Hockey Internationals Deirdre Duke, Anna O’Flanagan and Chloe Watkins Announce their Retirements

May 15, Dublin: Deirdre Duke, Anna O’Flanagan and Chloe Watkins, all of whom were part of the 2018 Hockey World Cup squad who brought home the Silver Medal for Ireland, have announced their retirements from international hockey.

Deirdre Duke

DEIRDRE DUKE made her International debut for the IRL Women’s team in June 2013 against Scotland and went on to a play a total of 173 times for Ireland. She began her hockey career with Three Rock Rovers and also played senior hockey with Hermes while still in school.  She won the All-Ireland Club Championship with Hermes in 2008 in a team featuring Chloe Watkins and Anna O’Flanagan. Having won the Leinster Schools Cup with Alexandra College in 2011 she went to UCD the following September. In her first season at UCD she won an Irish Senior Cup winners medal. She spent a year in the United States where she played in Boston with the Northeastern Huskies. She returned home to Ireland in 2013 and resumed her studies at UCD, and in her first season back UCD won the Irish Hockey League and Senior Cup double. Deirdre was a member of the Ireland team that won the Women’s EuroHockey Championship II, defeating the Czech Republic 5-0 in the final.

In 2016 she replaced Katie Mullan as UCD captain and in the first season as captain, UCD won the EY Hockey League, Irish Senior Cup and EY Champions Trophy treble. The following season UCD won the EY Hockey League and Irish Senior Cup double again. She was part of the Ireland squad that were beaten in the World Cup Final in 2018 hosted by England and when the tournament was over, she spent a season playing with Dusseldorfer Hockey Club in 2018-19 season when they reached the German Final Four playoffs. In 2019 she was also a member of the Ireland squad which won Silver at the FIH Hockey Series.

In 2021 despite initially being selected as the Travelling Reserve for the European Championships she stepped into the main panel following Sarah Torrans having to miss out through injury and her goal against England was voted “Goal of the Tournament”. Deirdre Duke has been playing for Old Alexandra in the EYHL for the past few seasons since Hockey returned after the COVID 19 shut down. She was part of the 2021 Olympics squad, where Ireland finished 10th, and also played at the 2022 Women’s World Cup where Ireland were based in Amstelveen in the Netherlands. Deirdre was also part of the 2023 European Championships squad in Germany and most recently, participated in the Olympic Qualifier in Spain in January 2024, scoring two goals and making the decision to retire following the qualifiers.

Anna O’Flanagan

ANNA O’FLANAGAN made her international debut for the Women’s International team in July 2010 against Scotland and went on to play a total of 220 times for Ireland. Her first international goal arrived in April 2011 against France, the first of 89 International goals for the Girls in Green. She is the all-time record goal-scorer for the Ireland international women’s team.
In her early career she played for Muckross Park College and joined Hermes in her mid-teens at the start of her senior career. While she was still a student at Muckross Park College she was part of the Hermes side that won the 2008 All Ireland Club Championships for Women. Two of her teammates were Chloe Watkins and Deirdre Duke. Her switch to UCD brought plenty more trophies. Irish Senior Cup success in 2012 was followed up Euro Hockey Challenge I success in 2013 and a second Irish Senior Cup win in 2014 to go with the Irish Senior League in 2014.  Anna scored the winning goal in 2012 Irish Senior Cup Final a 3-2 win over Loreto. O’Flanagan scored again in the 2014 Final in a 2-0 win over Pembroke Wanderers in a UCD side that also included Katie Mullan, Gillian Pinder, Emily Beatty, Nikki Evans and Deirdre Duke.
Along with Chloe Watkins and Evans, she joined Hermes-Monkstown in 2015 where they won the inaugural EY Hockey League title and EY Champions Trophy in 2016. In the EY Champions Trophy Final Anna scored twice in the 3-1 win over Pegasus. A two-year spell in the Netherlands followed, taking a break from her legal career, to prepare for the 2018 Women’s World Cup. In her first year she was coached by former world player of the year Teun De Nooijer, culminating in a Gold Cup win with HC Bloemendaal. She spent her second season in the Hoofdklasse with Pinoké.
At international level Ireland won bronze at the 2012 Champions Challenge I and silver at the 2014 edition of the same competition. Wins followed in the World League Round 2 in 2015 and 2017 and Anna won gold medals in both tournaments. Her 100th appearance for Ireland came in May 2015, scoring in a 3-1 win over Canada. She scored 12 goals at the Kuala Lumpur World League Tournament, including one in the final which saw her pass the 50 mark. Her goalscoring continued into the World Cup. On July 2018, she scored in the group game against India, securing a 1-0 win for Ireland and a place in the quarter-finals. On 4 August 2018 she also scored in the semi-final against Spain. This was her 65th international goal which saw her level the previous record and she has since gone on to score a further 24 international goals and retires on 89 goals.
2019 saw her land the Player of The Tournament at the World Series Finals in Banbridge and she was Ireland’s top scorer in 2019 (joint-top) and the 2021 Europeans.  Anna O’Flanagan was also in the 2021 Olympics Squad in Tokyo. At club level post Covid-19 she returned to Muckross to play for their EYHL side and act as assistant coach. Her work career has taken her to London in recent years, which included a break from international hockey but continues to play her club hockey for Hampstead & Westminster. She returned to the National panel and trained with the Irish squad in 2023 & 2024 but did not play in the Olympic qualification tournament in January. In her absence, there hasn’t been an obvious consistent goal-scorer at international level and the search for her successor goes on.

