Hockey: UCD’s Carey twins to set family ties aside for Railway Union clash

Along with Sarah McAuley, they will face flying midfielder Sarah Hawkshaw though the students may be without league top scorer Hannah McLoughlin who missed the qualifier final due to injury.

Similarly at Rosbrien, Catholic Institute welcome Róisín Upton and Naomi Carroll back into the fold for their contest against Loreto for whom Sarah Torrans leads the line.

At Deramore Park, Irish newcomer Jane Kilpatrick — in Belfast Harlequins’ colours — will look to stem the forward runs of Ellen Curran for Pembroke.

All told, the league is at a fascinating stage with just three points covering first to seventh place and many permutations possible for another shake-up.

Insta and Loreto are both three points off the top and keen not to lose touch with leaders Pegasus who face winless Muckross.

Old Alex are a point off first and will be clear favourites against visiting Cork Harlequins but the nature of the competition to date is it is anyone’s guess how things will pan out.

In the men’s competition, Glenanne have stolen a march on the rest of the table with five successive wins but face a tricky away date against Monkstown.

Player-coach Shane O’Donoghue has been the key marksman with nine goals already; he was stymied for Ireland from the set-piece last weekend but will be keen to make amends this time out.

O’Donoghue ended the qualifiers in Cardiff by earning his 200th cap for Ireland in pretty much a dead-rubber against Austria with the World Cup spot having slipped away a day earlier.

Since making his debut in 2011, the Glenanne man has racked up an incredible 115 international goals, become a European bronze medalist in 2015, a 2016 Olympian in Rio and played in the 2018 World Cup in India, scoring on each stage.

While the tie against Austria was not quite how he would have hoped to celebrate the occasion, missing out on a 2023 World Cup spot a day earlier in a shoot-out against Wales, O’Donoghue said he was immensely proud of this milestone and to wear the captain’s armband for the occasion.

“To lead the team out was a huge honour and a privilege,” he said.

“From a milestone point of view, I was very proud to have the parents over there and would have loved to have the girlfriend and close friends over as well. Not the stage I was hoping for but when is life straightforward?

“There is a lot of pride in the work that’s been put in and the great thing is you’re doing it with a highly dedicated squad of 30 or 40 guys, staff members, coaches, managers, S&C, nutritionists, physios, the list goes on.

“We are all sharing that same dream of putting the Irish men’s hockey team on the map of international hockey and to put it into the eyes of people here in Ireland to see how exciting the sport is and the potential that exists.”