If the weather continues to be as foul as it was yesterday - when the Leinster Under21 Cup final was abandoned - the hockey fraternity at least will have the option on Sunday of taking shelter in the National Basketball Arena.

Here, on the fringe of Tallaght where the M50 takes off, the revived Irish indoor club championship is being staged, reviving memories of stirring contests in the mid-1980s. Avoca, who, along with Seamus Butler, have been foremost in keeping the game going on the boards in Dublin and continue to venture abroad, now face a fresh challenge from Ulster for their place in European competition. Instonians, keen to win everything in sight on the home front, and Norman Crawford's Holywood squad have qualified from the Belfast preliminaries.

Holywood renew rivalry with Avoca in Pool A, in which Trinity will present themselves enthusiastically, while Instonians tackle Glenanne and Railway Union in Pool B.

The likelihood is that Avoca - going to Glasgow next Friday to represent Dublin in the world inter-cities tournament and then off to Belgrade in February - will have built up sufficient rhythm to reach the domestic final, with Instonians coming through from the other group if they travel at full strength.

The decider then may be decided on pure technique and here again Avoca, captained by goalkeeper Stephen Kinsella and including the widely travelled Ger Butler, would be expected to have the necessary expertise.

Outdoors tomorrow, Three Rock Rovers will be hoping that the pitch at Grange Road will not flood to the extent that it did yesterday, bringing their under-21s' game against Glenanne to a halt after 10 minutes. Half a dozen of the Rovers juniors are in the senior squad for the Leinster League match against pace-setters Pembroke Wanderers, who are likely to face more concentrated opposition than in their October meeting at Serpentine Avenue when the score was 5-0. Three Rock, though, will miss Gordon Elliott, who has had an appendicitis operation.

Avoca, with Colm Brady back in their squad following an apprenticeship in Holland, will be determined to reverse an earlyseason defeat by Railway Union when the sides meet at Rathdown. Corinthians and Glenanne, aiming to keep their diminished hopes alive of catching Pembroke, ought to score freely enough against Trinity and YMCA, respectively, while goals should also spurt forth in the anxious UCD-Monkstown game at Belfield.