Chloe Watkins

CHLOE WATKINS made her international debut for the Women’s international team in July 2010 against Scotland, just a month after completing her Leaving Certificate, and went on to play a total of 242 times for Ireland.

Hailing from a famous hockey family, her father Gordon and brother Gareth also played for Ireland. As such, much of her youth was spent going down to Monkstown to watch her brother, Gareth, also an international, in action and she was itching to hit the turf. At St. Andrew’s College she played in four Leinster Schoolgirl’s Senior Cup finals, winning the 2006 Cup as a 13-year-old, scoring a goal against Loreto Beaufort to win 2-0. They beat the same opposition in the 2009 final and, in 2010 Chloe captained St. Andrew’s College as they defeated an Alexandra College team that featured Deirdre Duke. For good measure they added the Kate Russell All Ireland Schoolgirls title with a 3-1 win over Coláiste Iognáid, Galway 3-1 in the final.

In 2008, while still a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Watkins together with fellow schoolgirls, Anna O’Flanagan, Deirdre Duke and Nicky Evans, was a member of the Hermes team that won the All-Ireland Ladies Club Championships. She began playing for UCD in 2010-11 and won an Irish Senior Cup medal in her second season. In her third season UCD won a European trophy the Euro Hockey Challenge I. She spent a year in Spain as part of her studies in Commerce and Spanish on Erasmus. During that time, she played for Club Campo de Madrid winning the League and Cup double in Spain. She returned to UCD in 2014-25 and played for the students in European Club action in her final season at Belfield. She returned to Hermes-Monkstown in 2015 along with Anna O’Flanagan and Nikki Evans, winning the EY Hockey League Women’s title and the EY Champions Trophy. She moved to the Hoofdklasse together with Anna O’Flanagan both players signing for HC Bloemendaal . In her season with Bloemendaal, they won the Gold Cup. When she returned to Ireland she resumed her career with Monkstown  and won the Irish Senior Cup again with them in 2023 before suffering relegation from EY Hockey League Women’s Division 1 in the current season.

Highlights of her international career included a 2012 Champions Challenge bronze bettered two years later by a silver in Dublin in 2014. World League Round 2 gold came in 2015 and 2017. During the 2018 World Cup silver medal run, Watkins scored twice in the shoot-outs. In the quarter-final against India she scored the winning effort to send Ireland through to the semi-final. She also scored in the semi-final against Spain. In the final against the Netherlands she made her 200th senior international appearance for Ireland. And her prowess in the shoot-out continued to the Olympic qualifiers in 2019 when she coolly slotted her effort on the backhand to keep the contest alive against Canada, leading to that famous “Watkins Wink” directed at goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran. Watkins revealed in the summer of 2020 that she had undergone surgery after she experienced heart palpitations at a training camp in South Africa. She said she was lucky to have caught it in time with the elective surgery likely to have been put on hold had it been during lockdown time. She recovered in time to be a member of the 2021 squad which represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics.

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IRL Women’s Hockey Squad for upcoming FIH Nations Cup in Spain Announced

May 14, Dublin: Interim Head Coach of the Ireland Women’s National team, Facu Quiroga, has announced an 18 strong squad to play in the FIH Nations Cup being hosted in Terrassa, Spain this June.

Ayeisha McFerran misses the tournament due to injury and this has led to Holly Micklem being called into the squad with Liz Murphy.

Before the Nations Cup competition, the squad will head to Antwerp on Thursday May 16th to play three warm-up games. The first of these will be against Italy on Friday May 17th, the second will be against Belgium on Saturday May 18th, and the third will be on Monday May 20th against India.

The squad will then head to Spain on Monday 27th May ahead of their opening game of the FIH Nations Cup. There will be two further warm up games in Spain on Wednesday 29th May in Terrassa, Ireland will take on Chile and then they complete their warm-up games by taking on New Zealand on Friday 31st May.

The participating nations in the competition are :-   Spain, Japan, Korea, Ireland, Chile, Canada, Italy  and New Zealand 

Korea, Italy, Spain and Ireland are drawn in Group A. Each of these opponents will be difficult and present a strong challenge for the Ireland team. The FIH Nations Cup itself gets underway on Monday June 3rd with a game against Spain in Terrassa with an 18:30 start (local time). In their second game of Pool A they play Italy on Tuesday June 4th with a 16:00 start (local time). In their third game of Pool A they play Korea on Thursday June 6 with a 16:00 start (local time).

The place matches get underway at that stage and the format is the 3rd placed Team in Pool A plays the 4th placed team in Pool B and the 4th placed team in Pool A plays the 3rd placed team in Pool B. These are the 5th/8th placed play offs. The top two in each pool are deemed semi-finalists and the draw for those semi-finals is already known and is as follows. The 1st placed team in Pool A plays the 2nd placed team in Pool B and then the 1st placed team in Pool B plays the 2nd placed team in Pool A. And the winners of the two semi-finals will play off for the FIH Nations Cup while the two losing semi-finalists will play off for 3rd and 4th place.

This competition counts towards ranking points and could have a bearing on Ireland’s World Rankings which again could have a bearing on how difficult a draw might be for the team in future qualification competitions at European and World Cup level in the coming months and years.

