Safe and fun travels to our u16s boys and girls teams as they head off to Barcelona for 4 days next week!

A group of kids accompanied by Andrew (Chuck) Walker, Rick Johnson, Niall Denham, Stephen West, Emer Keogh and Barbara Snow will fly out early Thursday morning.

While in Spain they will stay in the top facilities of Terressa Hockey Club sports centre. They will play friendlies with Terressa and with Club de Polo, while also finding time to take in the sights of Barcelona, a trip to the Nou Camp and also to a local waterpark!

Thanks to all who helped organise the trip. We hope everyone has a blast!

Huge congrats to the mens 3rds who this week were confirmed to have been promoted to Div 3 of the Leinster Hockey League.! This make it two successive promotions in a row for this team which is a fantastic achievement!

Well done to the extended squad and all who helped and supported them throughout the year. Lets hope they’re aiming for 3 in a row!!!

The last match of the season will be the mens u21 cup final the date of which has changed once again. The game will take place on the 22nd of April at 7.30pm at home v Corinthians. All support welcome!!

Internationals
Congrats to all our players who have been selected for various national camps and squads in the last few weeks #roversrepresenting!
– Freddie Morris, Johnny MCormack, Luke Madeley – Irish u18
– Gavin Gibney – Irish u 16 panel
– Stephen West – Senior 2 match series v England 10th/11th April
– Jody Hosking – South African national training camp

Best of luck guys!!

Promotions
Congrats to the mens 4ths on their recent promotion to division 5! Their promotion was secured thanks to a walkover from St.Brendans during the week. Huge thanks to captain Rob Johnson who has been superb in getting a team out each week.

The 3rds promotion is still up for grabs ass we await results from other clubs.

Fixtures

The Galtrim cup side take on Avoca this Thursday at 7.30pm in Newpark, while the long awaited u 21 final will now be played at home on Thursday April 17th at 7.30pm!

Best wishes
All in the club would like to wish the ladies 1st player Orla and her new husband Jason years of happiness following their wedding on the 4th of April. Orla was still playing less than 5 days before the wedding as she was part of the ladies 1sts game against Rathgar earlier in the week! We hope they had a wonderful day and will have many happy years to come

Div 2 playoff
Many thanks to all those who came to support he ladies 1sts last week in their divison 2 play-off. Unfortunately the girls were beaten 1-0 by Rathgar meaning that they have now been relegated to division 3 for next season. Hard luck to the girls, who had given their all not to be in this position. Thanks to all those who supported them in the season, not least recently with various outside issues.

As Siobhan mentioned at the AGM the ladies side of the club has found a number of things difficult in the last few years. What we ask now is that though this result, and indeed those of the other ladies teams, has been gutting this year, that players support us in our quest to turn things around. We are commencing with the restructuring of our junior side, and with the establishment of the player committee we have begun the process of building the club back up. The results of some our changes will not be seen for a while but please be reassured that everything is being done to develop our ladies side once again.

Final juniors day
Sunday saw the end of an era as the junior girls said goodbye to Wendy Lee after over 20 years of immense service to the club and the juniors section. Wendys role has often been spoken of and no words are enough to thank her for the job she has done. Indeed its taking 3 people to replace her next year!!!
At last Sundays FunDay Siobhan made a presentation to kids and parents to outline where we as a club are going with the junior girls. With over 200 members, they are our future and we wish to ensure they have the best one possible. To that end we are beginning to re-structure how things are run with Niall Denham (Irish u16 coach, Railway mens 1st XI coach, IHA coaching tutor, TRRHC member) taking on the role as coach co-ordinator. Siobhan Madeley and Suzanne Lowe will also come on board to deal with the admin side of the section.

We believe we have a strong team to bring us forward in year one, and hope that all parents will support us in this. Should anyone wish to volunteer some time with the running of the juniors please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can discuss what that may be!

Huge thanks to Wendy for all she has done, enjoy your well-earned hockey free Sunday mornings!!

Its that time of year again as we bid farewell to the hockey season! We have had plenty of blood sweat and tears out there this year, with plenty of wins, lots of new trophies, and plenty of losses throughout it all. Regardless of results we have once again aimed to build on our new structure and would like all members to join us as we see off the season.

The annual captain challenge therefore takes place on Friday at 7pm to late. The teams are written below along with the match schedule. Your captains should be in touch but if you are not able to make it please let them know.

Rachel will have a BBQ on the go, Derek will have the bar open, and Steven Roberts will be on hand for the tunes!

IF YOU CANT COME please contact your captain! IF your name is missing fear not, we will find you a team!

