UCC and Insta set for battle royale

Most of Munster hockey’s silverware is up for grabs this weekend with 11 finals being contested at Garryduff across three days. It’s an especially important weekend for UCC and Cork C of I; both clubs contest four deciders and two more the following weekend. UCC women’s Munster Senior Cup final clash with Catholic Institute (tomorrow, 12.30pm) looks set to be the highlight, as it will also lay down a significant marker for both sides’ league title hopes.

College stunned Munster hockey when inflicting Insta’s first league defeat in two seasons before Christmas; that it was a comprehensive 3-0 win on the Limerick side’s home turf at Rosbrien raised even more eyebrows. Insta rallied in a major way since then, handing out thrashings to almost every team in Division 1, but their destiny was taken out of their own hands when they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to Cork Harlequins last weekend. UCC still have to play both Insta and Quins, so will be keen to prove they have the wherewithal to break up the top two’s stranglehold by winning their first Munster Senior Cup since 2009. Irish international attacker Miriam Crowley is the sole survivor from that success but it is the defence, led by Amy Kate Trevor and Antonia McGrath, that will have the most important role to play against a fired-up Insta trio of Eimear Cregan, Naomi Carroll and Katie Campbell. Elsewhere, Cork Church of Ireland and Cork Harlequins meet for the third successive week in the men’s Munster Senior Cup final (2.30pm). Quins staged a late rally to claim a 2-2 draw last weekend but it was of little consolation as failure to get three points cost them their league title. Revenge will be certainly on the cards but the portents aren’t good; injuries have left their squad down to the bare bones, hardly ideal with both a five-game Irish Hockey League campaign and a EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy trip to Vienna next month to prepare for. In the pick of the other finals, UL will hope to put their miserable league campaign behind them when they lock horns with Ashton in the women’s Munster Senior Plate final. UCC’s seconds meet C of I’s thirds in tonight’s men’s Cork Cup (Division 2) decider, with a handful of the students also involved in their third team’s McLean Cup final against Waterford. Munster Cup finals, Garryduff, Rochestown, Cork (all games on water-based pitch unless stated) Tonight: Men’s Cork Cup (Div 2) final: UCC B v Cork C of I C, 8pm; Women’s Div 5 Cup final: Blackrock v Clonakilty, 8pm, sand-base. Tomorrow: Women’s Munster Senior Plate final: Ashton v UL, 10.30am; Women’s Munster Senior Cup final: UCC v Catholic Institute, 12.30pm; Men’s Munster Senior Cup final: Cork C of I v Cork Harlequins, 2.30pm; Men’s McLean Cup (Div 3) final: UCC C v Waterford, 4.30pm. Monday: Women’s Div 4 Cup final: Clonakilty v Limerick, 11am; Women’s Div 3 Cup final: Cork C of I v Clonmel, 12pm, sand-base; Women’s Div 6 Cup final: Cobh v Limerick, 1pm; Women’s Div 2 Cup final: Cork C of I v Bandon, 2pm, sand-base. Women’s Div 6 Plate final: UCC v Fermoy, 3pm. Other fixtures Tomorrow: Women’s Div 2: Cork Harlequins v Catholic Institute, Harlequin Park, 3.15pm; Monday: Men’s Div 1: Bandon v Cork C of I, Bandon Grammar, 4.30pm. Tuesday: Women’s Div 1: Catholic Institute v UL, Laurel Hill, 7.30pm.