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
ELIZABETH MURPHY
HOLLY MICKLEM
SARAH MCAULEY
ROISIN UPTON (VC)
HANNAH MCLOUGHLIN
ELENA NEILL
ELLEN CURRAN
CAOIMHE PURDUE
 MICHELLE CAREY
 SARAH HAWKSHAW
 CHARLOTTE BEGGS
 CHRISTINA HAMILL
 KATIE MCKEE
 NIAMH CAREY
 KATHRYN MULLAN
 NAOIMI CARROLL
 SARAH TORRANS
SIOFRA O’BRIEN

 NON-TRAVELLING RESERVES
 CAITLIN SHERIN
 MIKAYLA POWER
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𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬: 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟐

IRISH JUNIOR CUP FINAL (WOMEN)

RAILWAY UNION  1 LORETO 1 [Railway win shoot out 6-5]

Railway Union started the game strongly and dominated possession in the opening stages. They took the lead through a Kate Lloyd goal from open play in the 6th minute. Loreto grew into the game as the quarter progressed and finished the first half strongly. It remained 1-0 at half-time to Railway Union, however the equaliser came from a well-worked move by Loreto which resulted in Sophie Maxwell finishing from open play in 46th minute. Heading into the fourth quarter it was still 1-1.  And it remained that way until the final hooter, and we were faced with a shoot-out.

Kate Lloyd had to retake her first penalty for Railway Union in the shoot-out, which was probably just as well. Having missed the initial effort, she made no mistake with her retake, 1-0 in the shoot out to Railway Union. Ella Kenny took Loreto’s first and it was saved by Railway Union goalkeeper Jade Arundell so it remained 1-0 to Railway. Co-captain Hannah Rooney took the second one for Railway and this was saved by Ava Doyle still 1-0 to Railway Union. Isabelle Kealy scored the second one for Loreto and it was now 1-1 in the shoot out. Matilde Errico took the third one for Railway Union but Loreto’s goalkeeper was penalised for using the back stick to save it and she was asked to retake the penalty. Matilde Errico made no mistake from the re-take, Railway Union went 2-1 up in the shoot-out. Mollie Lennon took the third one for Loreto and scored to make it 2-2 in the shoot-out. Leah Warren took the fourth one for Railway Union and missed so it remained 2-2. Ella Pasley took the fourth one and  scored  to put Loreto 3-2 up. Claudia Coyne took the fifth one for  Railway Union and scored to equalise for Railway Union to make it  3-3 and so it went to sudden death.

In sudden death the team that did the first five penalties first now goes second and vice versa.

First up for Loreto in sudden death was Isabelle Kealy whose effort was saved and it remained 3-3. Claudia Coyne took the first sudden death effort for Railway and hit the backboards, but the eight seconds allowed had elapsed and it did not count and it remained 3-3. Mollie Lennon took the second sudden death penalty for Loreto and scored to put them 4-3 ahead. Matilde Errico took the third sudden death penalty for Railway Union and scored to equalise it at 4-4.  Ella Pasley took the fourth sudden death penalty for Loreto and scored to put them 5-4 ahead. Kate Lloyd took the fourth sudden death penalty for RU and scored to put them level at 5-5. Katie Dunne took the fifth sudden death penalty for Loreto and her shot was saved by Jade Arundell but she used the back stick and Katie Dunne was able to retake it. Jade Arundell saved the retake legally this time and it was still 5-5 as Railway Union still had to take their final effort. Co-Captain made no mistake, Railway Union won 6-5 on a shoot-out and are Women’s Irish Junior Cup winners for 2024.

RAILWAY UNION:-  Jade Arundell  (GK); Siúin Woods; Grace Rooney; Kate Lloyd; Hannah  Rooney [C]; Claudia Coyne; Matilde Errico; Ali O’Leary; Aoife Sexton; Elena Quinn; Charlotte Walsh; SUBS USED;-Zara Delany [5 mins]; Alex Gallagher [6 mins]; Jessica McConn-Walsh [6 mins]; Gile Martin [6 mins]; Leah Warren [6 mins]; Sophie Kennedy [9 mins]

LORETO;- Lorna Bateman (GK); Ella Pasley; Zoe Dunne; Sophie Doyle; Ella Cotter; Rebekah Fitzpatrick; Ana Kennedy; Katie Dunne; Isabelle Dunne; Sophie Maxwell; Ella Kenny SUBS USED; Ava Doyle (GK) [36 mins]; Mollie Lennon [3 mins]; Ruth Gardiner [C] [4 mins]; Sophie  Dolan [4 mins], Eilis O’Neill [5 mins]

 

IRISH JUNIOR CUP FINAL (MEN)

CORINTHIANS 3 LISNAGARVEY 3 [CORINTHIANS WIN 3-2 IN SHOOT-OUT]

This game went all the way to the wire before a winner could be found. Seventy minutes of regulation hockey could not separate the sides, it was 3-3 at full time. Five penalties each in the shoot-out couldn’t end the stalemate either. It took a further five rounds of sudden death penalties before a home could be found for the 2024 Men’s Irish Junior Cup title and at the end of the day it will be heading to the clubhouse of Corinthians after an epic contest at Belfield on Sunday.

Corinthians took the lead in the 2nd minute when Max Caulwell scored from open play to put The Reds 1-0. Gregory Williams increased Corinthian’s lead in the 11th minute when he converted a penalty corner for 2-0. It was 2-0 at the end of the first quarter and remained that way till half-time. Corinthians increased their lead in quarter three when Gregory Williams got his second goal of the day from open play to make it 3-0 in the 51st minute. Lisnagarvey began their monumental comeback when Tom Archbold scored from open play in the 52nd minute. His brother Harry Archbold narrowed the gap by converting a penalty corner in the 58th minute to leave the score 3-2 to Corinthians. Within a minute Lisnagarvey were back level when Daniel Murray scored from open play and when the final hooter sounded it was still 3-3.

