Last season’s results: 2^nd EYHL; Champions Trophy semi-final; Irish Senior Cup Winners
Coach: Michael Styles & Gordon Watkins (1^st season)

Players in: Karl Lynch, Jason Lynch, Shane Nolan (all Pembroke)
Players out: Jonny Bruton (Corinthian) Peter Caruth (Annadale)

Monkstown celebrate their Irish Senior Cup win. Pic: Adrian Boehm

Bruton has taken up a player/assistant coach role with Corinthian while Peter Caruth will do the coaching job at his home club of Annadale. Nonetheless, with Jason and Karl Lynch both heading down the N11 to Rathdown, Town have eight capped Irish internationals to draw from – David Fitzgerald, Kyle Good, Gareth Watkins, Stephen Cole, Lee Cole, David Cole, Richard Sykes, Jason Lynch – for the season ahead.

In preseason, the side drew with Dutch side Voordaan before winning the Three Rock Super Cup and beating Glenanne 3-0. Karl Smith spent the summer playing in Sydney for Gordon North Sydney in the Premier League while Max Maguire, Geoff Cole and Ziggy De Boe Agnew also started their season early with the Under-21 interpros last week.

Michael Styles will conduct the majority of the training with Gordon Watkins joining him on the sidelines for match days as part of a new look coaching team following Jonny Caren’s switch to Pembroke. Grandt Aston steps down as first team manager, while Ian Horsfield also takes a step back from first team hockey.