Men's Hockey News and previewsPembroke Wanderers will break new ground this weekend when representing Ireland in the inaugural Euro Hockey League in Antwerp.
The tournament, which tags itself as "the best way hockey has ever been presented", pits Europe's top 24 clubs against each other in a format akin to football's Champions League.
Pembroke must finish first or second in their three-team pool, which includes the Spanish Copa del Rey holders, Egara, and the Polish champions, KS Pocztowiec Poznan, to qualify for the second round in March.
Pembroke - whose South African player-coach Craig Fulton can call on a full squad - have won all their matches so far this term, including a friendly with their arch-rivals Glenanne (3-1), where they practised the new "quarters" system, one of a number of innovations at the Euro tournament.
Matches will be divided into four periods of 17-and-a-half minutes, to allow more television advertising and thus attract more revenue.
Fulton said of the new system: "It makes the game feel a lot longer and can also let your opponents off the hook a bit if you get some rhythm going in one quarter."
He also sees it as important to make the "right changes at the right time" as his regular substitution patterns are likely to be affected.
Egara - two-time winners of the European Club Championships, the forerunner of this tournament - go into the group as top seeds.
Poznan have several Polish internationals and finished seventh in Europe last year.
"It would be foolish to stick all your eggs in one basket," said Fulton of his side's tournament strategy. He will focus on getting a result against the Poles. A win gains five points, a draw two and a loss by less than two goals, one.
Fulton added: "There are so many scenarios you can come up against (for picking up points) so you have to see how it goes. But the squad is in a good place right now and we're positive."
As for the new format and new rules, he said: "Anything that gets hockey on the television, it's important to give it a go."
Whatever happens for Pembroke, Ireland are guaranteed three players in the second round of the EHL. In last weekend's first series of group games in the Hague, John Jermyn, Iain Lewers and Eugene Magee were part of the Dutch side HGC as they qualified for the second round.
PEMBROKE SQUAD: D Harte, N Henderson, P Conlon (capt), R Flannery, C Fulton, P Good, R Gormley, A Giles, C Harte, C Kelly, T Lewis, J McInroy, P Priestly, A Sothern, J Sheriff, I Symons, C Wilson.
EURO HOCKEY LEAGUE: Group F: Tonight (8.30pm): Pembroke v Club Egara (Spain); Tomorrow: (4.30pm): Club Egara v KS Pocztowiec Poznan (Poland); Sunday: (4.30pm): Pembroke v KS Pocztowiec Poznan.
SATURDAY FIXTURES: Irish Senior Cup, Round 2 - Dublin University v Portadown (Santry, 3pm); Cliftonville v Down (CIYMS, 2.30pm); NICS v Queen's (Stormont, 2.30pm); PSBPP v South Antrim (RCSI, 1pm); Ballynahinch v Skerries (Donard Park, 1pm); Raphoe v Belfast Harlequins (Raphoe, 2.30pm); Navan v Suttonians (Sportslink, 1.30pm); Clontarf v Antrim (Mount Temple, 1.45pm); Avoca v Catholic Institute (Newpark, 2pm); North Down v Railway Union (Comber, 1pm). Leinster Senior League Division 1 Fingal v Monkstown (ALSAA, 1pm); Kilkenny v Bray (Kilkenny College, 2pm); TRR v UCD (Grange Road, 1.30pm); YMCA v Glenanne (Claremont Road, 1.30pm)
IRELAND SQUAD (for matches against Scotland, November 23rd-25th): G Lennox (GK), G McCabe (both Banbridge), K Burns, D Hobbs (both Church of Ireland), J Black, M Black (both Cork Harlequins), S Butler, G Shaw (both Glenanne), M Watt (Grange, Scotland), E Magee, J Jermyn (both HGC, Netherlands), P Brown, M Gleghorne, M Irwin (all Instonians), T Cockram (Lisnagarvey), R Gormley, T Lewis, C Harte (all Pembroke Wanderers), P Maguire, A McConnell (both Three Rock Rovers), Iain Walker (GK) (YMCA).
