The appearances of Floris-Jan Bovelander and Dessie Farrell add substance to what promises to be an invigorating day in Leinster circles at Rathdown tomorrow.
Bovelander, the multicapped Dutch Olympic gold medallist, renowned for his penalty-corner striking, will be present on a professional basis to give technical advice to the ambitious young Monkstown brigade. Later, Farrell - free from football commitments - will beef up the Glenanne defence against the home attackers in a Leinster Senior League game which tips off at 1.30.
Farrell was missed by Glenanne when they succumbed to Avoca at Glenageary a fortnight ago. Devin Kehoe, who shipped an ankle injury in that struggle, may not have sufficiently recovered to play in midfield, but coach Aidan Kidney will be hoping that his resources can be harnessed to reverse the result of last season's corresponding match.
On that occasion, Monkstown won 4-3, zipping into a 4-1 lead at one stage. Glenanne, particularly aware now of the quick-fire menace of Justin Sherriff, have become more mature since then - though youth on both sides remains much to the fore, with each team supplying four players to the Leinster under-21 squad for next week's interprovincial championship.
Glen Bailey, Chris Beere, Richard Beere and Sherriff are Monkstown's representatives, while three of the league's top four marksmen, Stephen Butler, John Goulding and Graham Shaw, as well as Alastair McMahon, go forward for Glenanne.
Three Rock Rovers, who, refreshingly, will be supplying Alan Bothwell (captain), Ross Harris and Gary Ringwood to the under-21 cause, look settled enough to beat YMCA at Grange Road tomorrow.
Railway Union, relying on the ubiquitous Barry Merriman, may well hold Corinthians to a share of the points at Park Avenue, but Pembroke Wanderers and Avoca are unlikely to be sympathetic to the tiredness of Trinity and UCD, at Serpentine Avenue and Belfield, respectively.
David Hanna, especially, will relish a meeting with his former team-mates, yet Avoca should take into account that UCD will have some fresh limbs in action, as a full-strength side did not travel to the universities' championship in Belfast.
Incidentally, while eight teams are as much as the universities can muster for the Mauritius Cup, the two-pool format works pretty well. One wonders, on the other hand, if 12 sides are too many in the All-Ireland Schools Championship at Hallowe'en and whether the number should be reduced to eight qualifiers, to make the competition neater and more balanced.
With the International Hockey Federation (FIH) insisting that the men's and women's bodies in Ireland must be living together, so to speak, by the time of the Brussels Congress in June, the IHU and the ILHU are setting up a steering committee of five members each to provide an umbrella group.
This would satisfy the FIH in the short term, but the Brussels hierarchy is adamant that a marriage takes place by 2000 - when all countries are expected to be represented by one association.
Somehow, however, the Irish unions are hoping to maintain a degree of independence on the home front, not least for financial considerations.
