Ireland’s Indoor Hockey Club Champions Three Rock Rovers and Railway Union all set for European Competition
THREE ROCK HEAD TO EUROPEAN INDOOR CLUB TROPHY IN PLZEN
Three Rock Rovers are looking to build on the incredible start to 2024 for Irish hockey when they take on the men’s EuroHockey Club Trophy in Plzeň, Czechia this weekend. They are going for a top two spot which would earn promotion to the top tier of the club game and end a 32-year wait for a male Irish side to compete at that level.
It follows hot on the heels of the outdoor men’s Olympic qualification while both the men and women’s national indoor teams made major breakthroughs in the past two weeks to earn promotion to the top level.
For Three Rock, they are playing in the second club tier for a third successive campaign, having ended a 28-year wait for an Irish club side to do so in 2020. They finished in sixth place that year and then again in 2023 in Mannheim, staying up in dramatic fashion. Now, opportunity knocks with the top division expanding to ten teams, opening up greater chances to advance.
The Rathfarnham club will use the same squad of 12 players that helped them win the Irish title in January, brining a panel with a diverse range of experiences. Captain Ross Canning is Ireland’s most experienced international and top scored last week at the EuroHockey Indoor Championship II in Portugal. He was joined there by midfield terrier Jody Hosking and forward James Walker as they made history, winning the tournament to land a place for Ireland in the top level for the first time. Ali Haughton was a reserve for that panel while Ben Ryder and Ryan Williams – an Irish Under-18 outdoor panelist – are in the development panel who played in the Mason Cup in January.
The rest of the panel hail from far and wide who have since moved to Ireland. It includes former Great Britain and Wales international James Kyriakides who plays his second European tournament for the club since relocating to Ireland; Czechia and ex-Slavia Prague goalkeeper František Svoboda and South African Under-21 Zeke Hougaard. German youngster Christoph Geyer attends the local St Columba’s College while Jonas Althusmann returns for a third Euro tournament with the club. Scott Crombie takes over the coaching reins this season with Liam Canning assisting. Their campaign begins on Friday morning against Swedish champions Roslagens and then face a rematch against Rotweiss Wettingen from Switzerland whom they beat 5-4 in 2020.
They conclude the group phase against Portugal’s AD Lousada on Saturday morning, hoping to have a top two spot in the bank ahead of the playoff phases. Waiting in the wings for those matches are Copenhagen HC, OKS SHVSM Vinnitsa from Ukraine, hosts TJ Plzeň Litice and Scotland’s Western Wildcats.
RAILWAY UNION HEAD EAST IN SEARCH OF EUROPEAN INDOOR SUCCESS
Railway Union are sending an experienced squad to the Eurohockey Indoor Club Cup (W) in Alanya, Turkey from 22nd to 25th February 2024. This is the first time Railway has competed in the Eurohockey premier indoor club competition, and is only the 2nd Irish club team to do so.
The squad contains 4 current Irish international indoor players, 2 Irish indoor development squad including a previous senior international. The Railway indoor captain, Orla Fox, has 39 Irish indoor caps. The Patton sisters, Orla the Irish captain, and Sarah have 38 and 33 Irish indoor caps respectively, with Irish and Railway goalkeeper Emma Buckley having 28 Irish indoor caps. Amy Benson and Matilde Errico play on the Irish indoor development squad, with Amy having 29 senior Irish indoor caps.
The Railway Union indoor coach, Gareth Myburgh, is the Irish indoor manager and Irish indoor development squad coach. Holly Jenkinson, a previous Irish indoor international with 5 caps, is assistant coach.
This is Railway’s 5th participation in the Eurohockey indoor club competition – winning gold at the Challenge event in Bratislava, Slovakia in 2011, silver in Porto, Portugal in 2020, playing in the Trophy event in Alanya, Turkey in 2022, and winning silver in the Trophy event in Cambrai, France in 2023. In Alanya in 2022, the team played the entire tournament with only six players. Orla Fox has played in all 5 of these competitions.
In preparation for this event Railway Union won their provincial indoor tournament and the national indoor competition, for the fifth year running.
Squad: Emma Buckley (GK), Orla Fox (C), Orla Patton, Sarah Patton, Jenny Long, Ailish Long, Holly Jenkinson (VC), Amy Benson, Mati Errico, Micaela Sanderson, Leah Warren. Coach: Gareth Myburgh, Assistant Coach: Holly Jenkinson, Manager: Helen Johnston