The penalty shoot out ensued and Corinthians took the first one. Max Caulwell had his effort saved by James Ritchie in the Lisnagarvey goal 0-0. Harvey Beggs had the first one for Lisnagarvey and missed still 0-0. Ross Willis too the second effort for Corinthians and his effort was saved by James Ritchie. Still scoreless and then up stepped Matthew McKibbin for Lisnagarvey for their second penalty and he also missed so it was still 0-0. Gregory Williams stepped up to take the third one for Corinthians but the time elapsed before he could fire in a shot on goal still 0-0. John Cunningham attempted a cheeky lobbed which was brilliantly parried over the bar by Euan Mackay in the Corinthians goal still 0-0. Ross Howard took the fourth one for Corinthians and his first effort was saved and the time elapsed before he could shoot the rebound- still 0-0. Harry Archbold took the fourth one for Lisnagarvey, his first effort was saved by Mackay and so was the rebound. One penalty each to go and still nothing to show on the scoreboard. Stephen Reid took the fifth one for Corinthians and scored 1-0 to the Reds. Daniel Murray took the fifth one for Lisnagarvey and he too scored so it was 1-1 in the shoot -out heading into sudden death.

Lisnagarvey took the first of the sudden death penalties and John Cunningham scored to put The Blues 2-1 ahead. Gregory Williams took the first sudden death penalty for Corinthians and equalised to make it 2-2. Daniel Murray took the second one for Corinthians, his first effort was saved and he hit the rebound, it too was saved and a third effort was completed within the eight seconds and it too was saved. Still 2-2. Stephen Reid hit the second one for Corinthians and he missed. It remained 2-2. Matthew McKibbin took the third sudden death penalty for Garvey and it was saved by Euan Mackay the Corinthians goalkeeper so it stayed 2-2. Ross Willis attempted a shot for the third sudden death penalty for Corinthians and hit it over the bar still 2-2. Harry Archbold hit the fourth effort for Lisnagarvey which Corinthians goalkeeper Euan Mackay saved and that left one effort from Ross Howard who duly scored, and Corinthians won the Men’s Irish Junior Cup 3-2 in the shoot-out. For coach Peter Caruth it was a special occasion. He had coached two Irish Junior Cup inning sides before, but they were Corinthians Women’s team who won the Junior Cup in 2022 and 2023. As coach of the Corinthians Men’s second team this season, he has now won three Junior Cups in succession, two women’s and one men’s.

LISNAGARVEY:– James Ritchie (C) [GK]; Adam McCann; Tim Curragh; Matthew McKibbin; Milo Thompson; Paddy Watson; Mackenzie Connor; Daniel Murray; Max Spence; Matthew Morris; John Cunningham SUBS USED:-  Timothy Cockram [10 mins]; Tom Archbold [10 mins]; Andrew Forrest [10 mins]; Tim Curragh [11 mins]; Craig Getty [11 mins]

CORINTHIANS:– Euan Mackay [GK]; Gregory Williams; Ross Howard; Paul Fitzpatrick; Brinsley Powell; Ross Willis; Max Caulwell; Luke Fitzpatrick; Ciaran A O’Shea; Andrew Crowe SUBS USED:– Harry St. Leger [5 mins], Callum McCourt [7 mins]; Neil Pelow [8 mins]; Robbie Clarke [10 mins]; Elijah Breen [11 mins], Charlie  Beatty [11 mins]

 

IRISH HOCKEY CHALLENGE (MEN)

WESTON 4 LIMERICK  2

The Irish Hockey Challenge was decided in the final quarter just when it looked like Limerick’s late comeback might result in another draw on this day of shoot outs at Belfield.

Weston took the lead when Cian Tucker scored in the 18th minute from a converted penalty corner. They increased their lead when Cian Tucker scored in the 44th minute to go 2-0 ahead. Limerick began their comeback in the 54th minute when Gerard Hodkinson scored from open play. Weston leading 2-1 at this stage. But as often happens in these types of scenarios just as the comeback looks on, the team that has been in the lead finds a second wind and Weston rattled in two late goals to run out 4-1 winners.

The third goal came in the 60th minute when Davitt Meenaghan scored a converted penalty corner to make the score 3-1.  They added a fourth in the 65th minute when Karl Goodwin scored and sealed the win for Weston.

Limerick went up the far end in the 67th minute and Conor Beck converted a penalty corner and scored to make it 4-2 to Weston who won their first ever National title in Men’s Hockey.

WESTON:- Sean Butler (GK); Darrell Carey; Davitt Meenaghan; Eoin Ryan Doyle; Stephen O’Shaughnessy; Cian Tucker; Neil Ryan Doyle; Karl Goodwin; Adam Clayton; Jake Quinn; Enda Tucker (C) SUBS USED:– Philip Barron [10 mins]; Keith Bell [10 mins]; Matthew Plack [18 mins]; Peter Kirwan [26 mins]; Matthew Cunningham [53 mins]

LIMERICK:–  William Langford (GK); Matthew Plack; Gerard Hodkinson; Damien Kelly; Ronan Shire; Brian O’Gorman [C]; Craig Morrow; James Hodkinson; Harry Hughes; Conor Beck; Jack Perdue; SUBS USED:– Abdul Baqi Achekzai [23 mins]; Jim Madden [26 mins]; Abdul Wasi  Achekzai [36 mins]; Yohann Dsouza [40 mins]; Milan Janicke [65 mins]

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Bangor, Lisnagarvey and Kilkeel secure Irish Cup Final Victories

HockeyIreland Weekend Domestic Results – Saturday May 11th 2024

IRISH HOCKEY CHALLENGE FINAL (WOMEN)

KILKEEL 3 BANGOR 3 [BANGOR WIN 3-2 IN SHOOT-OUT]

A very historic weekend for the Kilkeel Hockey Club saw their women’s team take part in the first final of the day, the Irish Hockey Challenge Women’s competition decider. As fate would have it, it was an all Ulster, all County Down match up, against Bangor. The match was the first of three finals being played at the home venue of Lisnagarvey in Hillsborough, County Down so neither side had a particularly long distance to travel for the final.

