IHA chief executive Angus Kirkland this week informed branch representatives that one men’s and one women’s interpro competition will be held on March 26 and 27.

All players over the age of 18 will be eligible for selection, effectively meaning the senior and U-21 events have been amalgamated.

The decision follows a consultation process between the interpro working group, which was comprised of national and provincial branch representatives, and national coaches Paul Revington and Gene Muller.

The IHA’s high performance working group has also been tasked with finding a fourth team to compete in the men’s event. The identity of a fourth side has yet to be confirmed, but candidates could include the Irish U-18 side or a foreign club/representative/invitational outfit.

Initial discussions had pointed towards the formation of a new U-23 tournament to replace the senior and U-21 formats but, in a letter circulated to the interpro working group, Kirkland outlined the decision taken following an IHA board meeting on Sunday.

“I am sure you will appreciate that this has been debated long and hard by the interpro working group, national coaches and the board, and with the varying views around the groups arriving at a solution that suits everyone just has not been possible – however having taken into accounts all viewpoints the board believe this to be the best way forward for this season,” Kirkland wrote.

Revington and Muller will determine the availability of international players for selection.

Leinster came within ten minutes of completing an interprovincial clean-sweep at Grange Road last weekend but three from four titles represented a more than decent return.

The one that got away proved the women’s senior title as former international Suzanne Beaney struck ten minutes from time to cancel out Cathy McKean’s earlier opener to earn the draw Ulster needed to take the women’s title.

Friday night’s win over Munster had been supplemented by Nicci Daly’s single-goal winner over Connacht on Saturday.

The game-breaker, though, proved to be Alice Garrad’s fortuitous effort for Ulster against Munster to make it 2-0. It was the only tie of the tournament to be decided by more than one goal and came in the wake of southern hesitation after a lifted shot into Sinead McCarthy’s body.

The Ulster women reacted quickest to roll goalwards and Garrad nipped in for a simple touch to secure the goal which ultimately proved vital.
On the men’s senior side, Stephen Butler and Graham Shaw enjoyed what is likely to be their interpro swansong as they jointly lifted the cup.

Friday’s big win over Ulster, combined with Munster and the northern province’s 2-2 draw on Saturday meant the blues needed only a draw on Sunday.

They went one better as Andy McConnell got in around the back of club mate David Harte to grab the winner after Gareth Watkins had earlier grabbed his fourth goal of the tournament.

At U-21 level, the equation was a similar one on Sunday as just a draw was needed to claim the title. Goals from Davy Carson, Brian Doherty and Stephen Cole outdid Dan Hobbs’ pair of corners in their 3-2 win over Munster.

And Leinster’s U-21 women matched that feat in style. They overcame a tough opening battle against Munster to ease past South East on Saturday, captain Anna O’Flanagan leading from the front with a hat-trick before taking the laurels in the winner-takes-all decider with Ulster on Sunday, Railway duo Nikki Evans and Kate McKenna grabbing the goals.

Senior and U21 Interprovincials, Grange Road, Dublin

Senior Men
Ulster 1 (T Cockram) Leinster 4 (G Watkins 3, P Blakeney); Ulster 2 (B McCandless, S Todd) Munster 2 (J Jermyn 2); Munster 1 (J Jermyn) Leinster 2 (G Watkins, A McConnell)
Final standings (pts/goal diff): 1 Leinster 6 pts (+4); 2 Munster 1 pt (-1); 3 Ulster 1 pt (-3).

U21 Men
Ulster 1 (N Hamilton) Leinster 2 (B Doherty, J Kane); Ulster 3 (N Hamilton 3) Munster 2 (D Hobbs 2); Leinster 3 (D Carson, B Doherty, S Cole) Munster 2 (D Hobbs 2);
Final standings (pts/goal diff): 1 Leinster 6 pts (+2); 2 Ulster 3 pts (0); 3 Munster 0 pts (-2).

