Railway’s three. Banbridge and Pembroke are also facing off in Havelock Park in a mid-table clash that the Dublin side simply must win.