This closely fought game went all the way to a shootout before the teams could be separated. Bangor took the lead in the 15th minute through a goal from Hannah Lawden from open play 1-0. They increased their lead when Ruby Monaghan scored from open play to make it 2-0 to Bangor in the 28th minute. Kilkeel finally got on the score sheet on the half hour mark when Melissa Sloan converted a penalty corner to make it 2-2. Mellissa Sloan got her second penalty corner of the match in the 45th minute to make it 2-2. Leah Houston restored the lead for Kilkeel in the 56th minute when she converted a penalty corner in the 56th minute. But Louise McKibben ensured extra time when she equalised for Bangor in the 65th minute from another converted penalty corner.A shoot-out ensued. Bangor scored three of their efforts and Kilkeel scored two of their efforts. So Bangor are the Irish Women’s Hockey Challenge winners for 2023-24.

KILKEEL: Sophie Annett [c] (GK); Grace Mc Bride; Kasey Nicholson ; Leah Houston ; Nicole Annett; Isabelle Coulter ; Megan Poland ; Rachel Holmes ; Anna Chestnutt; Kerri Morris; Melissa Sloan; SUBS USED:- Sarah Annett [14 mins] ; Kate Niblock [18 mins] ; Erin McCullagh [ 25 mins]:

BANGOR:- Amber Dempster (GK); Ruby Monaghan ; Erin McKiley ; Stephanie Mitcell ; Lucy Mc Naught; Brooke Stranaghan; Hannah Boyd; Louise McKibben ; Hannah Grant ; Molly Brett ; Ellen Dines; SUBS USED ; Hannah Lawden [13 mins ; Matilda Urry [ 14 mins] ; Rachel Groves [ 17 mins] ; Vanessa Monaghan [23 mins]; Anne Jackson [ 27 mins];

IRISH HOCKEY TROPHY FINAL (WOMEN)

LISNAGARVEY 3 GLENANNE 3 [LISNAGARVEY WIN 4-3 IN SHOOT-OUT]

A second dramatic final on the day which went all the way to a shoot-out ensured the spectators who came for the day got value-for-money entertainment. The three finals taking place at Comber Road today were not the only reasons this was a special weekend for the Hillsborough club. The presence of their women’s team in this Women’s Irish Hockey Trophy Final was another reason for this to be special. And when you factor the presence of their men’s seconds in tomorrow’s Men’s Irish Junior Cup Final in Belfield, its a very special weekend indeed.

Glenanne took the lead in this game when Paula Fitzpatrick converted a 16th minute penalty corner for 1-0. Lisnagarvey’s Scarlett Rebecca Swann equalised with a converted penalty of her own in the 20th minute. It was 1-1 at half-time. Beth McFerran gave Lisnagarvey the lead with a 38th minute goal from open play to make it 2-1. Aimee Christie converted a penalty stroke in the 48th minute to put Lisnagarvey 3-1 ahead. And that was the score at the end of the third quarter. Glenanne struck back in the fourth quarter. Kate O’ Connor converted a penalty corner in the 59th minute to make it 3-2 and got an equaliser from another converted penalty corner in the 69th minute to send the match into the 1 v 1 Penalty shoot-out.

Each side missed efforts but at the end of the shoot-out Lisnagarvey had scored 4 and Glenanne had only scored 3. The Irish Hockey Trophy for Women is going to be in the Lisnagarvey Trophy Cabinet for the next year.

LISNAGARVEY :-  Charlie Bowman [ GK] ; Megan Robinson; Chloe McCluskey; Aimee Christie ; Beth McFerran ; Scarlett Rebecca Swann [C]; Rebecca Rachel Quinn; Victoria Kennedy; Jessica Moore; Laura Murray SUBS USED:- Lara Wilson [ 6 mins] ; Chrissy Hopkins [ 10 mins ]; Lauren Mulholland [ 11 mins] ; Shannon King [ 18 mins] :

GLENANNE :- Rachel Barnett (GK); Kate O’Connor ; Sadie Lanigan; Audrey Westlake; Fiona Walshe; Trish O’Donoghue; Clare Shillington; Naia Paredes Byrne ; Ciara Vincent; Caoilin Dunne; Aoife McCarthy SUBS USED:- Roisin Doody (C) [ 7 mins]; Paula Fitzpatrick [7 mins] ; Hannah Quinn[ 7 mins];  Hannah Morrin [ 13 mins]; Isabella Bolger [19 mins]

IRISH HOCKEY TROPHY FINAL (MEN)

NORTH DOWN 2 KILKEEL 6

Kilkeel had two teams in action in Comber Road on the day. Their women came up short in the Women’s Irish Hockey Challenge Final which opened proceedings on Saturday losing in a shoot-out. The men made sure that Kilkeel Hockey Club would not leave Comber Road empty handed by winning the Men’s Irish Hockey Trophy Final beating fellow County men and Ulster side North Down in the final.

