Men's hockey: Munster senior hockey should remember November 19th. That was the date Division One of the Munster Senior League effectively ended. When Cork Harlequins drew their first match against Cork C of I and won their second 1-0 on November 19th, the Munster league was effectively over.
The two sides, unusually strong over the past number of years, are far superior to their opponents in Munster and provide a significant rump of the current Ireland squad facing into a World Cup qualifier in April 2006.
Seven players from both teams are included in the 24-man panel that hopes to be the first Irish squad to reach the World Cup finals since the 1980s: Jason and Mark Black and Seán Nicholson from Harlequins and Karl Burns, Mark Ruddle, David Hobbs and John Jermyn from C of I.
The national development squad also includes the Harlequins pair Conor and David Harte and C of I's Adam Pritchard. In all, 10 players in which Ireland coach Dave Passmore has significant interest are playing in a domestic league that as a competitive entity ended in late November.
Nobody expects Harlequins to drop points to any team other than C of I. The two Munster teams are also significantly better than most Leinster teams, Glenanne and Pembroke being the notable exceptions, and they are much stronger than most of the Ulster sides.
As Munster hockey continues to seek a sponsor, the question officials are asking is what are they going to offer. What media outlet is going to pay attention to a league that is so dominated by two clubs that the only news between now and its end next year is if Harlequins, astonishingly, drop points and open the door for C of I to re-enter the race? Who is surprised that a talented Munster team, given the competition they face weekly, failed to beat Ulster on home ground last week?
There seems to be little interest outside the province that the situation cannot benefit the national team or help Ireland qualify for a world championship or Olympic place.
Meanwhile on Sunday Pembroke will celebrate the opening of their new Olympic-standard, water-based pitch at Serpentine Avenue. The senior team will play an Irish selection at 4pm.
FIXTURES
Saturday - Leinster Senior Cup: Clontarf v Skerries, Mount Temple, 3.30. Sunday - Leinster Senior Cup: Suttonians v Dublin University, Sutton Park School, 2.45; Monkstown v Glenanne, Rathdown, 2.30; Bray v UCD, Loreto Bray, 1.0; Corinthians v Weston, Whitechurch Park, 2.0; Naas v Fingal, Naas, 2.0. Tuesday: Leinster Senior Cup: Three Rock Rovers v Portrane, Grange Road, 8.0; Pembroke v YMCA, Serpentine Avenue, 8.0.
