Bandon bid to turn up the heat on College

Bandon will feel they owe UCC one for last season’s Munster Senior Cup final defeat as the students visit west Cork for a potential banana skin league fixture tomorrow (12pm, Bandon Grammar School). College won 3-1 in a novel final last March, and are gearing up for another tilt at the Munster women’s league title following a 7-1 rout of Ashton in their opening fixture last weekend. But the hosts are Munster’s great spoilers – they derailed Cork C of I’s title hopes last term, and knocked Cork Harlequins out of the cup – and won’t want to get their season off to a losing start on home turf.

All eyes will be on the trio of Olivia Roycroft, Kate Murphy and Nikki Kingston, who defected to College from Bandon during the summer. Elsewhere, Quins begin their title defence at home to new girls Waterford, who face another baptism of fire in Division One after going down 4-0 to C of I last weekend. The latter travel to UL, the students still smarting from a 6-0 licking at the hands of neighbours Catholic Institute, who will be looking to take maximum points from a visit to Ashton. Inter-club derbies are the order of the day in the men’s league, with Cork C of I and Quins’ respective A teams expected to record comfortable victories over their own second string. None of the current Irish women’s internationals will be in action this weekend, as they are on ‘active rest’ until October 10 following a hectic international summer. Men Munster Div 1: Cork Harlequins A vs Cork Harlequins B (Harlequin Park, 2pm); Cork C of I A vs Cork C of I B (Garryduff, 2.30pm); Bandon vs UCC – Postponed. Women Munster Div 1: Ashton vs Catholic Institute (Ashton School, 1pm); UL vs Cork C of I (TBC); Cork Harlequins vs Waterford (Harlequin Park, 12pm); Bandon vs UCC (Bandon GS, 12pm)