Germany took an early lead when they were awarded a penalty stroke in the 11th minute with Oskar Deeke converting.

The next period was evenly matched with both sides creating chances but no further goals until a quickfire salvo just before the half-time break with Christopher Ruhr and Deeke netting to make it 3-0.

Mats Grambusch compounded their superiority in the first minute of the second half before Mikey Watt got one back in the 41st minute.

Lukas Windefer netted a corner before Kyle Good closed out the tie for Ireland who made a couple of changes from Friday’s line-up.

Dave Fitzgerald came into the side in place of David Harte while Alan Sothern had to return early from the trip for work reasons and Eugene Magee had a niggle in his leg.

James Lorimer and Daniel Buser both made their second appearances in senior jersies after making their debuts on Friday afternoon.

Ireland: D Fitzgerald, C Harte, J Lorimer, R Gormley, J Jackson, P Maguire, A McConnell, J Bruton, P Caruth, M Watt, T Cockram
Subs: S Dowds, K Good, S O’Donoghue, C Cargo, J Bell, D Buser

In front of 3,000 spectators, Alan Sothern gave the side the lead in fourth minute before Chris Cargo doubled up midway through the second half as they produced an effective counter-attack performance.

Christopher Ruhr got one back only for Shane O’Donoghue to reply moments later to build a 3-1 lead. Florian Fuchs got a consolation late in the day.

The German were shy some of their top stars with star man Christopher Zeller on EuroHockey League duty with Rot Weiss Koln in Amsterdam but Ireland were also short some of their top players due to exam commitments.

Ireland will face Germany on Saturday, this time in Mannheim at 2pm Irish Time to round off the test series. Meanwhile Ireland were confirmed to play New Zealand, India and the Netherlands in the group stages of the World League Round Three in Rotterdam next month.

Supported by the travelling band of ‘yellow’ supporters including the Railway Under-14 team, Railway started strong with the balance of possession but were unable to find that finishing touch.

The Spaniards were first to score from their first short corner six minutes in from a Eugenia Guajardo deflection. Emma Smyth and Kate Dillon were working hard in midfield but forwards Zara Delany and Kate Lloyd were finding it hard to penetrate a composed Sociedad defence.

In the incessant second half rain, the Spaniards shaded the third quarter, scoring from their second penalty corner 10 minutes in through Lucia Ybarra. Railway worked hard in the last quarter to get something from the match, winning a number of short corners, but the Spanish defence stood firm, with sweeper Chiara Tiddi having an outstanding game.

On Saturday, Railway play the Ukrainians MSC Sumchanka at 1pm (12pm Irish Time) who beat Victorya Smolevichi 2-0 in the group’s other game.

In the Club Champions Challenge I, goals from Jeamie Deacon and Anna O’Flanagan gave UCD the perfect start to their campaign with a 2-1 win over Scotland’s Grove Menzieshill in sweltering 32 degree heat.

They did it the hard way, coming from a goal down as former international Kat Cameron’s penalty corner put the Grovies in front in the ninth minute.

But O’Flanagan equalised early in the second half and Deacon netted a corner in the 49th minute that ultimately swing the tie the students’ way.

On the men’s side, Cork Harlequins fell to a 4-3 loss to HC Bra in Vienna in their opening Club Champions Trophy. Paul Lombard had given them an early lead while Colin Ross had them back in front at 2-1 in the 25th minute.

Italian international Massimo Lanzano, though, levelled the game at half-time while Ukranian Oleksii Shvets and Matteo Moro nabbed two goals in as many minutes to power into a 4-2 lead with 16 minutes remaining.

Quins got one back from John Hobbs’ corner five minutes from the end before the Italian side were briefly reduced to nine players, Czech star Ondrej Vadmuska among the binned, but they could not grab an equaliser.

They meet hosts SV Arminen in their second game on Saturday.

** Big thanks to Helen Johnston for the report on Railway Union vs Real Socieded

Women’s EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, Antwerp
Friday: Railway Union 0 Real Sociedad de Futbol SAD (Spain) 2 (Eugenia Guajardo, Lucia Ybarra); MSC Sumchanka 0 Victorya Smolevichi 2

Fixtures
Saturday: Railway Union vs MSC Sumchanka (Ukraine), 12pm; Sunday: Railway Union vs Victorya Smolevichi (Belarus), 2pm; Monday: classification matches

Women’s EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge I, Catania, schedule (all times Irish)
Friday: Grove Menzieshill (Kat Cameron) 1 UCD 2 (Jeamie Deacon, Anna O’Flanagan);

Fixtures
Saturday: UCD vs Universitario Catania (Italy), 4pm; Sunday: UCD vs Royal Wellington (Belgium), 2pm; Monday: classification matches

Men’s EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, Vienna, schedule (all times Irish)
Friday: Cork Harlequins 3 (Paul Lombard, Colin Ross, John Hobbs) HC Bra (Italy) 4 (Priyesh Bhana, Massimo Lanzano, Oleksii Shvets, Matteo Moro)

Fixtures
Saturday: SV Arminen (Austria) v Cork Harlequins, 4pm; Sunday: Cardiff & UWIC v Cork Harlequins, 3pm. Monday: Classification matches.

