C of I sweat on fitness of Hobbs

Cork Church of Ireland are sweating on the fitness of experienced Irish international midfielder David Hobbs ahead of tomorrow’s Peard Cup quarter-final clash with Cork Harlequins at Garryduff (12pm). Hobbs is carrying a hamstring injury, but is confident of taking some part as C of I go in search of a third successive victory over their perennial rivals. They will have fellow internationals John Jermyn, Karl Burns and Adam Pritchard in tow, but goalkeeper Billy Lynch is unavailable, meaning recently-recovered international stopper Mark Ruddle will make his first appearance for the Rochestown side’s first team in almost a year. Ruddle made his comeback for C of I B a fortnight ago, having been sidelined for most of 2008 with persistent knee tendinitis problems. But he faces a serious battle to wrest the jersey back from Lynch, who has been in imperious form in his absence.

Richie Dorman and David Harvey are cup-tied, having played for C of I B in their quarter-final win over Catholic Institute, so Karl Lynch and Stuart O’Grady have been drafted in to  replace them. Peard Cup holders Quins will be without David Mills and Philip McLaughlin, who are recovering from groin and hamstring injuries respectively, while John Aherne is unavailable. However. coach Stephen Dale otherwise has a full deck to play from, with Mark and Jason Black, Sean NIcholson and summer recruit Paul Murray looking to record a first victory over C of I since routing them 5-2 at the semi-final stage of this competition last December. The clubs have agreed to play the game under Irish Hockey League (IHL) rules – meaning four quarters of 17.5 minutes, the auto-pass rule and two-minute green card suspensions come into play – to sharpen them up for their next IHL assignments at the end of the month. Elsewhere, the involvement of Munster clubs in the Irish Trophy has severely curtailed league action in the southern province this weekend. All the women’s Division One games are off, with UCC’s crunch meeting with Cork Harlequins moved to Tuesday at 8pm in the Mardyke. There’s one men’s league fixture, with C of I B meeting Quins B in a dress rehearsal for their Irish Junior Cup clash in December. However, two Munster clubs, Belvedere and UL, have withdrawn from the women’s Irish Trophy, a further blow to hockey in the province given UCC’s withdrawal from the men’s Irish Junior Cup last weekend. Of the remaining clubs, Ashton will host Moyne/Thurles in a Munster derby, Bandon and Waterford visit Dungannon and Terenure respectively while Catholic Institute welcome Suttonians to Rosbrien. In the men’s competition, UCC make the long trek to Cliftonville, while Institute visit Weston and Division Two high-flyers Galway host South Armagh at Dangan. In the women’s Division Two, UCC will be looking to build on last weekend’s superb Irish Junior Cup victory at Portadown by picking up their first points of the season at the Mardyke against Ashton, while Bandon’s meeting with Quins will see both sides looking to make up ground on early leaders Waterford and Institute. The men’s Division Two sees Quins C host C of I D, while Limerick will be looking for a confidence-booster at home to Bandon C, who have shipped 18 goals in three games.