O’Regan goes back to her roots

Cork Church of Ireland’s hopes of revival have been given a significant boost with the shock return of  Ali O’Regan to her childhood club. O’Regan left C of I to link up with UCC in 2007 and enjoyed a productive five years with the college club, before linking up with Cork Harlequins for pre-season training this year. But the Munster senior hitwoman appears to have had a late change of heart and will now return to Garryduff for the new season, and she could feature in this weekend’s clash with Limerick.

That tie at Villiers carries the most intrigue of the four weekend battles, with C of I entering into unknown territory on a couple of fronts. Firstly, they have a much-altered panel from last season with Ali O’Connor and Sandra Manning (nee Hackett) among the experienced returnees to a panel that was out of their depth in Division One last year, with former Ireland A international Melanie Ryan also expected back in the coming weeks. Manning misses out this time as she is abroad while defender Karen Coombes is injured. Secondly, these sides have never met in the top tier, with Limerick gaining successive promotions in recent seasons and starting Division One life with a bang as they won 3-1 at UL last weekend. Jenni Lyttle scored twice that day and her short corner prowess will be thing C of I can be certain of. The other tie with interest attached is UL’s visit to Ashton. Both sides lost their opening games when perhaps expecting to do better and will be keen to put points on the board to boost confidence avoid getting sucked into a potential relegation battle late on. UL will hope to have Laura Peters and Jean Devoy back to help them take the chances they created but couldn’t finish against Limerick last week, while Ashton are still bedding in defenders Jen O’Flynn, Ciara O’Connell and Louise Connolly to Division One hockey but will hope Emma Harrington and Caroline McCarthy can click up front. Fermoy had a chastening first game at Cork Harlequins last weekend and things don’t get much easier for the newly promoted north Cork side as they have UCC next up, albeit at home this time around. College have their tails up after starting with a bang against Ashton last weekend and their freshers are settling in well; Fermoy will have to ensure Amy Kate Trevor isn’t given the space to dictate affairs from sweeper and shut down the triple threat of Aine Curran, Olivia Roycroft and Nic Kerr to gain something from this game. Bandon have had the toughest start of all, however; 11-0 away to Institute last weekend and although they’re back in west Cork tomorrow, Cork Harlequins are hardly the opposition they’d have chosen as they come to terms with the loss of nine senior players over the summer. Meanwhile, UCC will hope to replicate some of their encouraging pre-season form when they open their men’s Munster Senior League campaign with a tough encounter at home to champions Cork Harlequins. College scored 19 goals in three games in wins over UCD, Trinity and Ashton School but also conceded eight and Quins will punish any similar lapses.

Quins won handily 5-0 against C of I B last week but the pace of Philip Sweetnam caused their defence some trouble and UCC will look to release Fionn O’Leary, Shrew Power and Greg Chambers in a similar vein tomorrow. The visitors, however, hold all the aces in terms of experience and knowhow, and unpicked the College press all too easily last term; if they are allowed to impose their game once more, it could be a long day for the students. The other men’s clash of the weekend sees the Quins and C of I seconds teams go head to head at Farmer’s Cross, with there likely to plenty of residuals in terms of personal battles among the younger protagonists from the Irish Schools qualifiers in midweek. Women’s Div 1: Fermoy v UCC, Loreto Fermoy, 12.30pm; Limerick v Cork C of I, Villiers, 2.30pm; Ashton v UL, Ashton School, TBC; Bandon v Cork Harlequins, Bandon Grammar, 12.30pm.