Senior Women
Ulster 1 (S Quinn) Connacht 0; Munster 0 Leinster 1 (J McDonnell); Leinster 1 (N Daly) Connacht 0; Ulster 2 (S Beaney, A Garrad) Munster 0; Connacht 1 (T Melvin) Munster 2 (A Connery, S McCarthy); Ulster 1 (S Beaney) Leinster 1 (C McKean);
Final standings (pts/goal diff): 1 Ulster 7 pts (+3); 2 Leinster 7 pts (+2); 3 Munster 3 pts (-2); 4 Connacht 0 pts (-3).

U21 Women
Leinster 3 (N Farrell, H Matthews, N Evans) Munster 2 (K Campbell 2); Ulster 4 (K Hewitt, E Thornbury, S McClure, J Kyle) South East 0; Munster 1 (K Murphy) South East 2 (M Byrne, C Murphy); Leinster 3 (A O’Flanagan 3) South East 0; Munster 0 Ulster 6 (E Thornbury 2, K Lammey, K Steenson, J Kyle, K Hewitt); Ulster 0 Leinster 2 (N Evans, K McKenna)
Final standings (pts/goal diff): 1 Leinster 9 pts (+6); 2 Ulster 6 pts (+8); 3 South East 3 pts (-6); 4 Munster 0 pts (-8).

* All the photos from Saturday and Sunday’s action can be viewed at the following links:

Interprovincial Trophy Presentations – Adrian Boehm
Senior Women: Leinster vs Ulster – Adrian Boehm
Senior Women: Munster vs Ulster – Adrian Boehm
Senior Men: Munster vs Ulster – Adrian Boehm
Senior Men: Munster vs Ulster – Simon MacAllister
Senior Men: Munster vs Leinster – Adrian Boehm
U21 Men: Munster vs Leinster – Adrian Boehm
U21 Women: Munster vs Leinster – Adrian Boehm

Gareth Watkins’ hat-trick gave Leinster the major impetus on the opening night of the men’s senior interprovincial championships as they smashed a listless Ulster 4-1 at Grange Road last night.

The Monkstown striker bashed home on his open side in the seventh minute following a long-straight ball worked its way through the heart of the northern province’s defence.

He doubled up with an improvised reverse-stick strike with half-time closing in. Peter Blakeney swept home to make it 3-0 early in the second half before Watkins got the simplest of tap-ins to Alan Sothern’s cross for a comfortable lead.

Ulster offered little but pulled one back in the final via Timmy Cockram’s drag-flick.

Earlier, the Leinster U-21s came from a goal behind to beat their Ulster counterparts 2-1. Neal Hamilton opened the deadlock in the fourth minute but a concerted second half effort saw Brian Doherty level with a drag-flick and Jonathon Kane squeeze in the winner while Ulster were down to nine players.

In the women’s competition, Ulster and Leinster were both pushed all the way before scoring second half winners.

Stephanie Quinn swept home a 42nd minute corner switch to out-gun a game Connacht outfit who came close to forcing an equaliser late on.

Leinster, meanwhile, had to wait until the 58th minute before Jean McDonnell grabbed the winner against a Munster side who shaded the possession stakes but could not break down the home defence. Pamela Smithwick pulled off a pair of fine saves late on to keep hold of the points.

Senior Men
Leinster 4 (Gareth Watkins 3, Peter Blakeney) Ulster 1 (Timmy Cockram)

Senior Women:
Ulster 1 (Stephanie Quinn) Connacht 0; Leinster 1 (Jean McDonnell) Munster 0

U-21 Men:
Leinster 2 (Brian Doherty, Jonathon Kane) Ulster 1 (Neil Hamilton)

* For more of Deryck Vincent’s photos from the women’s Leinster vs Munster fixture click here and for the men’s Leinster vs Ulster match, click here.

While some quarters call for their disbandment, the men’s and women’s Senior and U-21 interpros all making for a more than intriguing weekend of hockey at Grange Road.

Leinster’s senior men go in search of a 44th title, and end Ulster’s reign as champions. They do so with a panel featuring 12 internationals in their 16 man line-up with YM’s Andy Walker and Railway’s Kenny Carroll the only two not currently involved in some sort of Irish panel, making this a major opportunity to impress.

