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 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.

UCC’s new-look outfit showed further signs that they will be pushing the top three men’s sides in Munster but, ultimately, their indiscretions cost them at key moments at Farmer’s Cross as reigning champions Cork Harlequins won by the odd goal in five.

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.

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.

HOPE springs eternal for some of the lesser lights in Munster hockey as the domestic season gets underway this weekend.

BANDON will be glad to see the back of Cork Harlequins after the Farmers’ Cross outfit handed them final heartbreak for the second time this season at Garryduff yesterday.

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.

TREBLE-CHASING Railway Union will hope to put one foot in the semi-finals of the Irish Hockey League tomorrow as they take on Cork Church of Ireland at Garryduff (2pm).

CORK HARLEQUINS’ ambitions on the national stage will be severely tested tomorrow when they face Ulster powerhouses Banbridge in a re-fixed Irish Senior Cup second round clash at Harlequin Park (2pm).

IRELAND senior men’s interim coach Dave Passmore believes the young players in his squad will be in for a serious test as they take on Argentina in the first of an international double-header at Belfield tonight (7.30pm).

IF IT might reasonably have been expected that the Irish men’s and women’s teams would deliver thin gruel in their European Championship openers against Spain and England respectively, it transpired that the men at least delivered some haute cuisine here in Belle Vue yesterday.

AFTER a week in which they created a huge number of chances, though failing to take most of them, Cork Harlequins finally hit top gear in Prague yesterday when they put on their best scoring display of the week to secure promotion for Ireland in the European Clubs Championships.

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.

TYPICAL Irish Senior Cup hockey: heartbreak on one hand, elation on the other. This time the heartbreak – for the second consecutive year – belonged to Cork Church of Ireland, while the elation fell upon Cork Harlequins.

AFTER a first half which promised so much, Cork Church of Ireland were overwhelmed 5-1 by Cork Harlequins in the Munster Senior League at Harlequins Park on Saturday.

Ireland recorded their first win of the World Cup qualifying tournament in China with a 2-1 victory over Canada.

CORK Church of Ireland coach Denis Pritchard welcomes four internationals back for Saturday’s Irish Senior Cup fourth round tie away to Belfast Harlequins.

Ireland 1 Wales 1

IRELAND have arrived in Rome ahead of their European Nations Trophy campaign which begins on Sunday.

THE National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) creative advertising awards Grand Prix award has been won by the Chemistry agency.

IRISH coach David Scott has to plan without his U-21 talent, but will welcome the return of five experienced internationals for a three-game series with Belgium in Brussels later this month.

HARLEQUINS have gone the extra yard in their efforts to win the Irish Senior Cup for the first time this season by recruiting David Passmore, a member of the British Association’s coaching staff.

HARLEQUINS’ captain, Jason Black emphasised one of the most enduring facts of hockey life when he referred to the importance of Quins’ penalty corner routine ahead of their Irish Senior Cup final at Belfield on Sunday.

RESPONSIBILITY is a word that has figured prominently in the preparations of Cork Harlequins for their Irish Senior Cup semi-final tie against NICS of Belfast in Stormont today (2.45pm).

CORK HARLEQUINS have scored something of a coup with the signing of Irish international midfielder Mark Black who previously played with Cork Church of Ireland (Cork C of I).

IRISH Senior Cup specialists, Lisnagarvey, are viewed as the biggest obstacle to the accomplishment of a little history today when two Cork teams attempt to negotiate the semi-finals and set-up hockey’s first ever all-Cork men’s cup final.