Matches off at all levels

The Irish Hockey Association has advised its branches to cancel the entire weekend programme of matches and any fixtures planned for next week, at every level, in response to the foot-and-mouth crisis. "The situation will be reviewed prior to the weekend of March 10th-11th," the IHA's statement added.

The chief casualty is tomorrow's Irish Junior Cup final between Enniscorthy and Three Rock Ladies while tomorrow week's Irish Senior Cup final, also due to be held at Belfield, must now be under serious threat since it involves two Ulster teams, Pegasus and Ballymoney. The last time the final was an all-Ulster affair, when Pegasus and Portadown met in 1992, there were some calls for the game to be switched to Belfast but because the sponsors, Sharwoods, are a southern-based company, it remained in Dublin. Ulster, Leinster and Munster also now face serious difficulties in completing their league programmes before the IHA's deadline of March 21st, by which time the qualifiers for the All-Ireland club championship play-offs must be known.

Meanwhile Sarah Kelleher has confirmed her retirement from both international and inter provincial hockey, although she will continue playing for her English club Slough. She made her debut for Ireland against Wales in March 1991 when she was just 20 and went on to win 120 caps.