Ali,s team
Emma Shine
Stephen West
Sarah Mulolley
Sinead Holden
Alan Bothwell
Ally Boyd Crotty
Eoin Buttenshaw
Becky Moffet
Harry Mc Mahon
Chloe Stanley
Dylan Cullen
Sara Mitchell
Richard King
Susan Murphy
Andrew Bond
Jenny Woolhead
Willie Haughton
Hailey Gibney
Slava Bordin
Zoe Manning

Rob’s Team
Conor Lyons
Grace O’Malley
Jody Hosking
Barbara Snow
John Blakeney
Aifric O’Malley
Luke McSharry
Eleanor O’Riordan
Johnny Dalyrimple
Rachel Williams
Lee Mooney
Sadbh NiHuallain
Mike Eagan
Natalie Thompson
Scott Maquire
Ellen Tidgh
Sam Cooogan
Jenny Mc
Bill Quinn
Rachel Donnelly
Angus Buttenshaw
Sinead NiChoilien

Stephen Findlater 1
Claire Fitzpatrick
Ali Haughton
Maebh Butler
Peter Blakeney
Ali Mc Cabe
Steve Roberts (ebony)
Stephen Dawson
Laura Stephens
Stu Rigby Jones
Katie Dowling
Conor Empey
Sinead Power
Shane O Brien
Aedamair Cassidy
Scott Crombie
Susan OFarrell Dunne
Jack Mc Cann
Keelin O’ Farrell
Rob Carter
Kitty Morris
Malcolm Rule
Jenny Kelehan

Stephen Findlater 2
Joe Brennan
Maedbh Holden
Mikey Maguire
Emma Hogan
Dylan Shirley
Steph Lyons
Sam Grace
Megan Nally
Ed Simpson
Martha Garton
Gavin Gibney
Ash Holden
Pasch Dillenberger
Mirian Boland
Ravi Surjawanshi
Dearbhla Gillis
Alex Stephens
Kate Griffin
Bryan Clarke

Siobhan’s Team
Aisling Hogan
Niall Denham
Maura O’ Neil
Jonny Bruton
Emer Cullen
Ryan Shirley
Tara Kealy
Alan White
Aideen Dowling
Stephen Roberts
Sheila Loughman
Paul Fitzpatrick
Gillian Bourne
Jeff Sargent
Maeve Mc Donagh
Ben Esptein
Claudia Bond
Ceddie Crestie
Niamh Buckley
Alana Campbell

Mandy’s Team
Sam Tracey Mc Gee
Aoife Mc Nulty
Luke Madeley
Siobhan Matthews
Peter Mc Connell
Susan Daly
Dave Storey
Solo Krishnan
Peter Hinds
Jenny O’ Connor
Arjen van As
Edel Rafferty
Don Gray
Erica Byrne
Andrew Walker
Sara Cali
Graham Dowling
Hazel Hurst
Frank Heisterkamp
Ciara Stack

Julie’s Team:
Glenn Webb
Harry Morris
Ruth Melican
Bruce Johnson
Gary Ringwood
Amy Mc Govern
James Walker
Kirsten Rule
Stephen Macken
Rebecca Whelan
Scott Williams
Ross Johnson
Rachel Allen
Simon Walker
Eva Walsh
Sean Foudy
Ben Mc Crea

Mitch’s Team:
Isobelle Hoynes
Freddie Morris
Lydia Johnson
Johnny Mc Cormack
Roisin Sheridan
Daragh Walsh
Naomi Burke
Ryan Shirley
Heather Fitzpatrick
Roly Budd
Nessa Lee
Andrew Keane
Nathan Warnock
David Gilmore
Martin Akveld
Mark Knatchbul
Shona Breslin
Ruan Mc Guinness

Matches will be up to 10 mins long on half a pitch, played in a round robin format with the winner of Pool A and Pool B playing each other in the final at 9pm

Pool A
7.30 Julie v Ali
7.45 Stephen 1 v Siobhan
8 Julie v Stephen 1
8.15 Ali v Siobhan
8.30 Julie v Siobhan
8.45 Ali v Stephen 1

Pool B
7.30 Mitch v Rob
7.45 Mandy v Stephen 2
8 Mitch v Mandy
8.15 Rob v Stephen 2
8.30 Mitch v Stephen 2
8.45 Rob v Mandy

Many thanks to all who attended last weeks PGM and AGM.

All motions were passed meaning the following will now occur:
– expenditure from the sinking fund was approved for the redevelopment of the front pitch and watering system commencing in May of tis year
– expenditure from the council for the revamp of the upstairs of the clubhouse was approved, with the members accepting this meant that the full amount will not be transferred to the sinking fund for this year. The hope of council is that this investment in the clubhouse will result in increased revenue from clubhouse bookings and so the aim is that it will result in a returned investment
– the increase of junior subs by €10 was approved. Half of this will be set aside for the purpose of junior trips each year
–
Other feedback from the meetings included the need to report any breakages or maintenance that is required within the club. To that end we would like to advise members should they notice anything that requires fixing or that may be dangerous around the club and grounds that they report this directly to our club manager Martin at club.manager@threerockrovershc.com Alternatively we are setting up a reports book to sit within the clubhouse where such things can be recorded and dealt with by Martin.

