University of Limerick face an unenviable task as they play their first game in seven weeks against Bandon tomorrow.
The students, who have been struggling for player numbers to fill the one team left in their club, always find January a tough time in this regard as their lectures do not restart until the month’s end.
The majority of their players are not Limerick natives and thus are scattered around the country, while they have not played since December 1, a narrow Munster Senior Cup defeat to tomorrow’s opponents.
It means preparation for a game UL would normally be targeting for hard-earned points at the bottom of the table – they also earned a 1-1 draw in west Cork in November – is far from ideal.
“We don’t know what to expect (for this game),” admitted UL’s Irish Universities forward Stephanie Peters. “We haven’t really been able to train over Christmas as we aren’t back to college until January 28, so we’ll just play as well as we can.”
Weather interruptions and fixture discrepancies have popped up throughout the leagues this season; for example, Ashton’s men went five weeks without a fixture earlier in the campaign while in the men’s third tier, Limerick have played nine games while Bandon and Waterford have lined out just four times.
Elsewhere, Cork C of I’s visit to Catholic Institute provides the most intrigue. The Garryduff girls lost 4-1 at home in the reverse fixture but continue to improve under Eddie Kirwan’s stewardship, with Kate Humphries in particular having an outstanding season in midfield since returning from UCC.
Institute are riding high since defeating rivals UCC 2-0 to stay in the title race; whether star forward Naomi Carroll will be available or requiring rest after playing four games in a week for Ireland – they won 2-1 over Spain in the series in Terrassa – remains to be seen.
The same applies for Cork Harlequins duo Cliodhna Sargent and Yvonne O’Byrne, with the champions unlikely to be harbouring any complacency about their trip to take on Limerick. John Meyler’s charges defended adroitly to only lose 2-0 in Cork earlier this year, a far cry from the hammerings Quins have handed out to most of the teams at the wrong end of the table.
That’s an area in which Fermoy need to improve, having shipped an average of five goals a game as they continue to integrate a raft of teenage players to replace the 10 senior players who have been unavailable this year.
It doesn’t come any easier for the north Cork girls as they travel to the Mardyke to play a UCC side who still haven’t taken out the frustration of their loss to Insta a fortnight ago.
The Mardyke is also the venue for the top attraction in the men’s league as UCC host Bandon. These sides had three years of ding-dong battles to earn third spot and an Irish Hockey League wildcard slot with Bandon generally prevailing until UCC turned the table in 2012.
The students then pulled away from the west Cork men, but the latter have undergone a revival with a huge number of their youngsters progressing into the underage interprovincial ranks with Munster and Irish international forward Ali Smith returning from Cork C of I.
It has lifted them to second in the table and turned this clash into a potential humdinger; Neil Welch’s UCC will need to draw inspiration from the fast counter-attack game that almost saw them stun C of I in the Peard Cup final to make the most of the pace of Fionn O’Leary, Gary Wilkinson and Shrew Power.
Harlequins welcome C of I to Farmer’s Cross hoping to avenge a 6-1 defeat earlier in the campaign. Quins have improved since then while the visitors will be keen to show they haven’t gone in the opposite direction. Victory for C of I could, even at this early stage, give them a commanding grip on the title.
Men’s Div 1: UCC v Bandon, Mardyke, 3pm; Cork Harlequins v Cork C of I, Farmer’s Cross, 3.30pm.
Women’s Div 1: UL v Bandon, UL, 2pm; Limerick v Cork Harlequins, Villiers, 1.30pm; Catholic Institute v Cork C of I, Rosbrien, 12.30pm; UCC v Fermoy, Mardyke, 12pm.
“We don’t know what to expect (for this game),” admitted UL’s Irish Universities forward Stephanie Peters. “We haven’t really been able to train over Christmas as we aren’t back to college until January 28, so we’ll just play as well as we can.”
Weather interruptions and fixture discrepancies have popped up throughout the leagues this season; for example, Ashton’s men went five weeks without a fixture earlier in the campaign while in the men’s third tier, Limerick have played nine games while Bandon and Waterford have lined out just four times.
Elsewhere, Cork C of I’s visit to Catholic Institute provides the most intrigue. The Garryduff girls lost 4-1 at home in the reverse fixture but continue to improve under Eddie Kirwan’s stewardship, with Kate Humphries in particular having an outstanding season in midfield since returning from UCC.
Institute are riding high since defeating rivals UCC 2-0 to stay in the title race; whether star forward Naomi Carroll will be available or requiring rest after playing four games in a week for Ireland – they won 2-1 over Spain in the series in Terrassa – remains to be seen.
The same applies for Cork Harlequins duo Cliodhna Sargent and Yvonne O’Byrne, with the champions unlikely to be harbouring any complacency about their trip to take on Limerick. John Meyler’s charges defended adroitly to only lose 2-0 in Cork earlier this year, a far cry from the hammerings Quins have handed out to most of the teams at the wrong end of the table.
That’s an area in which Fermoy need to improve, having shipped an average of five goals a game as they continue to integrate a raft of teenage players to replace the 10 senior players who have been unavailable this year.
It doesn’t come any easier for the north Cork girls as they travel to the Mardyke to play a UCC side who still haven’t taken out the frustration of their loss to Insta a fortnight ago.
The Mardyke is also the venue for the top attraction in the men’s league as UCC host Bandon. These sides had three years of ding-dong battles to earn third spot and an Irish Hockey League wildcard slot with Bandon generally prevailing until UCC turned the table in 2012.
The students then pulled away from the west Cork men, but the latter have undergone a revival with a huge number of their youngsters progressing into the underage interprovincial ranks with Munster and Irish international forward Ali Smith returning from Cork C of I.
It has lifted them to second in the table and turned this clash into a potential humdinger; Neil Welch’s UCC will need to draw inspiration from the fast counter-attack game that almost saw them stun C of I in the Peard Cup final to make the most of the pace of Fionn O’Leary, Gary Wilkinson and Shrew Power.
Harlequins welcome C of I to Farmer’s Cross hoping to avenge a 6-1 defeat earlier in the campaign. Quins have improved since then while the visitors will be keen to show they haven’t gone in the opposite direction. Victory for C of I could, even at this early stage, give them a commanding grip on the title.
Men’s Div 1: UCC v Bandon, Mardyke, 3pm; Cork Harlequins v Cork C of I, Farmer’s Cross, 3.30pm.
Women’s Div 1: UL v Bandon, UL, 2pm; Limerick v Cork Harlequins, Villiers, 1.30pm; Catholic Institute v Cork C of I, Rosbrien, 12.30pm; UCC v Fermoy, Mardyke, 12pm.