Womenโs Irish Senior Cup Finals: The Irish Senior Cup is the Worldโs oldest Club hockey cup and finals day is the highlight of the club Hockey season at senior level, and it takes place this Saturday May 4thย at UCDโs Belfield Water.
The womenโs Senior cup final is the opening game and involves Railway Union bidding to win their first Irish Senior Cup for 11 years against Catholic Institute who are appearing in their third final in a row. Institute were the Cup winners in 2022 and beaten finalists in 2023. The rivalry which has grown between these two sides, particularly in the current season, adds a bit of spice to the game.
Railway Union were second in the Womenโs Division of the EY Hockey League this season ahead of Catholic Institute in third place. Last weekend in Banbridge, both sides played each other in the semi-final of the EY Champions Trophy and fought out a very close encounter decided by a single goal in Railway Unionโs favour.
Another aspect for fans to watch out for is Railway Union will feature Aebfhinn Bourke in their team on Saturday, and she began her career with Catholic Institute. Both sides will not have their international players available to them and given that Railway have five current internationals in their squad, as opposed to Catholic Institute having one, this might even the odds in favour of Institute.
ย
Saturday May 4 2024 โ Womenโs Irish Senior Cup Finalย
Catholic Instituteย v Railway Union
12:45 at UCD, Belfield Water
ย
Menโs Irish Senior Cup Finals: The second final of the day will be the Menโs decider which will push back at 15:45. The worldโs oldest Cup competition, first competed for in 1894, is between the two best club sides in Menโs hockey in the country, Banbridge and Lisnagarvey. Last weekend these two titans contested the EY Champions Trophy final at Havelock Park and Banbridge emerged winners in a 2-1 scoreline.
Later this month they will meet again in the Ulster Kirk Cup final so the Blue Riband is the second of three Cup Finals both these teams will contest. Both sides will be missing their international players but for Banbridge is the slight consolation, that even if Ireland Internationals were permitted to play, they would be missing Peter Brown and Johnny McKee through injuries anyway.
It is hoped that both will be available for the National squadโs FIH Pro League commitments later in the month. Lisnagarvey too will be missing their internationals, and this could be a real test of each clubโs squad depth as much as anything else. In the past few years, the EY Hockey Menโs League title as been won by either Banbridge or Lisnagarvey,ย so they are well versed in coping with occasions such as this. A fabulous afternoon awaits anybody who gets tickets to the games.
ย
Saturday May 4 2024 โ Menโs Irishย Senior Cup Finalย ย
Banbridgeย v Lisnagarvey
15:45 โ UCD, Belfield Waterย
ย
Tickets to both finals can be bought in advance through the Hockey Ireland website: www.hockey.ie.
