Cup success for the ladies last week as both the 1sts and 3rds progressed in their competitions! The ladies 1sts needed extra time to get past Grosvenor in the Irish Hockey Trophy with Steph Baxter scoring the eventual winner. In a game that saw 6 cards for the girls, they’ll be aiming for more discipline when they face Muckross in the next round in January! The 3rds also had a narrow win, beating Botanic 1-0 to see themselves into the ¼ finals in the new year! The ladies 2nds play this Wednesday evening at 8.30 in their cup, and were without a game last weekend because of this. The 4ths meanwhile, had a tough defeat to UCD early on Saturday, losing 6-1.

On the mens side, the 2s had a great 2-0 win over Pembroke, with Dave Storey and Freddie Morris scoring to secure the points. The 1sts earlier in the day left themselves frustrated as they drew 3-3 with UCD. Having beat them 5-1 the week before, the lads found themselves 1-0 initially. Having brought the game back to 3-2, they conceded a corner in the final 20 seconds to share the points.

The 3rds had a comprehensive 5-1 win over Rathgar, while the 5ths brought their goals for tally up to a whopper 46 by beating Clontarf 4-2.

This weekend sees the final games before the Christmas break for all teams except the mens 1sts.

The 1sts will hope to put last week, and indeed their recent Mills Cup loss to YM behind them as they welcome ‘the Y’ to HQ at 3pm. The 2s travel down to Kilkenny at 1pm, while the 3s are also on the road, playing Mullingar away at 1pm. The 4ths are home to St.James Gate at 1.30, while the 5ths play Bray at 11am….plenty of time for all teams to get their Christmas jumpers ready for the evening!

On the ladies side, the 1s return to league action after 2 weeks of cups, playing YM away at 2pm. The 3s also play YM away at 5pm. The 2nds have an early 11am start against Navan, while the 4s play Wicklow at home at 1pm.

Twas the week before Christmas and up in HQ, everyone is ready for the big festive ‘do’. The jumpers are out and ready to go, our festive spirit we’re all dying to show.

Its Christmas!!!!! What better way to finish off the first half of the hockey season but by coming up on Saturday evening for mulled wine, music and mince pies!

Christmas jumpers are a must as we look to raise some funds as part of our annual fundraising target. The night will cost €10 will all money going directly into the club, no entry money is being spent on supplies, as those organizing it are funding the night themselves.

The festive fun kicks off at 7pm, but mince pies and wine will be available following the 3pm mens 1st XI game.

The festivities don’t stop there as Sunday sees the Junior Christmas parties. Treats and games will be on hand all afternoon and evening as we host the u8-12s between 2 and 5, and the 14s and 16s from 5.30-8.30. Some volunteers are still needed so if you have spare time please contact Grace at graceomgaa@yahoo.ie

The role of writing the newsletter is up for grabs for any budding journalist or writing enthusiast! We are looking for someone to fill the role, with a time commitment of no more than 2 hours a week.

The newsletter gets sent once a week, and ensures all our members are kept up to date of the activities and results throughout all aspects of the club.

A detailed role description can be obtained from alisonfkeogh@gmail.com

The role is very simple, but help and support, if required, will of course be on hand initially.

A winning streak on Saturday for our mens sides in their games. The mens 1sts had a 5-1 win over UCD in the IHL to top the pool with two tough games remaining. Ross Canning was on the scoresheet twice, along with Johnny Bruton and a cracker from Jody Hosking. The 2nds recovered from their mid-week cup loss to Trinity, to beat YMs 2nds 3-1. Eoin Buttonshaw scored twice, along with Stephen Roberts to seal the win. The 3rds got back to winning ways as they won 5-2 against UCD, where Ryan Shirley scored twice, Stu Rigy Jones, Findo and Sean Foudy the other scorers. The 4ths also won against YM, beating them 4-1 with a stand out goal from Louis Glass, along with G Dowling, Davie Sterrit, and Cameron Ruttle. On Sunday, the mens 3rds dropped out of the Cup after a 1-0 loss to Rather. The 5th however, made it to the semi finals after a 3-1 win over Bray!

On the ladies side the ladies 1sts had a good 5-0 win over Glenanne in the cup to set up a next round tie with Pembroke. Leading 4-0 at half time, the girls won with goals from Angharad (x2), Steph Baxter, Grace and Meabh Holden. The ladies 2nds had a tough 3-0 loss to Rathgar, while the 3s suffered a very tight 2-1 loss to UCD. The 4ths were knocked out of the cup after a 4-1 loss away to Wicklow.

This Saturday, plenty of action again! The ladies 1sts will hope to continue their excellent run as they welcome Grosvenor in the Irish Hockey Trophy at 1pm. The 3rd are also in cup action, at home to Botanic at 3pm on the back pitch. The 2s have a weekend off as their cup game has been moved to next Wednesday evening. While the 4ths have a lovely 9.30 league game away to UCD.

On the mens side the 1st welcome UCD to HQ for the second week in a row, this time in the league. The 2nds have a 5pm game against Pembroke on the front, while the 3rd face Rathgar once again, at home at 11am. The 4ths and 5ths are both away, the 4ths also facing Rathgar, while the 5th visit Clontarf.

