It will be encouraging for the Irish under-21 men's hockey squad if they can reverse the 1-0 and 3-1 defeats suffered last weekend by their seniors against Belgium when the countries meet again, at junior level, at Belfield tomorrow and on Sunday. These matches provide the under-21s' last outing before the European Junior Championships from August 24th-30th. The Belgians will be involved in the A division in Poznan, Poland, while Ireland compete in the B division in Padua, Italy. Ireland may be considered worthy of being in Europe's top eight but they went under critically to the Czech Republic in Prague two year ago. Ironically, the Czechs again provide the opposition in a key first match in Padua.

Hopefully, the Irish side will be seen this weekend to be well prepared. The team, with Chris Jackson and David Smyth as the leading figures, remains largely based on eight players who won Youth Olympics silver medals at Bath in 1995.