Injury-hit Bandon seek Christmas bonus

Bandon will be looking to give defending champions Cork Harlequins a Christmas hangover as they travel to Farmer’s Cross in hope of causing a Peard Cup final upset on St Stephen’s Day (2pm). The west Cork men are practically unbackable on paper, given they needed an Alastair Smith golden goal to see off Quins’ seconds in the semi-final and must face down a host side littered with past and present Irish internationals. Bandon have a number of personnel headaches going into the clash. They are definitely without Andrew Kingston, who injured his hamstring in the semi-final, and Clinton Sweetnam, who is abroad, while Darren Beamish’s involvement depends on a fitness test tonight, as he has been out of action for seven weeks.

Nonetheless, Bandon will take heart from the fight put up by Cork Church of Ireland B’s  in last year’s decider. Quins needed a controversial penalty stroke in the dying minutes to hit the front, and C of I B had an equaliser ruled out before Richie Gash sealed a 2-0 win. Gash won’t be involved this time around, as he has taken a season off to travel, and Quins have missed his cutting edge up front. They will also be missing Kilkenny native Eddie Dore, but otherwise have a full squad to call upon, including Mark and Jason Black and skipper Paul Lombard, who have the best part of 300 Irish caps between them. Having ousted Cork C of I 4-2 at the quarter-final stage in what was by far their best performance of the season so far, Quins won’t want to fall at the final hurdle. The postponement of last weekend’s clash between the sides means there is no form guide between the sides to go on, which may suit Bandon all the better. Meanwhile, Glenanne will start as favourites to overcome YMCA in Leinster’s Neville Cup final at Serpentine Avenue on Friday (3pm), despite having a tougher time in the semi-finals. Glens needed penalty strokes to see off Railway Union following a 3-3 stalemate, while YM strolled to a 4-1 win over a second-string Three Rock Rovers side. Stephen Butler and Graham Shaw are rested due to the 14-game restriction on front-line international players, but fellow Ireland squad member and Joe Brennan will be included. In Ulster, cup specialists Lisnagarvey meet league leaders Cookstown in the Podium 4 Sports Kirk Cup final on Friday, while Saturday sees an intriguing Winemark Shield decider (both games at Hillsborough, 2.30pm) between the women of Pegasus and Ulster Elks. While Pegasus have been the dominant force up north in recent seasons, the Elks — bolstered by the arrival of four internationals from three countries under a sports scholarship scheme — have swept away all before them this term, and are hoping to bring the title back to UUJ for the first time in three decades.