Cork duo set for indoor adventure

Cork duo Nick Burns and Patrick Shanahan are set for an unexpected European adventure with Three Rock Rovers in Hungary this weekend. The Dublin-based pair normally line out for UCD, but the Leinster Hockey Association’s decision to postpone the Belfielders’ outdoor men’s Leinster division one league game against Monkstown has opened up an unusual avenue for them and two of their team-mates. The students do not compete indoors, allowing them to guest for other clubs. As a result, four of their number – three former Rovers players – have been named in Liam Canning’s extended panel. Shanahan, who spent a couple of seasons outdoors with Rovers too, is joined by Conor Quinn while Canning’s  son Ross likely to be the fulcrum of the attack alongside Burns, who has also lined out at indoor for Pembroke Wanderers. While the travel arrangements for Three Rock Rovers’ EuroHockey Indoor Club Champions Challenge I have simplified from a year ago, coach Canning has been left once again with plenty of tough late decisions ahead of the club’s trip to Budapest.

A year ago, Rovers were on the verge of withdrawing from European competition in Turkey before a huge club fundraising drive saw them able to travel to remote Malatya, a city closer to Baghdad than Istanbul. Promotion was achieved from that tournament despite goalkeeping gear and sticks being lost en route, helping them rise back up to the third tier of European club competition. There, they will face Slovakian, Italian and Danish opposition in the group stages before the classification matches on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. But a plethora of injuries and unavailability have left Canning juggling with his panel right up until the eve of the competition, hence the need for the UCD quartet to get involved. Goalkeeper Stephen West has departed for an Erasmus course in Cape Town since the Irish national indoor trophy while the experienced defender Peter McConnell is struggling for fitness as is Craig Moore. Avoiding relegation is the primary goal, something Rovers have done by the narrowest margins on their last two European efforts at this level of competition. Three Rock Rovers panel: Garry Ringwood, Ross Canning, Nick Burns, Dave Storey, Ali Haughton, Mick Maguire, Peter Blakeney, Peter McConnell, Liam Canning, Jody Hosking, Craig Moore, Wendel Armstrong, Conor Quinn, Patrick Shanahan EuroHockey Indoor Club Champions Challenge I (Budapest) Friday: Three Rock Rovers vs Triglav Predanovci (Slovakia), 11.40am; Three Rock Rovers vs HC Bra (Italy), 3.30pm; Saturday: Three Rock Rovers vs Orient Lyngby (Denmark), 9am; Sunday: classification matches. Information with thanks to Stephen Findlater / The Hook