Stephen Butler and Graham Shaw, as reported by David Metcalf in the Irish Independent, are included, called up before they made their retirements from international hockey.

Ulster have nine Irish players with former Cork C of I man Jason Lynch again opting for his adopted home. Pembroke trio Adam Pritchard, Conor and David Harte along with Patrick Shanahan, though, will represent their province of origin. Indeed, it could be a busy weekend for the Three Rock man as he has also been named in Munster’s U-21 panel.

The women’s senior competition offers players outside the current Irish panels a huge opportunity to shine as Gene Muller’s panel are unavailable for regional selection.

Simon Filgas’ Leinster squad is largely based on a core of Railway Union players with a half-dozen making the cut. Bray’s former international pair Linda O’Neill and Catherine Murray provide midfield power as part of a quartet of Loreto, Bray All-Ireland School’s winners from 200 in the panel while Cathy McKean lends her experience, too.

Across the provinces, there is plenty of Leinster-based representation with Railway’s Sarah McDonald captaining Connacht taking over from club mate Sinead Walsh. The western province is bolstered by Hermes, Loreto, UCD and Trinity players to go with a large, youthful contingent from Greenfields and Galway.

Hermes’ Aine Connery lines out for Munster while UCD’s Kerry McComish wears Ulster’s colours for a side featuring former Ireland star Suzanne Beaney.

With the senior and U-21 tournaments running concurrently, there must have been a wealth of debates in the various provinces over which squad players were to represent.

This is perhaps more apparent on the Leinster women’s side with several Ireland A players named. Connacht opted just to compete in the senior interpros so the competition is reduced to four teams this year with South East, coached by former Hermes duo Linda Caulfield and Catriona Carey, featuring Trinity trio Kylie Deverall, Maebh and Eanna Horan.

On the men’s side, Niall Denham keeps ten players from last year’s panel with three times capped Brian Doherty hoping to make his debut at this level after missing last year through injury.

There is also the chance to see how Stu Loughrey has progressed after his first year at Loughborough University.

Senior and U21 Interprovincials, Grange Road, Dublin
Senior Men: Ulster vs Leinster (Tonight, 8pm); Ulster vs Munster (Tomorrow, 2pm); Munster vs Leinster (Sunday, 2pm).

Leinster Men’s Senior squad: Iain Walker (YMCA), David Fitzgerald (Monkstown), Gareth Watkins (Monkstown), Stephen Butler (Glenanne), Joe Brennan (Glenanne), Graham Shaw (Glenanne), Ronan Gormley (Pembroke), Alan Giles (Pembroke), Alan Sothern (Pembroke), Andy McConnell (Pembroke), Michael Maguire (Three Rock Rovers), Chris Pelow (Corinthian), Peter Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers), Kenny Caroll (Railway Union), Andrew Walker (YMCA), Gary Shaw (Glenanne)
Manager: Tom Hipwell, Coach: Ger Flannery

ESB Senior Women: Ulster vs Connacht (Tonight, 6pm); Munster vs Leinster (Tonight, 8pm); Leinster vs Connacht (Tomorrow, 12pm); Ulster vs Munster (Tomorrow, 4pm); Connacht vs Munster (Sunday, 12pm); Ulster vs Leinster (Sunday, 4pm).

Leinster Women’s squad: Pamela Smithwick (Old Alex), Siobhan Burke (Corinthian), Catherine Murray (Bray), Holly Jenkinson (Railway Union), Isobel Joyce (Railway Union), Eimear Dolan (Railway Union), Carol Magowan (Corinthian), Cathy McKean (Loreto), Mary Waldron (Glenanne), Linda O’Neill (Bray), Kate Dillon (Railway Union), Cecelia Joyce (Railway Union), Megan Tennant-Humphreys (UCD), Audrey McCormack (Glenanne), Jean McDonnell (Railway Union), Nikki Keegan (Loreto), Nicci Daly (Loreto)
Coach: Simon Filgas, Manager: Catherine Brock, Asst coaches: Jonathon Cole, Joe Brennan

