Irish Hockey League

This weekend the top four hockey teams from the men and women’s side of the sport will descend on Grange Road to play in the semi finals on Saturday and the Finals on Sunday.

The weekend kicks off with the ESB Women’s side of the tournament when last year’s runners up Hermes will be keen to go one better than last year when they take on this year’s ESB Irish Senior Cup runners up Railway Union – both sides had those respective titles snatched from them, penalty stroke style, by Loreto – who didn’t do enough this year to reach the semi finals stages.

These sides have clashed a total of six times this season, four of those in outdoor hockey where they split the winnings – Hermes lost to Railway 2-1 in the early stages of the ESB ISC, then Hermes had their most convincing win beating Railway 5-1 in the league before the lost 1-0 in the return match and Hermes also secured a 1-0 win in the Leinster Cup, so there is no doubt that this is going to be a close contest that can go either way.

The second semi final sees Ulster’s Pegasus pitted against Munster’s Cork Harlequins. Pegasus last year were put out at the semi final stages by Hermes and will be keen to go one better, while Cork Harlequins will also have the same train of thought as they exited at this stage last year also courtesy of Loreto.

The men’s side of the tournament kicks off at 3pm when the two Leinster Giants that are Pembroke Wanderers and Glenanne go head to head, these side are no strangers and have met in some of the biggest matches in recent years, including last year’s IHL final when it went to the wire penalty shoot out mode, with Pembroke just clinching the title. Glenanne will still be riding high after a convincing performance in last Sunday’s final where Joe Brennan lifted the cup for his side.

Next up Corinthian make their first foray into these stages against Ulster’s Lisnagarvey, these sides last met in the wildcard play off’s last year. Lisnagarvey also enjoyed plenty of match practise last weekend in the Men’s Wildcards when they played Bandon and YMCA to secure their spot in next year’s Irish Hockey League.

Match Schedule – Grange Road, Three Rock Rovers.
Sat 15th May
ESB Women’s Semi Finals
10.30 SF 1 (W) Railway v Hermes Front
12.30 SF 2 (W) Pegasus v Cork Harlequins Front
Men’s Semi Finals
15.00 SF 1 (M) Pembroke W v Glenanne Front
17.00 SF 2 (M) Lisnagarvey v Corinthian Front

Sun 16th May
13.30 ESB Womens Final
16.00 Mens Final

ESB Women’s Wild Cards Schedule
Fri 14th May
19.30 WC (W) Old Alex v Catholic Institute Front
20.00 WC (W) Ballymoney v Greenfields Back
Saturday 15th May
15.15 WC (W) Greenfields v Old Alex Back
17.00 WC (W) Catholic Institute v Ballymoney Back
Sunday 16th May
11.30 WC (W) Greenfields v Catholic Institute Back
15.30 WC (W) Ballymoney v Old Alex Back

Other Recent News
16 May 10	Pool Allocations for 2010 / 2011 season	details
15 May 10	Railway V Cork Harlequins; Lisnagarvey V Pembroke	details
28 April 10	HOCKEY: Men’s Irish Hockey League ROUND 5	details
20 April 10	Update on Men's WildCards	details

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