Corinthians, who eliminated the holders Lisnagarvey last weekend, have been drawn away to Monkstown in the third round of the Nissan-sponsored Irish Senior Cup, to be played on January 31st.
While Corinthians are placed second to Pembroke Wanderers in the Leinster premier division, they will not view their visit to Rathdown School with complacency, for it was here that they won only by 3-2 in October.
The cup clash will bring the province's two leading open-play strikers into opposition. Tasmanian Colin Stewart, with his aluminium-shafted stick, notched the two Corinthians goals which sank Lisnagarvey, while Monkstown's under-21 international Justin Sherriff was the only player to notch a hat-trick in the second round, in sending modest Down packing.
An all-Ulster pairing sees the favourites, Instonians, taking on Cookstown, while there will also be local rivalry in the Annadale Cliftonville tie. In Munster, there will be another all-Cork contest involving Belvedere at home to Harlequins, who edged out C of I. Of the other four games, Pembroke travel to North Down, where they will be expected to overcome the second-division side. Similarly, Dublin University - following their remarkable defeat of Banbridge - can reach the quarter-finals as a result of their home pairing with Parkview.
Also crossing the Border will be RUC, but they go only into Donegal to tackle Raphoe. If Bangor beat Railway Union in the solitary second-round replay on January 24th, the Ulstermen will be returning south to meet Three Rock Rovers.
Overall, the draw has been favourable to Leinster clubs.
Irish Senior Cup (third round, January 31st) - Dublin University v Parkview (D Shine, F Tierney); Three Rock Rovers v Bangor or Railway Union (R Ewart, R Davey); North Down v Pembroke Wanderers (R Kendrick, N Martin); Raphoe v RUC (W McCully, C McConkey); Belvedere v Harlequins (T Goode, D McNally); Monkstown v Corinthians (G Quail, H Donnelly); Instonians v Cookstown (I Thompson, A Carson); Annadale v Cliftonville (M Canniffe, E McFerran).
