Ireland v France
This week we are proud to be hosting the Irish Senior mens team as they take on France in a 3 match series in HQ. We are even more proud to able to see our own players take to the field in the national colours as Westy and Johnny Bruton played Tuesday, while Mitch lines out later in the week. The first game took place on Tuesday where the sides drew 1-1. Thursday and Friday night matches will be at 7pm, with the Wooden Spoon open both evenings.

u14 Indoor
Well done to the u14 boys who came 2nd in the Indoor league, which ended last weekend. After a successful group stage, the boys were beaten by Portrane in the final. Well done to everyone!

Goodbye Anita and Steph
For the last 3 months the club has been delighted to welcome Anita Bower and Steph Baxter to Ireland from South Africa.The girls have fitted into the whole club brilliantly, as though they have been here for years and we will be very sorry to see them head home this weekend. They play their last game Saturday morning before leaving again on Sunday. Thank you to all who supported us in getting them over. We hope to see them back again!!!

Some big results last weekend as we saw league movement and tight results across the board.

The win of the week has to be the mens 1sts who secured a spot in the IHL semi-finals with a 4-2 win away to Lisnagarvey. The win is more impressive given the lads were 2-0 down within the first 7 minutes. The comeback came just before half time as Mitch, Johnny Mc and Kaner had superb games. The goals came from Johnny Bruton (x2), Mitch and a blinder from Blakers. The mens 2s were disappointed with a 2-2 draw with Monkstown which now makes the league very tight. Despite plenty of opportunities they couldn’t find the winner. The mens 5s lost 3-1 against YM

On the ladies side the 2s had a big 1-0 win over Our Ladys, while the ladies 3s had a 1-1 draw with Our Ladys on Monday night. The 4ths lost 1-0 to Rathgar Sunday but drew 1-1 with North Kildare on Saturday. The ladies 1s had a disappointing 2-1 loss to Bray on Saturday, making their league very tight once again. They won 6-1 against Naas on Tuesday night, where Aifric O’Malley and Sinead Holden grabbed their first goals for the team.

This weekend sees another round of big games as the season gets interesting! The mens 1sts are away to Monkstown in the league at 1.15, while the 2s play Fingal away at 12pm. The 3s and 4s also face Monkstwon away, at 4.45 and 12pm respectively. The 5ths are the sole home game at 1pm to Wicklow.

The ladies side have a string of morning matches. The 1sts play away to Newbridge at 10.30am, while the 3s have an even earlier start to Pembroke at 9.30. The 2s and 4s both play at 11, at home to St.Brendans and away to Wicklow respectively.

We are delighted to announce, that fresh from our hosting of the Senior Women, the Irish Senior Mens team will now come to HQ for a series of test games against France!

We are proud to host the Senior mens games on the 10th, 12th and 13th of February, all at home at 7pm.

Indeed, we hope to have some of our own players line up on home turf in the Irish colours, and we hope to have as much support there as possible for them as they prepare for World League Round 2 later this month.

The Wooden Spoon will be open each evening serving food and drinks to keep spectators warm! Given the success and support for the ladies event earlier this season, we are looking forward to replicating that once more, and showcasing our fine club to the international stage again.

Feb mid-term camps
Dont forgot to sign up for the Celtic Sports Academy Mid-Term camps! Organised by Chris Steele, with coaching from u16 Irish boys coach, and ladies 1s coach South African international Jody Hosking, it promises to be a high quality week for all involved. Various prices and options are available and can be seen on the attached form at the end of this page.
The newest addition to the coaching staff is a 1 day drag flicking clinic with mens 1sts player Luke Madeley.

IHA awards
Closing for the nominations for this years IHA awards is on Feb 15th. Don’t forget to nominate anyone you know in the club, or the sport, who you think deserves recognition.

Table quiz
Many thanks to Chris and the ladies 2nds, especially Becky, Roisin, Becky and Louise for a fantastically well run event last week. Raising nearly €900, with 16 tables, plenty of competition was found on the night! ‘Findo’s petting zoo’ were the eventual winners on the night, with plenty of raffle prizes also won!!

Club dinner
We are pleased to confirm that this year Annual TRRHC club dinner will be held i the Grange Golf Club on the 21st of March. More details to follow shortly!!

