Three Rock Rovers hoping for more Leeside delight

THREE ROCK ROVERS will hope Leeside continues to be a happy hunting ground for them as they come calling to Farmer’s Cross for an Irish Junior Cup quarter-final clash with Cork Harlequins tomorrow (2pm).

Rovers skipper Stephen Findlater led his side to one of the scalps of the competition in round one, when they saw off 2009 champions Cork C of I 2-1 at Garryduff.

South African Jody Hosking made the vital interventions that day and he’ll be backed up by ex-UCC man Roly Budd, though Luke McSharry — brother of Quins star Rachel — is missing from the line-up as work has taken him to Korea.

The hosts have notched two fine wins away to Ulster opposition in this competition but their domestic form has faltered in recent weeks. Nonetheless, in Darren Farrell, Luke Daunt and experienced campaigner Eddie Gash they should offer plenty of attacking bite.

Elsewhere, Cork Church of Ireland’s league visit to Catholic Institute should yield three points given the Limerick outfit’s struggles of late, in the weekend’s only Munster league clash.

Meanwhile, it’s a red letter day for Bandon and Ashton as they bid to the last four of the women’s Irish Trophy for the first time. Ashton host North Kildare and will look to Caroline McCarthy to keep up her recent scoring surge, while Bandon visit Three Rock Ladies hoping Sarah Gray and Hilary Chapple can do likewise.

Part three of the ongoing UCC-Catholic Institute rivalry gets underway at Rosbrien tomorrow (3pm), with the latter favourites to put one hand on the Munster league title.

Institute have twice turned the students over at the Mardyke by a single goal in recent weeks, and victory would help them open up an 11-point lead that would leave them needing just a score draw from their final three games to annex the title.

Elsewhere, Cork Harlequins head to basement side UL needing three points to put themselves back in contention for an Irish Hockey League qualification spot. They are set to battle it out with College for the second automatic berth, but will also want to shake off Bandon and Ashton’s challenge for a third-place finish and a place in the IHL wildcard play-offs.

Having lost their vital relegation six-pointer to Belvedere recently, UL need to upset someone in their last four games to avoid finishing bottom of the pile, but they are likely to target the clashes with Ashton and C of I rather than the Quins showdown.