Maids no more

This week's merger between Three Rock Rovers and Maids of the Mountain has deprived Irish hockey of one of the most original names in the sport. Having cohabited for 10 years the Maids and the Rovers have now decided to bed down together for good. Make the thing decent.

The name Maids of the Mountain always had a certain resonance, an echo of bygone days when someone could come up with the idea of an all-female hockey club, call it Maids of the Mountain and convince a committee to vote it in as the bona fide name. Innocence indeed.

In a cynical world, Maids of the Mountain was soon to be bastardised to "Hoors of the Moors," a nickname which was accepted as inevitable and with the chirpy good nature typical of the members.

That is to be no more and while we note with some sadness the passing of a fantastic name we also salute Three Rock Ladies and will follow with interest their fortunes in the Leinster League. As pointed out in the press release by one of the principal Rovers, Neale Webb, "Dutchman Harold De Jong will also be making his services available to the new Ladies Section."