Derek
For those that do not know, our barman Derek Kelly has moved on from his work in the club. Derek was a valued and well-liked employee for over 6 years, running the bar service with a smile. The club would like to express their thanks for all his work and wish him all the best.

A mixed bag of results for our teams last weekend as a combination of cups, leagues and remixes were all played out.

The mens 1sts won 2-0 over neighbours Corinthians to keep 3rd place in the league, Johnny Roberts and Blakers with the goals. The 2nds progressed to the next round of the Irish Junior Cup, thanks to a 3-0 win over Trinity. they now face either Instonians or Rathgar in the the next round. The mens 3rd came was unfortunately called off due to a bereavement in the oppositions team. The 4ths and 5ths both drew, 1-1 with Pembroke, and 2-2 with Navan respectively. On Friday, in a heated game with Railway, the u16 boys won 4-1.

On the ladies side, the 1sts maintained top spot in div 3 courtesy of a 1-0 win over Clontarf. They bowed out to Pembroke in the cup on Sunday, where defensive errors created a reversal of the previous weeks 3-0 win over the same opposition. The ladies 2s lost 4-1 to Trinity, while the 3rd had a hard fought 2-1 win over Botanic. The 4ths did not travel to Tullamore. On Sunday, frost wreaked havoc with junior girls training once again, however some matches went ahead, with the 16As losing to Mount Anville in the plate.

This weekend the fixtures secretaries will be hoping temperatures rise! The ladies 1sts play Bray away at 3pm, before facing Naas on Tuesday night away in a league refix. The ladies 2s play away to Guiness, while the 3rds and 4th play Genesis at home at 3pm, and North Kildare home respectively.

On the mens side, the IHL returns for the 1sts as they face a crucial away fixture to Lisnagarvey at 2.45. The 2s have a top of the table clash against Monkstown at 11am, the 4ths face a double weekend away to Portrane on Saturday and away to Suttonians on Sunday. The 5ths play YMCA at home at 11 on Saturday.

Chris and the ladies 2nds are looking forward to seeing everyone flex their mental muscles on Saturday night as they host the first fundraiser of 2015.

The Table Quiz is part of the clubs €12000 fundraising target. Tables of 4 cost €30, with all friends and family welcome on the night.

The action kicks off at 8pm in the clubhouse.

To book a table please contact Chris at ctsteele01@gmail.com

The accolade of team of the week is tied between the mens 2nds and ladies 1st after their fine performances last weekend! Indeed, it was a successful weekend for many in terms of goal tallys and cup successes!

The mens 2s sit nicely at the top of div 2 following their 5-2 win over Railway on Saturday, and their 3-1 win over Kilkenny on Sunday! Quite an achievement so far for what is a predominantly young side (bolstered by some more mature heads!). Conor Empty bagged himself a hat-trick on Saturday, to add to goals by Johnny Roberts and James Walker. On Sunday, Sam Grace fired home a short corner to start off the scoring, before Dylan Shirley and James Walker again sealed the win.

Anything men can do the ladies can do just as well though as the 1s also found their way to the top of Division 3 courtesy of a great 3-0 win over Pembroke. This win came despite less than 24 hours recovery from their extra-time and stroke win over Div 2 high-flyers Muckross on Saturday. With promotion to div 1 in their sight Muckross was a tough draw in the IHT, however Anita Bower put the girls ahead early with a drag flick. Huge pressure ensued, with Muckross going 2-1 up, however Steph Baxters equaliser from a ridiculous near-post angle ensured a draw. Anita, Maebh Galvin, Isabelle Hoyne and Maebh Holden scored their flicks, while Barbara Snow saved two to put the girls through to a home quarter final draw against Larne in March.

(Emma Hogans pics of the game can be seen here: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/126057445@N08/sets/72157648146194454/)

The semi-finals of the cup await the ladies 3s as they won their cup game on Saturday against a very experienced Genesis side 2-1! The 4ths drew 0-0 with Clontarf in the league, while heartbreak fell to the 2nds who hung on until the final few minutes of their cup game against Div 5 league leaders UCD. Keeping them out for most of the match, UCD nicked a winning goal to go through 1-0 winners.

