HOCKEY:THE DOMESTIC league is somewhat overshadowed by Ireland's first warm-up match in Spain today, when Paul Revington's side face the mighty Dutch in the first of a long sequence of friendly games that takes Ireland into next month.
Friendly is perhaps a misnomer and Test matches against Spain, Belgium and Britain are as difficult a series as the Irish side could get. Three matches are scheduled against Holland, the third-ranked team in the world.
It’s a high intensity warm-up and means Monkstown must do without several of their key players for their Leinster Senior Cup quarter-final match with YMCA over the weekend.
Gareth Watkins, David Fitzgerald and teenager David Cole are all included in the 24-man Alicante training camp.
It is a chance for the highly -talented Cole to step up to try to impress at international level in the lead-up to the Olympic qualifiers scheduled for Belfield in March.
Less than half of the squad in the camp currently play their hockey with Irish clubs. Many of the players are with universities abroad or playing professionally with European Clubs.
Three of the squad – David and Conor Harte and Mitch Darling – are all with SCHC with two others, Michael Watt and Geoff McCabe with RS Tenis. Captain Ronan Gormley remains in Spain with Club de Campo, while Jason Lynch and Eugene Magee are contracted to Belgium clubs.
Domestically, Three Rock Rovers face UCD at Belfield on Saturday in the Leinster Senior Cup.
Fresh from their National Indoor title last weekend, Rovers must make quick adjustments for the outdoor game against the students.
IRELAND SQUAD: D Ames (Beeston), J Bell (Lisnagarvey), P Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers), C Cargo (Reading), P Caruth (Annadale), T Cockram (Lisnagarvey), D Cole (Monkstown), M Darling (SCHC), D Fitzgerald (Monkstown), P Gleghorne (Instonians), R Gormley (Club de Campo), C Harte (SCHC), D Harte (SCHC), I Hughes (Cookstown), J Jackson (Braxgata), J Jerymn (Cork C of I), S Loughrey (Loughborough Students), J Lynch (Royal Racing Club Brussels), E Magee (Dragons), G McCabe (RS Tenis), A McConnell (Hurley), S O’Donoghue (UCD), G Watkins (Monkstown), M Watt (RS Tenis).
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday – Leinster Senior League, Division Two: Avoca v Portrane, Newpark School, 2.0; Suttonians v Dublin University, Sutton Park School, 2.0; Mullingar v Rathgar, Tullamore Harriers, 2.0. Leinster Senior Mills Cup, quarter-finals: UCD v Three Rock Rovers, Belfield, 1.0; Corinthians v Glenanne, Whitechurch, 1.0; Monkstown v YMCA, Rathdown, 1.30.