Coach Mick McKinnon and assistant David Bane took the hit and switched their flights to Charleroi to accompany the equipment and help the side avoid the fate that befell Three Rock Rovers indoor side in Turkey last year.

In Malatya, lost sticks and goalkeeping gear left Three Rock scrambling to borrow from other sides involved in their competition. It eases a few of Railway’s worries though the players do have to travel with just hand luggage to the event for their clothing requirements.

Other than that, McKinnon is hopeful Emer Lucey will be fit following her head injury a fortnight ago in the first minute of the Irish Hockey League final against Loreto.

Despite Pegasus’ success last year at this level of competition in Belfast, Railway remain in the second tier of European club hockey as the EHF reduced the top tier from 12 teams to eight.

It means four sides have dropped down a tier including first opponents, Spanish side Real Sociedad, before they meet Ukraine’s MSC Sumchanka and Belarus’ Victorya Smolevchi.

They finished second and third respectively behind Pegasus while Railway drew 2-2 with Sumchanka two years ago in Park Avenue.

Speaking about his side’s chances, McKinnon said: “It will be a harder tournament than it has for the past two years as the EHF have re-jigged the structure meaning we get the English and Spanish number second seeds, as well as the current Belgian champions.

“It’s disappointing but the tournament has some top teams so it’s an exciting challenge for us. Our key game is likely to be our opener against the Spanish.”

In the Club Champions Challenge I, UCD are bound for Catania where the knock-on effect of the EHF re-alignment sees the Belgian second seeds Royal Wellington drop down.

They contain several Belgian internationals that competed in the London Olympics, including Jill Boon and Gaille Valcke, making them probably the stand-out opposition for the students but they will be buoyed by the knowledge that Hermes prospered at this level a year ago.

The return of Nicola Gray, Niamh Atcheler, Sarah Greene and Brenda Flannery to the panel increases the defensive options and allows player of the year Jeamie Deacon to push forward along with Leah Ewart. Hosting Universitario Catania follow the Belgian opener on Saturday before Scottish side Grove Menzieshill are taken on on Sunday. Monday is classification day.

On the men’s side, Stephen Butler is hopeful of EuroHockey League glory with Belgium side Dragons. They are back in the semi-finals of the competition after comprehensive wins over Lisnagarvey and Reading and have yet to lose a game in 14 attempts other than via penalties.

Irish hopes of a second EHL place next term lie with Cork Harlequins as they bid to overcome the odds at this weekend’s EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy in Vienna. Having stunned Irish hockey with an unexpected Irish Senior Cup triumph last year, the team’s veterans – including former Irish internationals Mark and Jason Black, and Paul Lombard – were convinced to postpone their expected retirements to give Europe a lash.

Quins have endured a tough season domestically, relinquishing their Munster league and cup crowns to Cork C of I, the nadir coming when they were thumped 6-0 by their great rivals in the Munster Senior Cup final.

At one stage, they almost had more players on the treatment table than were available for first-team duty, meaning they played one half of an Irish Hockey League game against Monkstown without substitutes.

Other Irish clubs – not least Banbridge, who are Ireland’s second European representatives next year – will be hoping Quins can bounce back to earn enough ranking points in Vienna to reclaim the country’s second EHL berth. But coach Phil Oakley says they’ll be performing for themselves first and foremost.

“I think we mainly want to do this for ourselves as we feel our season, which started so brightly with a good win over Cookstown in the Irish Senior Cup, fell away with a lot of poor performances in the league,” said Oakley.

“We have seen some improvements during the IHL, despite the results, and hopefully we can continue to improve going into the Europeans. Personally for me, I feel we owe it to ourselves.

“Of course in the back of our minds, we’ll know that doing well in this will benefit Irish Hockey in the longer term and hopefully we can follow Lisnagarvey’s lead this season and gain as many ranking points as possible.”