Luke Russell opened the scoring for Kilkeel with a goal from open play in the 20th minute for 1-0. North Down equalised when Gareth McKeown converted a 23rd minute penalty corner for 1-1. Luke Russell restored Kilkeel’s lead when he converted a 33rd minute penalty corner and they led 2-1 at half-time. In the third quarter Kilkeel established their dominance when Mark Stevenson converted a penalty corner in the 41st minute for 3-1 and David Finlay increased the lead to 4-1 scoring from open play in the 45th minute. At the end of the third quarter Kilkeel led 4-1. Jordan McCartan made it 5-1 for the Kilkeel side in the 59th minute from a converted penalty corner. North Down got a 62nd minute consolation score from a converted penalty corner for 5-2 but the final score of the game fell to Kilkeel when Jonathan Aiken converted a penalty corner in the 67th minute to leave the final score 6-2.

NORTH DOWN:- Darren Rodgers (GK);  Johnny Linter; Ross Blair; Josh Gilmore;  Gareth Bailie;  Jordan Linter; Ross Linter; Philip Wilson [C]; Connor Tweedie; Matthew Bruce; Gareth McKeown; SUBS USED:- Jamie Orr  [ 8 mins] ; Henry Templeton [ 9 mins] ;  David Morris [ 18 mins] ;  Scott Moore [ 32 mins] ; Mark Linter [ 36 mins];

KILKEEL :- Christopher Mc Kee [GK] ; Gary Niblock ;  David Finlay ; Neil Stevenson ; Jordan McCartan; William Annett ; John Finlay ; Graham Ashton ; David Glenny ; Gareth Russell ; Mark Stevenson  [C];

SUBS USED :- Luke Russell [ 9 mins] David Rae [ 9 mins] ; Mark Henning [ 13 mins]; Jonathan Aiken  [14 mins] ; Andrew Wilson [ 33 mins] ; Taylor Mc Connell.

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Hockey’s Mark Tumilty names squad for upcoming Belgium FIH Pro League fixtures

Ireland Men’s Head Coach Mark Tumilty has announced an 22 strong squad to play in the FIH Pro League being hosted in Belgium. The squad will depart for Antwerp on Friday May 17th.

This is the third round of games in the 2024 FIH Pro League after the two rounds in India in Bubhaneshwar and Rorkela, India in February. The fourth and final round of matches will be hosted in London in early June.

Their first game of this round of the FIH Pro League will be on Wednesday May 22nd when Ireland take on the hosts Belgium in Antwerp which pushes back at 18:00 Irish Time. The second game for Ireland takes place the following day Thursday May 23rd when Ireland take on Argentina in Antwerp which pushes back at 15:30 Irish time. The third game takes place on Saturday May 25th when Ireland play their second game against Argentina in Antwerp beginning at 17:30 Irish time. The fourth and final game of this round takes place on Sunday May 26th when we take on Belgium for the second time with a push back of 15:15 Irish time.

 

Squad Announced:

Jaime Carr (GK)
Mark Ingram (GK)
Shane O’Donoghue
Mark McNellis
Kyle Marshall
Luke Madeley
Lee Cole
Peter McKibbin
Daragh Walsh
Nick Page
Tim Cross
Jonny Lynch
Sean Murray
Peter Brown
Michael Robson
Johnny McKee
Ben Walker
Ben Johnson
Ali Empey
Matty Nelson
Jeremy Duncan
Louis Rowe

FIH PRO LEAGUE ANTWERP SERIES

 

WEDNESDAY MAY 22ND 2024

IRELAND V  BELGIUM – 18:00 IRISH TIME

THURSDAY MAY 23RD 2024

IRELAND V  ARGENTINA – 15:30 IRISH TIME

SATURDAY MAY 25TH 2024

ARGENTINA V IRELAND – 17:30 IRISH TIME

SUNDAY MAY 26TH 2024

BELGIUM V IRELAND – 15:15 IRISH TIME

 

Speaking ahead of the Antwerp series, Ireland Men’s Head Coach Mark Tumilty said:

“We need to focus on ourselves in these eight games (4 in Antwerp and 4 in London) and we need to be better in possession of the ball.”

“We need to learn lessons from the series of games we played in India. In our last match against India, we created a lot of chances that we failed to convert. They were more ruthless converting their chances and ran out4-0 winners. We need to be more ruthless in the opposition semi-circle.”

“We played Argentina recently in a friendly series we won 3-0in one, lost 8-1 in another and drew the third. The positives were we were competitive in two of the three matches and must continue to be competitive if we are to get a result in those games.”

“Playing against Belgium in their home venue is always a tough ask. Those games against Belgium present a different challenge as they are the one team in the world playing zonal Hockey. Learning to cope with that system will be important in this series but also in Paris in a few weeks’ time.”

 

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𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟏 & 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟐

 

There are two days of finals this coming weekend in two different venues. On Saturday May 11th, 2024, the action will be at Comber Road, home of Lisnagarvey Hockey Club. It’s a huge day for Kilkeel hockey club whose women’s team are in the opening game and whose men’s team are in the closer. The first game is the women’s Irish Hockey Challenge Final which pushes back at 11:45am. It’s an all Ulster tie between Kilkeel and Bangor.

The second game of the day at Comber Road will be the women’s Irish Hockey Trophy Final in which Glenanne take on Lisnagarvey which pushes back at 13:45. The third game on Saturday will be the men’s Irish Hockey Trophy Final between North Down and Kilkeel which pushes back at 15:45.

