WOMEN'S HOCKEY/Under-21 Interprovincial Tournament:Ireland under-21 coach Stephen Jackson and his assistant Graham Quincey will be on the look-out for players for their European championship squad in Kilkenny this weekend, where Leinster will attempt to defend the under-21 interprovincial title they won for the first time since 1985 in Belfast last year.
The European under-21 B Division Championships which were abandoned due to flooding in the Czech Republic last season have been rescheduled for Prague in August, but several of last year's squad will not be eligible this time around, including captain Sarah McMaster and vice-captain Elaine Bromell, which leaves some vacancies for Jackson to fill.
Ulster, intent on regaining the title they had won for 14 consecutive years until Munster dethroned them in 2001, have seven under-21 and four under-18 internationals in their squad, coached by Erika Henry, but Leinster can boast three senior Irish players: UCD's Catherine Murray and Linda O'Neill and Loreto's Nikki Symmons.
Four wins out of four, with a record of 12 goals scored and none conceded, were Leinster's impressive statistics from last year's tournament, where Old Alexandra's Leanne Ryan, who had just turned 18, caught the eye.
Ryan, so impressive against Pegasus in last weekend's Irish Cup win, is joined in the squad by club-mate Shauna Fry, a late replacement for the injured Orla McGuinness.
Munster, who finished level on points with Ulster last year, include Eimear Cregan, who returned to club action last weekend after a break following the World Cup, as well as three players from the ill-fated trip to Prague: Elaine Bromell, Deirdre Casey and Emer Harte.
South-East, whose squad features eight Dublin-based players, including a six-strong Genesis contingent and Loreto's Irish under-21 goalkeeper Louisa Healy, open the tournament against Connacht tomorrow morning, before the meeting of Ulster and Munster, the result of which should determine where the holders' strongest challenge will come from.
UNDER-21 INTERPROVINCIAL TOURNAMENT
(at Kilkenny College)
Tomorrow: South East v Connacht, 9.30; Ulster v Munster, 11.0; South East v Leinster, 12.30; Munster v Connacht, 2.0; Leinster v Ulster, 3.30. Sunday - Leinster v Munster, 9.0; Connacht v Ulster, 10.30; South East v Munster, 12.0; Leinster v Connacht, 1.30; South East v Ulster, 3.0.
CONNACHT: C Delaney (Aer Lingus), S Hanley, H Lydon, M Mannion, C Murphy (all Galway), E Geraghty, S McDonald (all Greenfields), D Kieran (IT Tallaght), N Fitzgerald, C Friel, A Purcell, S Walsh (capt), L Tighe (all NUIG), S Collins (Renmore), N McKeown (Salerno), C Hutchinson (Univ of Limerick). Coach: Gail Russell.
LEINSTER: C McGowan (Corinthian), N Keegan, N Symmons (both Loreto), L Ryan, S Fry (both Old Alexandra), A Flynn, L Jenkinson, C Rowan (all Trinity), S Burke, K Fraser, R Keegan, J McDonnell, C Murray (capt), L O'Neill, C Sullivan, K Whelan (all UCD). Coach: Ger Butler.
MUNSTER: E Harte (Bandon), L Hourihane, D Casey, K Hales (all Church of Ireland), O McCarthy, E Dillon (both Cork Harlequins), C Kenefick, S O'Leary, A Roycroft (all UCC), J Kenefick, S McLoughlin, S O'Connor (all UCD), M A Cooney, E Cregan, L Keane (all Univ of Limerick), K Farrell (Waterford). Coach: Julie Dwyer.
SOUTH-EAST: L Barry, L Byrne, S Doyle, K McKenna, S O'Connell, A O'Gorman (all Genesis), K Gaffney (Loreto Kilkenny), L Healy (Loreto), S Doyle (Railway Union), S Connery (UCC), K Kelly (Univ of Limerick), N Herlihy, R Maloney, J White (all Waterford), S Farrell, A Howard (both Wexford). Coach: Siobhan Furlong.
ULSTER: B McKeever (capt), J Lynch, N McCaughern (all Ballymoney), J Magowan (Coleraine), J Kirkwood (North Down), N Graham, R Jamieson, S Martin (all Pegasus), L Forsythe, K McCollum, K Simpson, D Topley (all Portadown), A Lappin, L Black, E Parker, S Wilkinson (all Randalstown). Coach: Erica Henry.
LEINSTER LEAGUE - Division Two: Pembroke Wanderers II v Three Rock, Ballsbridge, 12.15.
ULSTER LEAGUE - Section One: Belfast Harlequins v Ards, Deramore, 1.0; UUJ v Knock, UUJ, 2.30.