Women’s EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, Antwerp, schedule (all times Irish)
Friday: Railway Union vs Real Sociedad de Futbal SAD (Spain), 12pm; Saturday: Railway Union vs MSC Sumchanka (Ukraine), 12pm; Sunday: Railway Union vs Victorya Smolevichi (Belarus), 2pm; Monday: classification matches

Women’s EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge I, Catania, schedule (all times Irish)
Friday: Grove Menzieshill (Scotland) vs UCD, 2pm; Saturday: UCD vs Universitario Catania (Italy), 4pm; Sunday: UCD vs Royal Wellington (Belgium), 2pm; Monday: classification matches

Men’s EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy, Vienna, schedule (all times Irish)
Friday: Cork Harlequins v HC Bra (Italy), 1pm; Saturday: SV Arminen (Austria) v Cork Harlequins, 4pm; Sunday: Cardiff & UWIC v Cork Harlequins, 3pm. Monday: Classification matches.

Logue, one of Ireland’s most decorated internationals with 153 caps, joins up with Darren Smith’s senior women’s coaching team in Dublin with immediate effect.

She worked with the squad on an interim basis at World League 2 in Valencia in Smith’s first official tournament outing as head coach. Logue has also served as Head Coach of the Ireland U18 Girls from 2007 to 2009 and has been coaching Hermes for the past two seasons having led UCD to the Irish Senior Cup in 2009.

Shaw, meanwhile, will take charge of the Irish women’s U-21s while also working as one of the assistant coaches to Smith’s senior squad with a view to continued development and future integration of the senior and U-21 squads.

It follows a remarkable club season with Loreto and Monkstown, winning the Irish Senior Cup and Irish Hockey League double with the latter while reaching the women’s IHL final with Loreto.

He is also the current Irish U-18 boys coach, a side to which he named 16 players for the upcoming European championships in Poland this summer with the final two to be confirmed from a group of four players.

It is a side heavily influenced by Leinster with eight of the blues side that won the interpros included while Luke Madeley missed out on that competition through injury but is back in the fold.

Shaw said of the panel: “This is a very talented group of players and the expectation of Irish Hockey is that we will get our U18 age group back to the A division where we feel they should be. Promotion is our primary goal and the best way to do that is to win the tournament.”

At U-21 men’s level, Jonny Caren takes the head coach role. He has most recently been working as interim assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach for the senior men and will take up his new role with immediate effect.

He is currently away on duty with the Irish senior men’s team as they prepare for two games against the Olympic champions Germany this weekend.

They play a training match this evening before two official international ties take place in Mannheim on Friday evening (4.30pm) and Saturday afternoon (2pm)

Ireland U-18: Gavin Adams (GK, Methody/Lisnagarvey), Jamie Carr (GK, St Andrews/Monkstown), Mark Loughrey (St Andrew’s/Pembroke), David Kane (St Kilian’s/Pembroke), Luke Madeley (Wesley/Three Rock Rovers), James Lorimer (RBAI/Lisnagarvey), Lee Cole (St Andrew’s/Monkstown), Johnny McKee (Banbridge Academy/Banbridge), Michael Robson (Sullivan Upper/Annadale), Alex Burns (Midleton/Cork C of I), Ben Campbell (St Andrew’s/YMCA), Kevin Mullins (Mount Temple/Clontarf), Gary Wilkinson (Ashton/Cork C of I), Sam O’Connor (St Benildus/Glenanne), Harry Morris (St Columba’s/Three Rock Rovers), Ben Cosgrove (Banbridge Academy/Banbridge)
Two from the following four to be added to main panel following Scotland series in late June: Simon Wolfe (Ashton/Cork C of I), Neil Byrne (St Colmcilles/Glenanne), George Dagg (Sandford Park/Pembroke), Brian O’Malley (Castleknock/Glenanne)
Manager: Mark Murray
Coach: Graham Shaw
Asst. Coach: Gareth Evans
Video: Gareth Borland

Irish Senior men’s international match Schedule:
Friday, May 17: Ireland v Germany 4.30pm (Irish time)
Saturday, May 18: Ireland v Germany 2pm (Irish time)

The sessions are open to all clubs in Ireland to apply to take part in but will be focussed primarily on either men’s or women’s teams of senior division one or two standard. It will include an on-pitch hockey element combined with a whiteboard and video session.

The concept is to provide an exclusive pre-season masterclass to motivate and inspire players to reach their potential in the 2013/14 season via a bespoke programme by one of the greats of the game with the potential to match to suit your coming season’s requirements.

Alternatively, there is the possibility to get one-to-one coaching on his famous individual skills and team exercises, learn how De Nooijer and Bloemandaal train and prepare for matches physically, mentally and on the hockey front.

