Naomi Carroll will make her long-awaited return to Catholic Institute colours as she hopes to play a leading role in the Rosbrien side’s maiden year in the EY Hockey League.

Cork Harlequins, Catholic Institute and Cork C of I all grabbed the results they wanted to make it a perfect weekend for Munster hockey on the national stage.

Caoimhe Perdue’s strike gave Cork Harlequins a big lift as they defeated Muckross at Farmers’ Cross to get them back in contention for a top-four EY Hockey League play-off place.

Cork won the battle of the Harlequins in the women’s EY Hockey League as Darren Collins’ Farmers Cross outfit beat their Belfast counterparts 3-0 in Deramore Park to give a massive confidence boost to the new-look side.

UCC missed out on possible promotion to the women’s EY Hockey League in frustrating fashion at the Mardyke as they ended the round-robin in third place.

While the EY Hockey Leagues could both be decided this weekend, the Munster focus will be on who can potentially join the elite division with UCC’s men and Catholic Institute’s women starting out their play-off journeys.

It proved a case of two steps forward, one step back for Catholic Institute in the Munster Women’s Division One title race as no sooner had they cracked open the race with UCC they were pegged back by Cork C of I.

UCD claimed the women’s EY Hockey League in dramatic fashion as Lena Tice struck two penalty corners to inflict a first defeat of the league season on Hermes-Monkstown, leap-frogging their Dublin rivals on the final day of the campaign.

Emma Buckley looks set to continue a trend of young Ireland senior debutants as the Mount Mercy College student is poised to win her first cap next week.

The ever-growing gap between the EY Hockey League and the provincial leagues was evident as big scorelines littered the women’s Irish Senior Cup first round on Saturday.

Hockey: Lisnagarvey and Cork Church of Ireland’s fortunes are again intertwined as they clash in the men’s Irish Junior Cup quarter-finals at Comber Road tomorrow.

Hockey: Cork Harlequins and UCC both require victories over Leinster opposition tomorrow to keep alive their slim hopes of making the last four of the Irish Hockey League.

Hockey: Cork Church of Ireland’s promising season in cup competitions season continues after their seconds won a Leeside derby to advance to the last eight of the women’s Irish Junior Cup.

Hockey: Ursulines Thurles announced their return to the top table in Munster Schools hockey with a 3-1 Junior Cup final win over a fancied Crescent side this week.

Ireland coach Craig Fulton will be taking on some familiar faces this afternoon as his men’s senior team play South Africa on day one of the London Cup.

A sizeable proportion of the Munster hockey community is decamping to Belfield this weekend as four of the province’s teams go chasing Irish cup glory.

Bandon and Cork Church of Ireland brought Munster’s national cup final representation to four with stunning Irish Hockey Trophy semi-final wins on Saturday.

Cork Church of Ireland’s men and Cork Harlequins’ women both got their Irish Hockey League campaigns back on track with vital wins on Saturday.

Cork Church of Ireland and Cork Harlequins were the biggest winners on a productive Irish Junior Cup weekend for Munster teams.

The demise of Cork Harlequins as a national force was ruthlessly exposed by Banbridge on Saturday, as they claimed a facile 8-0 Irish Senior Cup first round win at Farmer’s Cross.

Despite Pembroke and YMCA’s best efforts, Cookstown and Lisnagarvey scraped through to the semi-finals of the Irish Hockey League despite losing 3-2 respectively on Saturday in the last round of group matches.

Cork Church of Ireland will be all out to prove to Irish coach Andrew Meredith their players deserve a better crack at international recognition as they take on YMCA in a vital Irish Hockey League clash at Serpentine Avenue tomorrow.

Cork Church of Ireland showed they could be a dark horse for this year’s Irish Hockey League by routing Glenanne 4-1 at Garryduff on Saturday.

Top Irish umpire Carol Metchette has admitted she was forced to retire from international tournaments against her wishes.

It’s been a fallow few seasons for Cork Harlequins in national competitions, but they continued to roll back the years in stunning style on Saturday to see off Banbridge 2-1 and progress to the Irish Senior Cup semi-finals.

They didn’t make the Irish Hockey League semi-finals, but Catholic Institute took plenty of personal satisfaction in a 3-2 defeat of UCD which also ruined the students’ title hopes at Rosbrien on Saturday.

Three Rock Rovers came to Cork with six Irish Hockey League debutants, a clutch of teenagers and little in the way of form — but still left Garryduff with a 2-0 victory that all but ends Church of Ireland’s qualification hopes.

MELVIN BEAMISH’S quick hands earned Bandon a famous 3-2 Irish Junior Cup victory over Cork Harlequins on Saturday.

CORK Church of Ireland will look to a clutch of youngsters to help in their bid to reclaim the men’s Irish Junior Cup when they welcome Mossley to Garryduff tomorrow (2pm).

CORK Church of Ireland came up short in their attempts to honour tragic former player/coach Andrew Chambers with an Irish Senior Cup win, going down 4-2 at home to Lisnagarvey.

CORK C of I and Harlequins both picked up significant victories in their respective bids to become the first Munster sides to reach the men’s Irish Hockey League play-offs last Saturday on home soil.

AS Munster’s sole side with a win in this season’s Irish Hockey League, Ger O’Carroll’s Catholic Institute will be looking to progress their play-off claims tomorrow against winless Old Alex.

CORK’S Julia O’Halloran is the big absentee from Gene Muller’s latest Irish centralised training panel announced yesterday.

THEY may have restored some Munster pride on the national stage, but Cork Church of Ireland and Cork Harlequins will nonetheless be wondering how they left two-goal leads slip in their 2-2 Irish Hockey League draws with Pembroke Wanderers and Glenanne respectively.

IT was a profitable trip south for UCD on Saturday, as their men and women came away with big wins from Bandon and Cork Harlequins respectively to advance in the Irish Senior Cup.

OPPORTUNITY knocks for Bandon and UCC as they bid to bolster Munster’s Irish Hockey League (IHL) representation next season by succeeding at this weekend’s wildcard playoffs at Garryduff in Cork.

ÁINE CONNERY looks set to be given the chance to resurrect her Irish international hockey career, after she was confirmed as a participant in the team’s central preparation programme (CPP) yesterday.

JOHN JERMYN has returned to the international fold ahead of Ireland’s series of friendlies against the Netherlands in Seville, but there is still no sign of his Cork C of I club-mate David Hobbs in the squad.

CORK Church of Ireland’s youngsters stepped up to the mark in style as they guided the Munster champions to a 4-1 win over Bandon yesterday.

THE country’s top hockey clubs are fighting battles on dual fronts this weekend, with vital league clashes mixed in with the novelty of the start of their Irish Junior Cup campaign.

CATHOLIC INSTITUTE can take a giant step towards breaking Cork Harlequins’ Munster women’s league hegemony if they defeat UCC at Rosbrien tomorrow (1pm).

COOKSTOWN pulled off the shock of the first round of the men’s Irish Senior Cup on Saturday, dumping 2009 champions Pembroke Wanderers out with a 2-0 win at Coolnafranky.

THE fight to lay claim to some of the oldest silverware in world hockey begins this weekend, as the men’s and women’s Irish Senior Cup gets underway.