SATURDAY MAY 11 2024

 

IRISH HOCKEY CHALLENGE WOMEN’S FINAL  11:45 COMBER ROAD

KILKEEL  V BANGOR

 

IRISH HOCKEY TROPHY WOMEN’S FINAL  13:45 COMBER ROAD

GLENANNE  V LISNAGARVEY

 

IRISH HOCKEY TROPHY MEN’S FINAL  15:45 COMBER ROAD

NORTH DOWN V  KILKEEL

On Sunday the action moves back to Dublin and home of the Irish Senior Cup finals at UCD’s Belfield Water. The first game is the Women’s Irish Junior Cup Final between Loreto and Railway Union whose second teams face each other.  Given the intense rivalry between these two clubs’ first teams this will be an equally intense game. It pushes back at 11:45.

The second game is the Men’s Irish Junior Cup Final between Lisnagarvey and Corinthian which pushes back at 13:45. Given the women’s team made a final on Saturday and the Men’s 2nd team are in this final and Lisnagarvey hosted Saturday’s finals, it’s a huge weekend for their club. The third game of the day and the entire weekend is the men’s Irish Hockey Challenge Final between Limerick and Weston which pushes back at 15:45

SUNDAY MAY 12 2024

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS FOR UCD FINALS HERE.

IRISH JUNIOR CUP WOMEN’S FINAL  11:45  BELFIELD 

LORETO  V RAILWAY UNION

 

IRISH JUNIOR CUP MEN’S FINAL 13:45  BELFIELD

LISNAGARVEY  V CORINTHIAN

 

IRISH HOCKEY CHALLENGE MEN’S FINAL 15:45 BELFIELD

LIMERICK  V  WESTON

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Hockey Mondays Episode 30


𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 #30 𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞!

Hot off Saturday’s Irish Senior Cup finals action, we have the podcast for you including key interviews and detailed match round-ups.

This week’s post game interviews:

EIMEAR CREGAN – COACH CATHOLIC INSTITUTE

GARETH MYBURGH – ASSISTANT COACH RAILWAY UNION

HOLLY JENKINSON – RAILWAY UNION

EMMA SMYTH – CAPTAIN RAILWAY UNION

And from the Men’s finals:

ERROLL LUTTON – COACH LISNAGARVEY

ANDREW WILLIAMSON – CAPTAIN LISNAGARVEY

SCOTT MC CANDLESS – COACH BANBRIDGE

ALEXANDER TINNEY – CAPTAIN BANBRIDGE

Look out for you Hockey Mondays podcast every Monday! 👉 Episode #30 available at www.irelandhockey.sportlomo.com or click on the link in our bio! #HockeyMondays #IrishSeniorCup #WOCHC

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Hockey Ireland Domestic Weekend Results: Saturday May 4

THE IRISH SENIOR CUP FINALS 

WOMEN’S IRISH SENIOR CUP FINAL

 

RAILWAY UNION 1 CATHOLIC INSTITUTE 0
Railway Union won their first Women’s Irish Senior Cup title since 2013 by beating Catholic Institute 1-0 at Belfield on Saturday.  The two sides had met seven days ago in the Champions Trophy semi-final in Havelock Park, Banbridge and it too was a one goal game in favour of the Dublin side.  International commitments meant that Railway Union had to do without the services of Sarah Hawkshaw, Michelle and Niamh Carey, Roisin Upton and Katie Mullan. Catholic Institute were missing their forward Naomi Carroll. But these forced omissions didn’t seem to affect either side that significantly.

This game while equally tight was a little more open and had better moments than last week’s semi-final. Railway Union dominated possession in the opening quarter and had the lion’s share of what chances there were. They did hit the backboard but their “goal” was ruled out for an infringement. It was 0-0 at the end of quarter one and also 0-0 at half-time. Catholic Institute having survived a handful of goalmouth scrambles enjoyed more possession in quarter three and carved out a number of half chances none of which were converted. The final quarter was even enough but Railway Union were beginning to reassert their dominance in the closing minute. In the 67th minute the final breakthrough came Railway Union had possession inside the Catholic Institute circle the ball ricocheted around the goalmouth before Katie Fearon managed to poke it home and it proved to be the only goal of the game.

It was a particularly special occasion for Holly Jenkinson one of four survivors of the 2013 Cup win who was playing in her final match for the Railway Union first team as she intends to hang up her stick from first team hockey at the end of the season. Holly Jenkinson had won her very first Senior Cup medal as far back as 2009 when she helped UCD end a 58 year wait for another irish Senior Cup win. UCD haven’t looked back since then adding multiple titles in the intervening 15 years. Holly won her second medal in 2013 with Railway Union and today in her final match she added a third. For the other three survivors of the 2013 win, Orla Fox, Emma Smyth and Kate Dillon the decision as to whether to give it another go will be decided during the summer break. Head Coach Una McCarthy missed the game because she had booked a holiday months ago assuming that it would not be a problem. But what a season for her and her team 2nd place in the League title race, EY Champions Trophy and Irish Senior Cup double winners.

