League contenders battle for the cup

Today's Coca-Cola Leinster Senior Cup final at Grange Road is the first of two meetings in the space of a week between Old Alexandra and Hermes, the only remaining contenders for the Senior A league title.

Next Wednesday they face each other at Belfield in Hermes' penultimate and Alexandra's final league fixture of the season, when anything less than a Hermes victory, assuming they beat Trinity on Sunday, would give Alexandra their first league success since 1991.

For now both clubs' thoughts are focused on winning the first leg of that potential league and cup double, with Old Alexandra aiming for their first Leinster Senior Cup win in six years and Hermes in 21.

Alexandra will be without Marissa Ahern, who is still recovering from a fractured cheekbone sustained in a practice match, but coach David Judge is confident the rest of the squad will report fit.

"As they say in horse-racing terms - this being Cheltenham week - a few are coughing a bit but they expect to be on the starting line," he said. And what will be the going be like? "Against the Irish Cup holders, I'd say it will be heavy, in spite of there being no rain."

Meanwhile, the Irish under-16 and under-18 squads head for Dundee today for the Home Nations' tournament which, because of a clash with the rugby international in Edinburgh (and hence few available seats on flights between here and Scotland), begins tomorrow and ends on Saturday.

Hermes (from): T Browne, S Hilliard, H Kilroy, R Burke, C Carey, S McDonnell, M Logue, C Devine, F Manning, J Burke, A Keane, D Sixsmith, A Byrne, R Walsh, S McCarthy, D McDermott. Coaches: Jacqui Potter and Oliver Kiethe. Manager: Joan Morgan.

Old Alexandra (from): J King, T Conway, S Keogh, T Skoyles, C Metchette, J Perrin, K Hiles, C Curran, Z Dahl, H Agar, F Sweeney, R Flanagan, G O'Shea, C Smyth, L Campbell, R Wolfe. Coach: David Judge. Manager: Jenny Coe.

Irish Under-18 Squad: L Blevins, C Coey, J McDonough, S McMaster, E Bromell, E Cregan, O Fitzgibbon, E J Cassidy, L Cotter, C Murray, L O'Neill, C Rowan, B Sparks, N Symmons, Y Deacon, L Healy. Coach: Erika Henry.

Irish Under-16 Squad: J Bourke, E Dillon, E Harte, B Lynch, S O'Connor, K Whelan, G Davy, J McDonnell, L Ryan, L Forsythe, S Martin, J McGowan, B McKeever, S Wilkinson, S Connery, N Herlihy. Coach: Siobhan Keogh.

Leinster Senior Cup Final (at Grange Road) - Hermes v Old Alexandra, 12.0.

Home Nations Tournament (at Dundee) - Under-16 - Tomorrow: Ireland v England, 1.45. Friday: Ireland v Scotland, 10.0. Saturday: Ireland v Wales, 9.0. Under-18 - Tomorrow: Ireland v England, 5.15. Friday: Ireland v Scotland, 1.30. Saturday: Ireland v Wales, 10.45.