U21 Men: Ulster vs Leinster (Tonight, 6pm); Ulster vs Munster (Tomorrow, 12pm); Munster vs Leinster (Sunday, 12pm)

Leinster Men’s U-21 squad: Stephen O’Keeffe (Railway Union), Ross Murray (Corinthian), Brian Doherty (Corinthian), Jonathan Kane (Glenanne), Rob Whelan (YMCA), Davy Carson (Corinthian), Geoff Walker (YMCA), Richard Pedreschi (YMCA), Nick Dee (Monkstown), Andrew Ward (Monkstown), Billy McEnery (Monkstown), Stephen Cole (Monkstown), Shane O’Donnell (UCD), Mark English (Railway Union), Luke Hayden (Clontarf), Sean Flynn (Dublin University), David Keogh (Glenanne), Stuart Loughrey (Loughborough Students)
Coach: Niall Denham, Manager: Rob Abbott, Asst Coach: Maarten Bos

ESB U21 Women: Leinster vs Munster (Tomorrow, 10am); Ulster vs South East (Tomorrow, 10am); Munster vs South East (Tomorrow, 3.30pm); Leinster vs South East (Sunday, 10am); Munster vs Ulster (Sunday, 10am); Ulster vs Leinster (Sunday, 3.30pm).

Leinster U-21 squad::Jessie Elliott (Trinity), Aisling Campion (Loreto), Nikki Evans (Railway Union), Noelle Farrell (Pembroke), Orla Fox (Pembroke), Sarah Greene (Hermes), Hannah Matthews (Loreto), Caitriona McGilp (UCD), Kate McKenna (Railway Union), Alison Meeke (Loreto), Hayley O’Donnell (Pembroke), Anna O’Flanagan (Hermes), Leigh Pelow (UCD), Rachel Scott (Trinity), Val Sexton (UCD), Alice Ward (Pembroke), Grace O’Flanagan (UCD)

* A couple of vacancies for team managers for the Leinster senior and U-21 sides ahead of the upcoming interprovincial tournaments to be held in Grange Road on March 26 to 28.

If you are interested in taking on either of these roles, please contact the Branch secretary Ronan Pelow on ronanpelow@leinsterhockey.org.

* The draw for the Leinster Senior Jacqui Potter semi-finals was confirmed this morning with Hermes set to play Pembroke and Old Alex facing off against Corinthian. The fixtures are currently set to be played on February 21.

* According to Wednesday’s Examiner, Irish captain Eimear Cregan (left) is set to move to Catholic Institute from Cork Harlequins. She spent four years at the Cork club, winning a string of league titles. She will not be eligible, though, for the Limerick club’s IHT fixture this weekend in Knock but could be in their line-up as Institute are in a strong position to end Harlequins’ 14-year reign as Munster champions.

*This weekend’s men’s outdoor fixtures: Division One (Sat): Corinthian vs UCD, TBC, Whitechurch Park; Division Two (Sat) – Bray vs Weston, 2pm, Loreto Bray; Irish Senior Cup: Mossley vs Annadale, 1pm, The Glade; Instonians vs Banbridge, 1pm, Shaw’s Bridge

Irish Hockey Trophy: Portadown vs Three Rock Ladies, 2.30pm, Edenville; Ashton vs Wexford, 2.30pm, Ashton; Knock vs Catholic Institute, 1pm, St Colman’s Park; Greenfields vs Galway, TBC

Ulster retained both the men’s and women’s U-21 interprovincial titles at Grange Road, getting the better of Leinster in both tournaments’ key matches.

On the men’s side, wins for both Ulster (3-0) and Leinster (3-2) over Munster made the final game of the three-game blitz a straight showdown for the title with the northern province having the slight edge on goal difference.

They soon made it a very clear advantage when Neil Hamilton netted from the flick spot but Jacob Webber netted his second of the tournament from a corner to level matters in the 12th minute.

A cagey battle ensued with Leinster holding the ball for long periods but largely in their own half while Ulster looked the more threatening outfit.

