Kilkenny 1-15 Clare 0-04

Kilkenny claimed their first national title since 2008 when they proved much too strong for Clare in a disappointingly one-sided Irish Daily Star camogie league Division 1 final at Semple Stadium.

Irish senior women’s coach Darren Smith says he is willing to support high performance hockey in Munster — but that the drive must come from within the province.

Some of Ireland’s most established international hockey players were left reeling yesterday after being dumped from Darren Smith’s squad ahead of August’s European championships.

Ireland's drag-flickers found their groove to ensure it's two wins out of two at the Athlon FIH Road to London Olympic qualifier in Beerschot, Belgium after a 3-0 win over Russia today.

Ireland's women survived an early fright to get their Athlon FIH Road to London campaign underway with a 5-1 win over France in Beerschot, Belgium today.

John Jermyn faces into a crucial week in his race to be fit for Ireland’s Olympic qualification tournament in Dublin next month.

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

CELTIC CUP glory continues to elude Ireland’s senior women, but coach Gene Muller nonetheless has plenty of positives to take from his side’s first tournament of 2011.

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.

THREE ROCK ROVERS sprung a South African surprise on Cork Church of Ireland on Saturday, as Jody Hosking’s double helped them to a noteworthy 2-1 Irish Junior Cup round one win at Garryduff.

A BLEAK weekend for Munster hockey saw all five of its representatives soundly beaten during the opening round of the Irish Hockey League.

CORK HARLEQUINS and UCC face season-defining clashes tomorrow as they bid to progress to the last four of the Irish Hockey League.

IRELAND will be once again on the outside looking in at a major tournament after Argentina dashed their slim hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup with a crushing 4-0 win in Quilmes.

EACH of Munster’s three representatives in the women’s Irish Hockey League will be seeking capital gains this weekend as all face tricky trips to Dublin for the second round of the competition – where they will renew acquaintances with former team-mates.

CORK HARLEQUINS andUCC got their ESB Irish Hockey League campaigns off to the perfect start as both picked up bonus-point wins on Saturday to lead the way after round one.

THE opening weekend of this season’s women’s ESB Irish Hockey League will have a distinctly local flavour to it on Leeside, where perennial rivals Cork Harlequins and Cork Church of Ireland will lock horns in Pool A tomorrow (Harlequin Park, 2pm).

UCC finally carried off the silverware that their resurgence in recent years has warranted, denying Bandon another famous scalp in the women’s Munster Senior Cup final at Garryduff yesterday.

ULSTER needed to draw on all their guile and experience to wrest the senior men’s interprovincial title back from Leinster at Garryduff yesterday, as they claimed a thrilling 5-5 draw with hosts Munster that will live long in the memory.

MUNSTER stole an early march at the senior women’s hockey interprovincials, defeating Connacht 3-1 at Garryduff in Cork last night after Leinster and Ulster had blinked first earlier in the day.

JASON LYNCH faces the novel prospect of lining out against former colleagues on his old stomping ground for the second time in a week, as he prepares to don the colours of Ulster at the senior hockey interprovincials at Garryduff in Cork this weekend.

NEW Ireland senior men’s hockey coach Paul Revington gets his first chance to see his new charges in action later this month as Scotland arrive for a three-game series.

CORK Harlequins began their campaign in the European Club championships in Prague yesterday with a comfortable 1-0 victory over local side SK Slavia Praha.