Irish opportunity knocks

A raft of Munster men will get their first taste of senior international hockey when Ireland A take on England A next weekend in Dublin.

Ireland U21 coach Brendon Carolan takes charge of the side and uses the games to run the rule over some of his charges in contention for the U21 squad this summer. Dublin-based Cork men Karl Lynch (Pembroke Wanderers) and Nick Burns and Ben Dobson (UCD) are among them, joined in the squad by provincial colleagues Clinton Sweetnam (Cork C of I) and Alistair Smith (Bandon).

C of I’s international centurion pair David Hobbs and John Jermyn are also involved, the latter included along with Bruce McCandless due to their unavailability for the senior side’s Spain trip next week.

Carolan has named extended panels for both games, which will be whittled down to 18 for each clash next week.

Outgoing coach Paul Revington takes the senior side to Santander for a three-game series against Spain, and will bring four Cork men — Dutch-based twins Conor and David Harte, YMCA hitman Jonny Bruton and ex-Racing Brussels midfielder Jason Lynch. Revington will rely on Spain-based Irish captain Ronan Gormley (Club de Campo) and striker Mikey Watt (Santander) for insider info on a side Ireland beat 3-2 for a best-ever fifth-place finish at the European championships.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s women take on Great Britain on the finals day of the Investec London Cup in Chiswick tomorrow, hoping for a win to avoid the wooden spoon in the six-team tournament.