Munster U18 coach Chris Blaney is leading calls for the boys interpros to be moved from its November slot after cold weather again played havoc with the tournament.

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.

The second season of the EY Hockey League gets underway this weekend and 11 Olympians will feature, fresh from their Rio 2016 campaign.

Relegation trouble looms for two of Munster’s EY Hockey League sides after a pivotal weekend in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Ards matched UCC every step of the way over a turbulent EY Hockey League double weekend to leave the Cork students battling to avoid relegation.

UCC defeated Cork Harlequins for only the second time in a decade to give their EY Hockey League survival hopes a major boost.

While Ireland’s men are still riding high on the back of Olympic qualification, the same can’t be said of South Africa.

The first Munster derby of the EY Hockey League between Cork Harlequins and UCC pits many friends and former team-mates against each other at Harlequin Park tomorrow (2.30pm).

Darren Smith will hope to sign off with a flourish as Ireland’s women begin their Olympic qualification campaign in Valencia today.

Hockey: Bandon’s Irish Junior Cup love affair continues after the Desmond sisters gave them a hard-fought 2-0 quarter-final win over local rivals Cork Church of Ireland.

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.

Jason Lynch will again attempt to thwart the ambitions of his childhood club when his Lisnagarvey side host Cork C of I in the Irish Senior Cup tomorrow (2.45pm).

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.

Saturday will likely be remembered as the day Munster’s hopes of producing an Irish Hockey League finalist died, with all four teams suffering defeat.

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

Goalkeepers and defenders throughout the hockey world can breathe a sigh of relief from next season as own goals will no longer be possible in the sport.

Leeside again proved a happy hunting ground for Banbridge as they dismantled Cork Church of Ireland 4-1 at Garryduff on Saturday.

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

A first home draw in a decade has UCC’s men hoping they can finally make waves in the Irish Junior Cup.

Cork Harlequins will delve into the depths of their reserves as they bid to overcome the odds at this weekend’s EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy in Vienna.

Saturday is ‘moving day’ for the Masters at Augusta but this was ‘moving weekend’ in the Irish Hockey League with several sides making big statements of intent.

Catholic Institute ensured automatic Irish Hockey League qualification for the 2013/14 season as they resisted a strong UCC challenge to win 3-1 at the Mardyke on Saturday.

A campaign that promised so much has come off the rails somewhat for UCC’s women, but all is not lost as they face a crucial Easter Saturday Munster Division 1 clash with Catholic Institute (Mardyke, 1pm).

Andy Ewington’s remarkable short corner prowess helped Monkstown end 99 years of hurt with a rip-roaring 5-4 Irish Senior Cup victory over Pembroke Wanderers at Belfield yesterday.

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 Harlequins will be hoping to continue their hoodoo over Ulster sides as they continue their Irish Senior Cup defence at home to Cookstown tomorrow (3pm).

Lisnagarvey staged the greatest comeback in EuroHockey League history to help them overcome long odds and advance to the last 16.

Munster may not have had a team at the business end of the Irish Hockey League but some of the province’s exiles made key contributions to a dramatic finals weekend at Comber Road in Lisburn.

Denis Pritchard will be particularly interested in how Ireland’s women fare for their clubs in this weekend’s final round of the Irish Hockey League, after he was this week appointed interim national coach.

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.

Graham Shaw has been appointed the Irish U18 boys coach as he aims to impart some of the top-level knowledge garnered in more than 150 international caps.

Family ties are hardly unusual in hockey but rarely is it a generational thing — unless you’re Joan and Emma Dobson.

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.

THE feelgood factor for Irish hockey continued last night in Belfield as a second quarter blitz saw a sixth win in four days for the country’s senior teams as they beat China 4-2.

RÓISÍN UPTON’S whirlwind 12 months came to a fitting end at the Burlington Hotel on Saturday night, as she was named U18 Female Player of the Year at the sixth annual ESB Electric Ireland Irish Hockey Awards.

SUZANNE BEANEY apparently never retired from international hockey — her last appearance in an Irish jersey came in 2006 — but there’s little doubting the Pegasus hotshot is still one of the best forwards in the business.

LOSING to your little brother in the back garden is bad enough, but doing so in an Irish Hockey League semi-final “just can’t happen” according to Jason Lynch.

UNIVERSITY College Cork will contest their first ever national senior final after coming from behind to see off Clontarf 2-1 in a fraught Irish Hockey Trophy semi-final at the Mardyke on Saturday.

IT’S a potentially history-making weekend for UCC as they lock horns with Clontarf in the semi-final of the men’s Irish Trophy at the Mardyke today (12.30pm).

CATHOLIC INSTITUTE threw a major spanner in the works in the race for semi-final spots in the women’s Irish Hockey League by stunning Loreto 2-1 at Rosbrien on Saturday.