A whirlwind 2014 for Nick Burns continues after he was yesterday named as Ireland U21 captain for this week’s Four Nations tournament at Mossley.

Bandon’s incredible recovery at Belfast Harlequins in the women’s Irish Junior Cup highlighted a busy weekend of cup shocks.

Cork C of I 3 UCC 3 (C of I win 5-4 on penalties after aet)

Villiers gave Ashton a good test before succumbing 5-1 in an entertaining Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup final at Garryduff yesterday.

If there was any doubt that Cork Harlequins’ time as top dogs in Munster is over for the time being, Saturday’s Munster Senior Cup final provided it.

Cork Harlequins’ hopes of retaining their Munster men’s title will likely rest on their crunch clash with Cork Church of Ireland at Farmer’s Cross tomorrow (12.30pm).

They say you don’t win trophies at Christmas but you do in Munster hockey — and Cork C of I will be hoping a third straight Peard Cup success is the start of bigger and better things to come for them.

Cork Church of Ireland gave UCC a lesson in clinical finishing as their 3-1 win at the Mardyke all but extinguished the students’ flickering title hopes.

Cork Church of Ireland’s miserable recent Irish Senior Cup record doesn’t look any better today as they recover from a shock 4-1 loss away to Kilkeel.

Villiers School are back in the hockey big time after qualifying for the All-Ireland Schoolboys Championships, for the first time since 2005, at Garryduff yesterday.

Treble-winners Cork Harlequins and Dungarvan were the big winners at this year’s Munster Hockey Awards, held at Garryduff on Friday night.

Ashton’s stunning display of first-half firepower meant they were never in danger of losing an entertaining Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup final at Garryduff yesterday.

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.

Teenage starlet Shane O’Donoghue is one of many Irish internationals facing a busy Easter weekend of hockey across two different countries, as the U21 interpros, EuroHockey League last 16 and an international series in Germany test the country’s top players.

Cork Church of Ireland blew a superb chance to dump holders Lisnagarvey out of the Irish Junior Cup as the northerners snuck a 4-3 quarter-final win with a golden goal at Garryduff on Saturday.

CORK’S finest are running out of time to catch Catholic Institute, after the Limerick side showed off their clinical short corner conversion ability with a 5-1 win over UCC at The Mardyke on Saturday.

CORK HARLEQUINS raided the Mardyke twice in 24 hours to end the cup dreams of UCC’s men and women on a memorable weekend for the Farmer’s Cross club.

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 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.

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.

Chinese teenager Ding Jun Hui produced another dazzling display in Prestatyn today to move to within two rounds of qualifying for the final stages of the Irish Masters.

Barry Pinches, one of the most improved players of the season, produced another top drawer performance to reach the second round of the Daily Record Players Championship at the SECC in Glasgow today.

Jimmy White’s troubled week ended with a disappointing exit at the hands of Mark King at the Irish Masters in Dublin today.

Stephen Hendry found the going tough against fellow Scot Drew Henry today as he struggled to gain a narrow lead ahead of tonight’s final session to their Embassy World Championship second round match.

Stephen Hendry returns to the Crucible Theatre this afternoon for the first time since losing to Peter Ebdon in the 2002 final.

Scotland’s Drew Henry admits his ambition is to go head-to-head with 110sport stablemate Stephen Hendry at the famous Crucible in Sheffield.

Peter Ebdon will open the defence of his Embassy World Championship title at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield next month against a player in the best form of his career.

Dubliner Michael Judge has booked a place in the last 16 of the Regal Scottish Open after beating his compatriot, Joe Swail, 5-3 in the second round yesterday afternoon.

Jimmy White plans to save his best for last this term after half a dozen years of end-of-season uncertainty.

Joe Perry was set to return to action in York today still coming to terms with his superb performance at the European Open in Malta.

John Higgins’ winning streak came to an end at the hands of Stephen Lee in the quarter-finals of the £597,200 LG Cup at Preston Guild Hall today.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is in for a tough match this afternoon when he makes his first appearance at the £688,000 Stan James British Open if results in Newcastle so far are any guide.