WOMENS HOCKEY: Such was the quality of the teams that entered the draw for the quarter-finals of the ESB Irish Senior Cup, and the pairings that it produced, all four games probably have a claim to the "tie of the round" tag.
Cup holders Hermes are away to their old pals Loreto tomorrow, beaten 2005 finalists Ballymoney host Railway Union, Pembroke Wanderers are at home to Old Alexandra, while All-Ireland club champions Pegasus travel to Cork to face Munster's sole survivors Church of Ireland.
While the outcome of the first three of those ties is nigh on impossible to predict, Pegasus will go into their game at Garryduff as firm favourites, not least because they beat their hosts 5-0 at the same venue in the club championships 10 months ago.
Pembroke, still unbeaten in the league, will look for a repeat of their early season victory over Old Alexandra at Serpentine Avenue, when an Emer Ryan save from a penalty stroke helped them to a 2-1 win. Intriguing too will be the meeting of Ballymoney and Railway at the Joey Dunlop Centre, with both teams featuring a sprinkling of the most talented young players in the country, as well as internationals.
Jenny Burke of Hermes admitted to not knowing whether to laugh or cry when the draw was made, so often have they met Loreto in recent seasons. "You could be there chatting to them on the pitch when you suddenly think, 'I better concentrate here', but yeah, we know each other very, very well at this stage."
Burke, of course, retired from international hockey after the European Championships last summer but a bout of meningitis, which struck her just 10 days after the tournament ended, has limited her club hockey this season.
"I'm not training all the time, I get really tired which is a horrible feeling after being so fit and healthy," she said, "but I'm getting there. I've registered for the Chicago marathon in October so that, and Hermes, is my motivation to get back to the level of fitness I was at.
"I might have retired from international hockey but I still want to play good hockey. It's a big season for the club, there's so much to play for, including the European Cup Winners Cup (in Italy in April)."
IRISH SENIOR CUP - Quarter-finals: Ballymoney v Railway Union, Joey Dunlop Centre, 2.30; Loreto v Hermes, Loreto Beaufort, 2.30; Church of Ireland v Pegasus, Garryduff, 2.0; Pembroke Wanderers v Old Alexandra, Serpentine Avenue, 2.0.
LEINSTER LEAGUE - Division One: Three Rock v Corinthian, Grange Road, 12.30; Trinity v Clontarf, Santry, 2.0. Division Two: Corinthian II v Pembroke Wanderers II, Whitechurch, 11.30; Bray v Genesis, Bray, 1.15; Glenanne v Loreto III, Tallaght, 1.30; Old Alexandra II v Loreto II, Milltown, 4.30.
MUNSTER LEAGUE - Division One: Cork Harlequins v Belvedere, Farmers Cross, 11.30; Ashton v Bandon, Ashton School, 4.0.