He will provide an insight into what top teams in Europe now focus on in attack and defense while the masterclass will give teams a take-home practical guide and step-by-step programme to use throughout the season.

The important point is that the master-class is custom to your team and provides players with the off the pitch knowledge.

** Teams interested in availing of this offer can contact Alan Browne at hockeymasterclass@gmail.com.

Clontarf HC is growing in strength with five ladies team and a strong presence of youth in the club. The ladies first team are currently in Division 3.

They have challenged for promotion the last two seasons and are looking for a coach who can help them achieve promotion in the coming 2013/14 season. There is a mixture of experience and youth on the team who offer commitment, enthusiasm and ambition.

We are looking for a coach with:
• Formal coaching qualifications
• Experience coaching ladies hockey
• Commitment to the development of players and the team
• Willingness to work with all coaches and teams within the Club

Anyone interested in this position, please contact the first team captain, Sorcha Hughes, at hughes104@hotmail.com

With Connacht given an automatic IHL berth this year rather than solely having the wildcard playoff option at their disposal, it meant 11 sides had qualified through their domestic leagues with four sides playing off for one final IHL spot.

UCC and Alex saw off Galway and the Ulster Elks respectively to earn this final showdown and it was a very tight-knit first half in Cork. Alex started slightly the stronger before the students enjoyed a purple patch, carving out three corner opportunities which Pamela Smithwick, Sarah Robinson and Sarah Canning did well to defend.

Shirley McCay, though, has shown her value in the latter stages of the campaign after returning from her travels and scored with a dynamic bit of work from the 25 before scoring on her reverse with another key goal.

Two more UCC corners were defended on half-time while the second half started in a similar vein, the students winning corners but were unable to find the clear sight of goal.

Aisling Naughton, again on the backhand, applied a similarly spectacular finish in the second half in a rare appearance for the club this term due to her University of Michigan commitments.

Sofie McLeod found here with a long pass from halfway, putting the speedster in with a defender to beat. She used her pace to escape the defender before unleashing a rasping shot.

Canning was required to clear another corner effort off the line before McLeod copper-fastened the win to see them finish the campaign on a high, receiving the ball on the p-spot, trapping dead before slotting home.

The win sees Alex join Leinster quartet UCD, Railway Union, Loreto and Hermes in the competition in 2014, their young side closing out the campaign with five successive wins against high quality opposition to give the side something to work on for next term.

Miles Warren’s side got the better of the Ulster Elks last Saturday 3-0 with Hannah McDermott, Sofie McLeod and Emma Duncan on the mark.

It sets up this date with UCC who had a similarly strong win over Galway and the students have been buoyed this term by the return of Miriam Crowley after a stint in Dublin with Hermes.

They ended their Munster league campaign in third place behind Cork Harlequins and Catholic Institute, picking up an eye-catching 3-0 win over the latter in December to show their potential.

Indeed, there are a number of strong elements to their side with former underage international Olivia Roycroft in the mix for Alex to keep under wraps.

For the Milltown side, senior caps Pamela Smithwick and Shirley McCay were joined this week by Erika Hinkson in an extensive international panel while Australian sharp-shooter Sofie McLeod is one to watch though her compatriot Jess Tremaine was returned home.

Sarah Canning’s experience blended with a youthful back line and lively forward options would give them the slight edge on paper to retain IHL participation with exam time on the students’ horizon.

** Photos with thanks to Carl Breaden

Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Hockey League wildcard playoff fixture: UCC vs Old Alex, 2pm, Garryduff

The club seeks to appoint a dynamic and ambitious coach who shares our vision for the club building on a strong base of juniors. We will accept applicants seeking a Coach or Player Coaching position and provide the springboard for an up and coming talented coach. We are aiming to put a remuneration package together that will allow a coach to travel from other provinces. Training slots and match times may be molded to suit any other commitments the coach may have.

Applicants will ideally have:
- A dynamic, hard working personality
- Passion to develop a young and emerging squad
- The ability to deliver fun and enjoyable sessions
- A coaching qualification and Code of Ethics certification

Responsibilities:
- Provide the technical and tactical direction for the 1st XI and support the 2nd XI and other teams within the club through an annual training plan
- Provide effective on pitch training sessions to a high technical and tactical standard
- To manage support staff to be effective in their roles (manager, assistant coach, fitness coach etc)
- Manage individual players to maximise team performance
- Work with other coaches within the club to provide a unified coaching pathway
- Moderate remuneration and travel allowances payable to suitable candidates.

Queries can be made (in confidence) to Donal Dempsey on 087 2427873. Applications should be made in writing, including an up to date CV to donal.dempsey@upcmail.ie.

For more information, visit the Galway Hockey Club website