All-Ireland league make-up takes shape

Men's hockey: This might be a time for taking stock in Ulster, Leinster and Munster. Now past the midpoint of the season the top-four sides in Ulster and Leinster, the top two in Munster and two teams from a play-off will form next season's 12-team All-Ireland league.

The top clubs in each province seem now to be in unassailable positions with Leinster's Pembroke, Three Rock Rovers and Glenanne, Munster's C of I and Harlequins and Ulster's Cookstown, Banbridge and Annadale leading the charge to be included in Ireland's launch of the nationwide competition.

The battlegrounds, however, seem set to centre around the fourth place in Ulster and Leinster and the play-offs for the remaining two places.

The idea of the new format is to heighten the competition each weekend for the top clubs with a longer-term view of strengthening the Irish side for the bigger, eye-catching events at international level. Ireland's missed opportunity in Auckland a few weeks ago shows how close it can be between qualifying for an Olympic Games and slipping into international obscurity. Maybe more robust competition every week will be an advantage next time the opportunity arises.

On that note Glenanne will welcome back their internationals and with so much at stake, won't want to slip up, as they did when Graham Shaw and Stephen Butler were away. The league is the important tournament but for enjoyment their Leinster Cup semi-final against Pembroke on Sunday should make for the better spectacle than away to Kilkenny on Saturday. So too will Pembroke settle on Sunday for the main meal of the weekend as Saturday's opponents Bray shouldn't prove too much opposition.

In Ulster, league leaders Cookstown take on lowly Kilkeel at home, while Banbridge, who are only one point off the pace, take on third-placed Annadale.

WEEKEND FIXTURES

Saturday: Leinster Senior League : Fingal v UCD, ALSAA, 1.0; YMCA v Monkstown, Claremont Road, 1.0; Kilkenny v Glenanne, Kilkenny College, 1.0; Pembroke v Bray, Serpentine Avenue, tbc; Three Rock Rovers v Corinthians, Grange Road, tbc. Munster Senior League : Catholic Institute v Harlequins, Rosbrien, 12.30; Harlequin B v Bandon A, Farmer's Cross, 2.0.

Sunday: Leinster Senior Cup semi-finals : Fingal v Pembroke, Whitechurch Park, 12.30; Three Rock Rovers v Glenanne, tbc.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times