On the mens side Peter Blakeney celebrated his birthday in style as he put 5 past the Avoca keeper in the mens 1st 6-2 league win. Jody Hosking scored the 6th. The mens 3s had a feisty 3-3 draw to Mullingar, while the 4ths lost 3-1 to Glenanne.

On the junior side, wins all round for the Junior and Minor girls teams! The As and Bs beat Our Ladys 5-0 and 3-0, while the Minor As won 2-1 against St.Brendans.

This week sees the leagues return for the ladies teams. The 1st play Clontarf away at 3.30. They face their second double weekend in a row, as on Sunday they play their refixed cup game away to Pembroke once again, this time at 4.30. The ladies 2s have a 1pm home game against Trinity, the 3s play away to Botanic at 4.30, while the 4ths travel to Tullamore for 1pm.

On the mens side Irish Junior Cup sees the mens 2s play Trinity at home at 3pm. The 1st play Corinthians at home at 1pm, while the 5th are home to Navan at 11am. The 3s head to Clontarf for 2pm while the 4ths face Pembroke away at 11am.

Table Quiz
Don’t forget the fundraiser next week as the ladies 2s and coach Chris are holding a Table Quiz. A table of four is €30 with cash prizes on the night, and money made going towards the club fundraising target of €12000 for the year

u14 indoor
Congrats to the u14 boys who competed in last weekends Leinster indoor competition. The boys beat Clontarf and Railway to progress to the finals!

Irish hockey awards
The IHA have announced their awards process is open again for this year. Categories include senior club player of the year, u18 player of the year, umpire f the year, club of the year, volunteer of the year, coach of the year and school of the year.

If there is anyone in Three Rock, or indeed within hockey in general that you feel should be acknowledged, now is the time to vote! Nominations will be collated and shortlisted before voting takes place. You can nominate by copy and pasting the below link, and completing the form before the 13th of Feb

News

Club dinner
Date for the diaries!! A date for this years club dinner has been set, taking place on the 21st of March. More details to follow in time

The lack of a winter break has come back to haunt fixtures secretaries all over Leinster as nearly all of last weeks matches were postponed due to frost.

The only home game of Saturday to go ahead was the mens 1st league game to Monkstown. Finding themselves a goal down throughout the game, the guys came back to be drawing 2-2 at half time, Blakers and Mitch with the goals. Glenna finished the stronger though, coming out eventual 4-2 winners, and opening up the race for IHL spots next year.

On the ladies side all games bar the double weekend for the 2s were called off! The girls fell to Avoca on Saturday, before also losing to Navan, 2-0 at home on Sunday.

This weekend is quiet at home as just one mens game takes place, with the 14s playing Glenanne at 3pm on the front. The 1st play away to Avoca at 4.15, the 2s away to Railway at 4.30, while the 3s travel to Mulling for 12.45

On the ladies side, refixes are starting to be scheduled already with the ladies 4s pre-Christmas game against Wicklow now scheduled to Wednesday night at 8.30. The weekend sees cup action galore for most teams, with the 4s the only ones in league action, home to Clontarf at 11am.

The ladies 1s have a late Irish Hockey Trophy game at home to Muckross at 5pm, before taking on Pembroke in last weeks rescheduled cup game at 4pm away. The 2s face UCD away at 11.15, while the 3s are also away to Genesis at 2.45

Don’t forget to sign up for the upcoming February mid-term camp in HQ!

Our own Niall Denham, Irish u16 boys coach and junior girls coach development officer leads the camp together with ladies and u16 girls coach, and South African International Jody Hosking. The ladies 2nds coach Chris Steele is the head admin for the camps, coming with a wealth of experience from his time as coach, manager and PE teacher in the UK.

The camps were also recently advertised in the Hook, with all info at the link below, simply copy and paste!
http://www.hookhockey.com/index.php/2015/01/denham-to-head-up-celtic-sports-academy-at-trr/#.VL4gGsaaFX8

The camp offers a variety of options for busy parents, with breakfast and afternoon clubs all on offer to help facilitate working days. The camps are open for 10-16 year olds, boys and girls

For more info please contact celticsportsacedemy@gmail.com

Application forms and prices can be found in the attached leaflet at the end of the page