On Sunday the junior girls have plenty of matches against Notre Dame (u8 & 10s) and Rathgar (u12s). 6th Class are home at 9am, 5th class at 10am, while the 10s are away at 11, and the 8s away at 10.

This years Christmas party is being run as a club fundraiser to help go towards our target of €12000.

A Christmas Jumper night, complete with mulled wine, music and mice pies is being organised on Dec 13th, starting from 7pm in the clubhouse. The night will cost €10 with all money going directly into the pot. Christmas attire essential to embrace the festive spirit!!!

The Sunday sees the Junior Christmas parties being run, to continue our tradition of a mixed day of games and fun for all our juniors. Our TY programme is helping to organise this years kids event. The u8-u12 will be on between 2 and 5, while the 14s and 16s are on at 5.30-8.30.

We are delighted to announce that the recently revised agreement between the LHA and TRRHC, regarding Leinsters use of our facilities was signed by both Presidents recently.

Ailis and Percy signed the agreement as we hosted the u16/18 interpros.

The signing of the agreement cements our close link with the governing body of the province, and ensures that we will continue to host cup finals, school finals, and interpros annually. TRRHC as the home of Leinster hockey therefore, will continue exist under this new agreement

The signing of the agreement took place after many years of work, and we would like to thank all of those involved, both from the LHA and TRRHC, including from TRRHC, Bruce Johnson, Geoff Brooks, Ailis Kennedy, our solicitor Whitney Moore and of course, Orla McKeown.

We were thrilled and delighted to have members of the Irish ladies hockey team joining our Under 8/10 and 12 session last Sunday morning!

Nikki Evans ( see her profile here http://www.hockey.ie/playerProfile/2636/nikki_evans) kindly arranged some of the players to come and join in as well as being available for a question and answer session at the end of training as well as an autograph session…

You may not be aware that Kate Dillon http://www.hockey.ie/playerProfile/4433/kate_dillon) is the owner of our new cafe The Wooden Spoon in the clubhouse and was with us as well, along with Loretos steady centre back Hannah Matthews.

The girls stayed on to watch the U14 and U16 home games,and all of our junior girls thoroughly enjoyed the morning!

A quieter weekend than usual as the interpros took place within HQ, meaning we had very few mens games scheduled for the weekend. The focus then fell on the ladies side for results!

The 1sts had a tightly contested match against Corinthians. Having held most of the possession they found themselves one nil down before Meabh Galvin equalized from a corner. Immediately following their goal however they were on the back foot once again as Corinthians scored from the equalizer. The game stayed at 2-1 until the last 10 minutes when Sinead Holden won a stroke for Angharad to put away. A corner in the last minute sealed the deal, with Maebh Galvin scoring once again. The game was a cold introduction to the country for Anita and Steph who arrived from RSA earlier in the week! They quickly became accustomed though as Steph scored two goals on Monday night in a 4-2 win over Our Ladys! Angharad brought her tally to 6 in four games, while Sadie got the final goal to ensure the girls sit top of the table in what is a tight league.

The girls 2nds nabbed a point away to Hermes as they drew 2-2, while the ladies 3rds had a tough away game to Mullingar which they lost 5-1. The 4s also found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-1 loss to Muckross.

On the mens side, the 3rds and 5ths played back fixtures. The 3s lost 7-1 to a strong Trinity side, while the 5ths made it 7 wins from 7 with a 5-0 win over YMCA! The 1st bowed out of the Mills Cup on Tuesday night however with a 3-2 loss to YMCA at the 1/4 final stage.

Its business as usual this weekend, with quite a number of cup games to be played. The mens 1sts take on UCD at 3.15 at home in their 3rd and final home IHL game. The 2s have a double week as they play Trinity away in the cup on Thursday night, before playing YMCA at home at 1pm on Saturday. It’s a double weekend for the 3rds also as they play UCD at home at 11am on Saturday, before playing Rathgar at home in the cup on Sunday. The 4ths also play host to YMCA on Saturday with a 1pm tip off. The 5ths meanwhile play on Sunday in the cup at 3pm.

On the ladies side the ladies 1sts meet Glenanne 2nds in the cup at 11am at home. The 2s are in league action to Rathgar at home at 3pm. The 3s have a very early start to UCD at 9.30, while the 4ths are also in cup action, away to Wicklow at 11.45

Christmas jumper day is back on December the 13th!!

The ladies 1s and mens 1s play a home double header against YMCA that day in what will be most teams last weekend before the Christmas break.

Mince pies and mulled wine for €10 will be supplied with festive cheer all round! The money from the afternoon will go towards the clubs annual target of €12000 for fundraising.

Christmas jumpers on the day are essential!!!

Last chance to sign up for our supporters lunch this Saturday the 29th November at 2 pm prior to the mens 1sts IHL game against UCD on the new front pitch at 3.15pm.

TRR is equal top of the pool and the team is playing an attractive style of hockey with plenty of goals. Hopefully you will all be able to enjoy some good company followed by some good hockey!

Lunch will be a two-course event this time round and will be held in the clubhouse with catering by Wood Spoon. (Main: Chicken curry and rice and bread; Dessert: Lemon curd cake and cream or Carrot Cake and cream (Tea/Coffee included, for €20 a head.

Please contact John (john.findyoulater@gmail.com) or Stephen Findlater (stevie_findlats@yahoo.com) to book your place by Thursday at the very latest.