As it was, the blues took the lead early in the second half when Andrew Ward’s razor-sharp reaction bunted home after Tim Hill’s baseline run saw the ball fly up into the Monkstown man’s path.

But Ulster slowly began to turn the screw with Jason Lynch’s tussle with David Robinson one of the game’s highlights. David Ames became more influential too at right midfield as Timmy Smyth deflected in for 2-2 with a quarter hour left.

And the title was confirmed when Hamilton fired in a drag-flick in the closing minutes to give Leinster too much to do to comeback.

On the women’s side, the key game occurred on Saturday when Ulster beat Leinster 1-0. The two sides were the stand-out performers all weekend but the northerners showed a greater all round togetherness to their play to retain the title.

Hannah McMillan’s 11th minute strike – one of five she scored over the two days – was the difference in that game and Ulster duly beat the rest of the competition with a degree of comfort: Munster (3-0), South East (6-0) and Connacht (4-0).

Leinster ended the weekend in second with three wins to their name. They opened up with a 4-0 win over Connacht, Kate McKenna, Nicci Daly, Nikki Evans and Anna O’Flanagan on target.

Further wins on Sunday were added against South East (3-0) and Munster (1-0) but that single goal against Ulster would prove critical.

There was interprovincial success, though, for Leinster in the men’s junior competition as they completed the competition with three wins from three.

Shane Dooley’s single goal was enough to beat Connacht in the tournament’s opening game at Lisnagarvey. Munster ended the first day at the head of the table, though, as they proceeded to win the day’s next two games – 3-2 against Ulster courtesy of a double by Fingal man Chris Neville and 4-1 against Connacht with Railway’s Mark Egner also bagging a brace.

But the blues took over as the major force on Sunday afternoon when they built up an early 2-0 lead over the southerners, thanks to Phil Ryan and Naas man Kieran Davenport’s two goals in three minutes. Neville pulled one back but Clontarf’s Rob Kelly stretched the lead to 3-1.

It meant a win over Ulster would confirm the title and they duly obliged, Davenport and Navan’s Eamon Lynskey wrapping up a 2-0 win.

* For the final tables in the U-21 men’s, ESB U-21 women’s >, Junior men’s and junior women’s, click on the links attached.

Meanwhile, there was plenty of photos taken over the weekend. For Adrian Boehm’s pictures from the U-21 men, click here, and from the U-21 women, click here. For Emer and John Keogh’s pictures of the women’s tournament, click here while Stephen Findlater’s pictures of the U-21 men’s match between Leinster and Ulster are here. Stephen West’s photos of the tournament are here.

Each province will be allowed use 18 players for each game and games will be 30 minutes each way. The auto-pass rule, as used in the IHL, will be implemented in the men’s tournament only.

Men’s match schedule (April 19):
10.30am Leinster v Munster; 1.45pm Ulster v Munster; 5pm Ulster v Leinster

The date could prove an interesting one, coinciding as it does with the final round of Leinster league matches with Glenanne set to visit Three Rock in a potentially title-deciding tie.

Glenanne had Richie Shaw and Jonathon Kane included in Niall Denham’s initial Leinster squad as was Rover’s Timmy Hill while Patrick Shanahan is in the Munster squad.

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There is a wealth of IHT, IHC and IJC action this weekend, here’s the rundown.*

ESB Irish Hockey Trophy – semi-finals
Ulster Elks v Cookstown, 1pm, UUJ; Catholic Inst v Genesis, 1pm, Rosbrien

Men’s Irish Hockey Trophy – semi-finals
North Down v Catholic Inst, 2.30pm, Comber; NICS v Antrim, 2.30pm, Stormont

ESB Irish Hockey Challenge – semi-finals
Fermoy v Naas, 12pm, Midleton; YMCA v Clonmel, 3pm, Claremont Rd

Men’s Irish Hockey Challenge – semi-finals
Down v Campbellians, 1pm, Donard Park; Saintfield v Mullingar, 1pm, Saintfield

Men’s Irish Junior Cup – Quarter Final
Pembroke II v Corinthian II, 1pm, Serpentine Avenue