Cork Church of Ireland’s resources will be stretched over the Christmas period as a raft of player absences threatens to derail their chances of silverware on two fronts ahead of two battle royales with Cork Harlequins.
The Garryduff outfit face bitter rivals Quins twice during the festive season, beginning with tomorrow’s Munster league clash before they lock horns in the Peard Cup final nine days later.
C of I have had to do without talisman John Jermyn (ankle) since October, while key defender Phil Smith is honeymooning and Alec Moffett (broken hand) and Shane O’Donnell (family commitments) are also out.
Andy Herbert's return from his Australian soujourn has boosted injury-hit Cork C of I. Picture: Adrian Boehm
In the plus column, former Irish international midfielder Andy Herbert has made a timely return from Australia, where he continued to play high level hockey following his 2010 departure.
He lined out for the blues against Bandon last week and will be joined in the side by another experienced campaigner in Karl Burns, while Munster U16 pair Alex Burns and Simon Wolfe have also been called up.
Nonetheless, it all means Quins, who are operating largely at full strength with Paul Lombard, Phil McLaughlin and Jason Black back in harness, will be plotting a repeat of their successful raid of Garryduff in April, a 3-2 success which saw them deny C of I a fifth successive league title.
Elsewhere, the first of three pivotal women’s encounters sees champions Catholic Institute face their first major test on the road this term as they head to Cork Harlequins.
The Limerick outfit have drawn their last two encounters here, including a scoreless stalemate last term which denied them a 100% seasonal record at the last hurdle, but have been in ominous form recently, hitting a combined 19 goals past Ashton and UL in recent weeks.
Quins, however, have been buoyed by the return of Karen Bateman, not to mention last weekend’s come-from-behind 3-2 Munster Senior Cup win at UCC.
Meanwhile, UCC and Bandon meet in west Cork, with the stakes especially high for the students, who lie four points off Institute in second but have played a game extra and already lost twice this term.
It’s been something of a yo-yo campaign for Paidi Hartnett’s side as they continue to bed in a raft of freshers; Amy Kate Trevor’s range of passing has been a major addition, while Steffi Bowe and Emily O’Leary have added sparkle and goals to the attack.
But their collective inexperience has been shown up a couple of times, particularly the 2-1 reverse to Ashton and the 9-0 capitulation at Railway Union, not to mention giving up a two-goal lead against Quins last weekend.
For Bandon’s part, Amy Roycroft, Ciara McCarthy and Emma Peters have starred in a workmanlike campaign that’s seen them eke out six points from nine in the league, make a Munster Senior Cup semi-final and advance in the Irish Trophy.
John Dennis has made them more difficult to beat since they were carved apart by Institute on day one, and they will be keen to re-assert some superiority over College having endured a couple of reversals on home turf to them in recent years.
Germaine Doorenbosch's (left) stint with UL is over as she returns to Holland, while Amy Roycroft (right) is in fine form for Bandon. Picture: Ondine Roche
Finally, Ashton and UL lock horns in Limerick with both looking to avoid being cut adrift by the top four.
In some ways, these sides’ seasons have mirrored each other. Ashton began with high hopes after an excellent campaign last term, but have suffered a number of setbacks and struggled for consistency with long breaks between fixtures due to byes in both the MSC and IHT competitions.
For UL’s part, they stunned everyone in beating Quins at Farmer’s Cross and followed it up with strong performances at Bandon and C of I.
But a heartbreaking IHT exit on penalty strokes to YMCA put a spanner in the works, and they’ve had the misfortune of having to play Institute on back-to-back weekends since.
They are likely to be without the infuential Laura Peters, who is sidelined with a foot injury, while Germaine Doorenbosch’s short stint with the club has ended as she has returned to Holland.
Both sides will therefore be keen on a confidence booster before the Christmas break, with Caroline McCarthy and Karen Stokes the key women for Ashton while Steph Peters, Jean Devoy and goalkeeper Elaine O’Flynn will be pivotal to UL’s cause.
Further afield, the provincial qualification groups for the National Indoor Trophy get underway in Leinster and Ulster.
Bandon’s decision to pull out from both the men’s and women’s competitions mean that Galway and Greenfields will battle it out to qualify from the Munster/Connacht group on January 7, while UCC are the last Munster side standing on the men’s side by default.
Men’s Munster Div 1: Cork C of I v Cork Harlequins, 2pm, Garryduff.
Women’s Munster Div 1: Bandon v UCC, 10.45am, Bandon Grammar; Cork Harlequins v Catholic Institute, 12pm, Farmer’s Cross; UL v Ashton, TBC, UL.
I note with interest the ladies div 1 game between Bandon and UCC on Saturday is at 10.45am. The rule says that all div 1 games should be played betweem 12.00 and 3.00. Interestingly, last Saturday’s ladies game between UCC and Quins MSC game was not allowed to be played at 9.30am or 10.30am because of the rule even though both teams were agreeable due to special circumstances.
Posted by PeteHurler | December 17, 2011, 9:36 am