RAILWAY UNION;– Emma Buckley; Orla Patton; Sarah Patton; Kate Fearon; Lisa Mc Carthy; Aebfhinn Burke; Emma Smyth [C]; Orla Fox; Niamh Shaw; Saoirse Griffin;  SUBS USED;– Kate Dillon [5 mins]; Holly Jenkinson  [5mins] Ailish Long  [5 mins], Clodagh Ferry [8 mins]; JL  [mins]

CATHOLIC INSTITUTE;- Pamela Smithwick-Hearne;  Roisín Begley; Aoife Hickey; Leah Clery; Laura Foley; Michelle Barrett  Ciara Moloney; Eimear Ryan [C]; Anna Horan; Emilie Ryan-Doyle; Jennifer Clein; SUBS USED:- Aoibheann Collins [ 7 mins] ;  Sarah Fitzgerald [ 8 mins] ; Tory Byrne [10  mins] ;Seodhna Dervan   [15 mins]

 

MEN’S IRISH SENIOR CUP FINAL

LISNAGARVEY 3 BANBRIDGE 2

Ireland’s Blue Riband and the World’s Oldest Knockout Hockey Competition trophy will be heading to Comber Road after this epic encounter at Belfield. Lisnagarvey started out of the traps in the first quarter and looked the more dangerous of the two sides early on. They took a lead in the 5th minute when Lisnagarvey’s captain Andrew Williamson converted a penalty corner in the 5th minute. Banbridge were back on terms with Louis Rowe scoring from open play in the 12th minute for 1-1.

It was 1-1 at the end of the first quarter. Banbridge looked to be in control of the match for a time in the second quarter and took the lead again when Philip Brown converted a penalty corner in the 28th minute and it was a lead they held at half-time. Lisnagarvey got back on level terms in the 40th minute when Daniel Nelson converted a penalty corner to open his account in the final. Banbridge had a chance to restore their lead in the 49th minute but James Milliken made a timely save and then Lisnagarvey broke from defense and a Matthew Nelson pass to his brother Daniel resulted in him scoring his second of the game, in the 50th minute from open play, to put Lisnagarvey 3-2 ahead and it was a lead they maintained.

Banbridge had one more chance of note to equalise however, Jonathan Bell, playing in his final game on the national stage, made a timely tackle to deny Banbridge an equaliser late on.  Perhaps for some of the players on both sides this may have been a game too many, but nevertheless Lisnagarvey emerged triumphant on a 3-2 scoreline to regain the Cup title they previously won in 2020. Both sides meet in Ulster’s Kirk Cup Final on Tuesday night and could yet meet up again in the Anderson Cup Final later this month.

LISNAGARVEY:–  James Milliken; Jonathan Lynch; Jonathan Bell; Mark McNelis; James Corry; Peter McKibbin; Andrew Williamson [C];  Daniel Nelson; Harry Morris; Ryan Getty; Andrew Edgar; Matthew Nelson  SUBS USED:- Jonathan Bell [9 mins]; Oliver Kidd [9 mins] ;  Ben Nelson [9 mins]; James Lorimar [10 mins]; Ben Thompson [10 mins] ;  Milo Thompson [ 10 mins] ; Matthew Aughey [ 11 mins]

BANDBRIDGE :-  Luke Roleston; Luke Witherow; Alexander Tinney [C]; Charlie Rowe; Jake Rowe; Louis Rowe;  Sam Farson; Owen Magee; Ben Walker SUBS USED:- Bruce McCandless [8 mins] ;  Thomas Orr [8 mins] ;Thomas Dobson [ 9 mins] ; James Evans [ 10  mins] Mark Barlow [ 22 mins]

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𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: 𝐈𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟒

Women’s Irish Senior Cup Finals: The Irish Senior Cup is the World’s oldest Club hockey cup and finals day is the highlight of the club Hockey season at senior level, and it takes place this Saturday May 4th at UCD’s Belfield Water.

The women’s Senior cup final is the opening game and involves Railway Union bidding to win their first Irish Senior Cup for 11 years against Catholic Institute who are appearing in their third final in a row. Institute were the Cup winners in 2022 and beaten finalists in 2023. The rivalry which has grown between these two sides, particularly in the current season, adds a bit of spice to the game.

Railway Union were second in the Women’s Division of the EY Hockey League this season ahead of Catholic Institute in third place. Last weekend in Banbridge, both sides played each other in the semi-final of the EY Champions Trophy and fought out a very close encounter decided by a single goal in Railway Union’s favour.

Another aspect for fans to watch out for is Railway Union will feature Aebfhinn Bourke in their team on Saturday, and she began her career with Catholic Institute. Both sides will not have their international players available to them and given that Railway have five current internationals in their squad, as opposed to Catholic Institute having one, this might even the odds in favour of Institute.

 

Saturday May 4 2024 – Women’s Irish Senior Cup Final 

Catholic Institute  v Railway Union

12:45 at UCD, Belfield Water

 

Men’s Irish Senior Cup Finals: The second final of the day will be the Men’s decider which will push back at 15:45. The world’s oldest Cup competition, first competed for in 1894, is between the two best club sides in Men’s hockey in the country, Banbridge and Lisnagarvey. Last weekend these two titans contested the EY Champions Trophy final at Havelock Park and Banbridge emerged winners in a 2-1 scoreline.

Later this month they will meet again in the Ulster Kirk Cup final so the Blue Riband is the second of three Cup Finals both these teams will contest. Both sides will be missing their international players but for Banbridge is the slight consolation, that even if Ireland Internationals were permitted to play, they would be missing Peter Brown and Johnny McKee through injuries anyway.

It is hoped that both will be available for the National squad’s FIH Pro League commitments later in the month. Lisnagarvey too will be missing their internationals, and this could be a real test of each club’s squad depth as much as anything else. In the past few years, the EY Hockey Men’s League title as been won by either Banbridge or Lisnagarvey,  so they are well versed in coping with occasions such as this. A fabulous afternoon awaits anybody who gets tickets to the games.

 

Saturday May 4 2024 – Men’s Irish  Senior Cup Final  

Banbridge  v Lisnagarvey

15:45 – UCD, Belfield Water 

 

Tickets to both finals can be bought in advance through the Hockey Ireland website: www.irelandhockey.sportlomo.com.

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