WOMEN'S HOCKEY IRISH SENIOR CUP FINAL:IT'S 58 years since University College Dublin last won the Irish Senior Cup, in their only appearance in the final, and, on Sunday, players from the team that triumphed in 1951, including UCD captain that day Dr Patricia Horne, will attend this season's final at Belfield .

They will be less than impartial spectators as their alma mater attempt to bridge that gap against cup holders Pegasus. The Belfast side, who won their 12th successive Ulster title this month, have appeared in 10 finals since 1990, winning seven, and are seeking the first ISC three-in-a-row since Pembroke Wanderers achieved the feat in the 1940s.

When Pegasus beat Ballymoney in last year’s final, the 13th time they had won the cup since their first victory in 1974, it brought to seven the number of winner’s medals accumulated by their captain Arlene Boyles, dating back to her first, as an 18-year-old, in 1992.

The squad named by Pegasus coach Kirsty McCollum includes five retired internationals – Boyles, Jill Orbinson, Claire McMahon, Suzanne Beaney and Pamela Magill – who amassed over 500 caps between them, with senior Ireland players Alex Speers and Michelle Harvey also featuring.

So, against that level of experience and success are UCD without hope? Hardly. Knocking out Loreto and Hermes en route to the final was an indication of the students’ fondness for upsetting the “big guns”, a trait no doubt encouraged by their coach, Mary Logue.

Her squad includes two current senior internationals, captain Lisa Jacob and Roisín Flinn, with a host of promising underage players. Their meeting with Pegasus should be intriguing, their underdog status to their liking. David v Goliath? Experience suggests Goliath should prevail this time around.

PEGASUS: S Moffett, J Perry, N Brown, J Kyle, F Ilwaine, J Orbinson, C McMahon, S Beaney, A Boyles (capt), L Brown, A Speers, J McKnight, G Irwin, L Mallon, M Harvey, P Magill, H Clarke. Coach: Kirsty McCollum.

UCD: G O’Flanagan, L Pelow, M O’Connell, F Bradish, R Carrigan, M Tennant Humphreys, H Jenkinson, C McGilp, L Jacob (capt), R Burke, E O’Neill, L Wilson, C McNestry, O O’Shea, L McInerney, P Smithwick, F Flinn, R Flinn. Coach: Mary Logue.

FIXTURES: Tomorrow: Irish Junior Cup final (at Belfield): Hermes II v Railway Union II, 4.15pm. Sunday: Irish Senior Cup final (at Belfield): Pegasus v UCD, 3.30pm