Corinthian build sound foundations for success

Women's Hockey: With most of Leinster's leading teams off duty this weekend attention falls on the opening rounds of the Jacqui Potter Cup and the May Costley Cup, which has been revamped this season to include more junior clubs.

Clontarf and Old Alexandra II will attempt to get the better of their Division One opponents in the Leinster Cup - Three Rock and Railway Union, respectively - while Glenanne, relegated last season, face fellow second division side Corinthian II.

Victory for Corinthian's seconds would add to what has already been a bright start to the season for the club, whose firsts have looked capable of improving on their sixth place finish in the last campaign.

"I'm reasonably pleased with our league form and was delighted with our win over UCD but," said Corinthian coach Fred McDarby, "was disappointed losing to Pembroke.

"We have set ourselves a target of a higher league finish this year, but that means getting amongst the top teams - when you consider that UCD and Pembroke were the two immediately above us last year you can see it's no easy task.

"Our main job this season was rebuilding the defence, with a new goalkeeper and three new defenders from last year's starting line-up. The loss of goalkeeper Rosita Wolfe was our biggest problem, but Deirdre Ryan has stepped up from the seconds and has done a great job for us.

"The other new players - Susie Geoffroy, Sarah Walker, Pascale Callabret and Wendy Hobson - have fitted in very well and have greatly strengthened the squad. The squad is, though, still limited compared to the other top teams, so I will be hoping to bring through some of the younger players from the seconds by the end of the season."

The Irish women's team, meanwhile, debut at 14th in the first official International Hockey Federation (FIH) world ranking list. Until now the rankings were compiled on an unofficial basis by English hockey reporter Pat Rowley, but the FIH has stepped in to produce an official list.

"It is a positive step to contribute to hockey's profile," said FIH secretary general Peter Cohen. "Our sport will undoubtedly benefit from the addition of these statistics, plus the qualification for major tournaments will be more logical, transparent and therefore easier to understand."

The ranking system will determine the pool composition of major FIH and continental events, and their qualifiers, usually a source of some controversy. The aim is to reflect nations' performances over a four-year cycle, based largely on displays in major tournaments.

Only two of Ireland's fellow competitors in next year's Olympic Qualifier, Ukraine (15) and Russia (17), are ranked lower in the list, which features 54 countries. Fifty-fourth and last is the Dominican Republic, whose low-points in 2003 were 25-0 and 20-0 defeats by Argentina (ranked one) and Chile (ranked 29th).

Their high point was a defeat by Trinidad and Tobago, one in which they conceded six goals - but, at least, they scored their only goal of the year (1-6).

MAY COSTLEY CUP - First round - Saturday: Enniscorthy II v Athlone, Loreto School Gorey, 1.0; Moyne-Thurles v Wexford II, Villiers School Limerick, 2.0. Sunday: Mullingar v Malone, Loreto School Mullingar, 2.0; Weston v Gorey, Iveagh Grounds, Crumlin, 2.0.

LEINSTER JACQUI POTTER CUP - First round: Three Rock v Clontarf, Grange Road, 12.0; Old Alexandra II v Railway Union, Milltown, 1.15; Glenanne v Corinthian II, Tallaght, 2.45.

LEINSTER LEAGUE - Division Two: Diocesan v Loreto II, Rathgar, 2.0; Our Ladys v Pembroke Wanderers II, Templeogue, 1.0.

MUNSTER LEAGUE - Division One: Waterford v Bandon, Newtown, 2.30; Catholic Institute v Church of Ireland, Moylish Park, 3.0.

ULSTER LEAGUE - Section One: Belfast Harlequins v Ballymena, Deramore, 4.0; Ards v Victorians, Ards Leisure Centre, 2.30; Ballyclare v Coleraine, Valley Leisure Centre, 2.30; Randalstown v Ballymoney, Antrim Forum, 2.30.