Women's Hockey/All-Ireland Club Championship: If they can defend the leads they built in the first legs of their All-Ireland Club Championship quarter-finals a fortnight ago Pegasus, Cork Harlequins, Hermes and Old Alexandra will, this weekend, win through to the finals of the competition.
Only Alexandra, though, go into their second leg, away to Ards, with a two-goal advantage, the other six competitors are separated by just a goal after the first legs. All to play for, then.
Home advantage should see defending champions Pegasus, described by their coach Erika Henry as "absolutely awful" in their 3-2 first leg win away to Bandon, prevail over the Munster League runners-up. The game is being played on Sunday because of the unavailability of the Belfast side's Queen's pitch tomorrow - apart from the concluding day of the Ulster-hosted club finals it will be the first time that a senior women's club game will be played on a Sunday in the province.
Loreto, who won European gold in Vienna on Monday, travel to Farmer's Cross to play their fifth game in nine days (their 12th in six weeks) when they attempt to recover from a 3-2 defeat by Cork Harlequins in the first leg in Dublin. Harlequins staged an outstanding comeback in that game, having trailed 2-0, and Loreto could well need to emulate that performance if they are to qualify for their fourth successive finals.
Having missed out on qualification for the quarter-finals last year Old Alexandra are close to making it through to this year's finals, as they did in 2001, but will be wary of an Ards side that gave Hermes a scare in last year's quarter-finals (only losing 7-5 on aggregate) and scored two potentially valuable away goals in their 4-2 defeat at Milltown a fortnight ago.
Hermes, 1-0 winners over Belfast Harlequins in the first leg a fortnight ago, are boosted by the return of Jenny Burke who arrived home from Australia last Saturday. Burke, who will decide on her international future next month, is named in Hermes's squad for the return leg at Belfield and if she plays it will be her first game since Ireland's final match at the World Cup, in which she scored the winner against Russia, almost five months ago.
"I trained on Monday night and I'd be too kind to myself if I said I was appalling," said Burke. "The whole hockey stick thing was a bit alien to me, trying to remember which hand went where. When I got home I looked up old photos to remind myself that I once played hockey. I really missed it, though - club hockey is where all the laughs are so it's great to be back, even if I'm a bit rusty. We were practising short corners and I wondered why we weren't stopping the ball - I had no idea that there had been a rule change."
She might be out of hockey practice but Burke's fitness levels should be fine after training for and competing in Australia's biggest women's triathlon - out of 515 competitors she finished 72nd overall, 15th in her age group.
"At least my team-mates recognised me when I came back - the last time I went away I spent the summer working in a doughnut shop in America, say no more."
ALL-IRELAND CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS - Quarter-finals, second legs (first leg scores in brackets) - Tomorrow: Cork Harlequins (3) v Loreto (2), Farmer's Cross, 12.0; Hermes (1) v Belfast Harlequins (0), Belfield, 12.30; Ards (2) v Old Alexandra (4), Ards Leisure Centre, 2.30. Sunday: Pegasus (3) v Bandon (2), Queens, 12.0.