Finally our new committees and councils were elected as follows:

Council
Ailis Kennedy – President
Rob Johnson
Kara Browning
Tony Nicholson
Orla McKweon
Ali Keogh
Siobhan Madeley
Stephen Findlater

Committee
Ladys Captain – Mandy Bools
Mens Captain – TBC Stephen Findlater to continue until a replacement is found
Secretary – Barbara Snow
Treasurer – Shane O’Brien
Peter McConnell
Grace O’Malley
Simon Walker
Jessica Rule

The lads hopes of a national double were thwarted on Saturday by local rivals Monkstown. In front of a decent travelling crowd in Banbridge the lads held possession for much of the game, looking hungry and dangerous, especially within the 3rd quarter. However for much of the game, despite appearing to be on top they created less chances with Westy being called into action more regularly than his Town counterpart.
Town went 1-0 up in the 1st quarter only to be brought back level in the 2nd half after a Harry Morris run set up Alan White. After that, a corner brought them agonizingly close, while another ball rolled cruelly across the face of goal after Fitzgerald had been beaten. With Westy keeping the game level on a number of occasions extra time beckoned and unfortunately unforced errors in the 2nd 5 minutes resulted in a Monkstown counter attack, setting up ex-Rover Kyle Good to seal the win for Monkstown. They went on to win the overall competition on Sunday, beating Banbridge 2-1.

Despite the disappointment the lads have had a successful season winning the Irish Senior Cup, the Mills Cup and coming 2nd in the Leinster League. Theres plenty of positives to build on for next year along with a European trip at some stage in the season. Many thanks to Joe and Paul for the season, and to Ravi as manager.

Adrian Bohems photos from the day can be seen here: http://irishhockeyphotographers.zenfolio.com/p881799330

It has been confirmed that our ladies 1sts team will face Rathgar in a play-off to stay in Division 2 TOMORROW (Tuesday 1st April) at 8pm in Botanic hockey club.

For anyone who has watched the girls this season you will know they have been unfortunate to be in this position, often missing out on points by single goals. They are a young team who have progressed well, playing some super hockey at times during the season under the watchful eye of Jody with Nathan Warnock assisting. As only one of three first elevens in the league they battle hard against teams with more depth week in week out.

This is a crucial game for the club as a whole so please come out and support the girls. We appreciate it’s a bit far for a Tuesday night but a neutral venue was required for the game and this was given to us. As much as the men need voices to help them over the line, so do the girls at the other end

This weekend sees the top four mens and ladies womens teams travel to Banbridge for the Irish Hockey League finals!

Courtesy of the lads 3-1 win over Pembroke on Saturday, they have gone through as 2nd in the group, with Lisnagarvey top. The lads started Saturdays game knowing that no matter what else happened winning by two clear goals would see them through. They started the first half well going 2-0 up courtesy of Peter Blakeney and Alan White. A string of corners in a poor 3rd corner were well kept out by Westy although a defensive error at the half way line gave Pembroke a life line as they overloaded and nabbed one back. At 2-1 it was a nervy game, before Jody slotted home in the 4th quarter to ease some of the pressure. It became a vital goal as Lisnagarvey won 3-2 in the final few minutes of their game meaning Rovers went through on goal difference.

This weekend therefore is their last of the season. The semi finals take place on Saturday with the following schedule:
10.30: Loreto v UCD
12.30: Railway v Pegasus
3pm: Monkstown v TRR
5pm: Lisnagarvey v Banbridge

The finals take place on Sunday with the womens final at 1pm, and the mens at 4.30pm.

This is the first year that Banbridge have hosted the IHL finals and they are promising to put on a show. Having hosted the event many times before we should all know the difference a crowd makes and the effort that goes into these events. Please show your support to both Banbridge hockey club and our lads as they look to make this a weekend to remember.

All details of local venues, supporters info etc can be found at banbridges website:
http://www.banbridgehockeyclub.com

In what has been a fruitful and enjoyable year so far we hope to see as many of you as possible up north at the weekend as the lads face this final push of the season.! Club colours and plenty of cheering are non-negotiable for anyone travelling up!

** In other mens news the Galtrim cup mix of youth and experience won out 6-2 over Wicklow to progress to the next stage. Conor Empey grabbed 4 while Findo and Slava scored the others. Elsewhere the mens 4ths drew 3-3 with Mullingar to remain 2nd in their division. The 3rds game was called off during the week.

The 2nd annual Three Rock Club dinner was a huge success on Saturday with over 100 at dinner and 20 more attending the afters!

An opening game of heads and tails at the start of the evening raised €390 for the upcoming u16s trip to Barcelona, with Caroline walking away with the final prize!

The awards for players and volunteer of the year as voted for by you went to the following:
Mens player: Stephen West
Ladies player: Julie Garvey
Volunteer of the year: Ali Keogh

We also had a very special presentation to make to two of our most valuable members in gratitude to their years of service to the club. Wendy Lee and Geoff Brooks were made Honary Life members of the club and were presented with certificates for the occasion. Geoff has been on the grounds committee ‘forever’, with there being little to nothing that he doesn’t know when it comes to our facilities. He has been club captain, a member of the Leinster branch, a valued member of council and an active social member for years now. Wendy Lee is also a past captain and has been a valuable member of both Maids and Three Rock committees. She has single handedly run our junior girls section for more years than we can count, and is now getting ready to finish up on her final season in her role.
We cannot thank both enough for the commitment and time they have put into our club.

Pictures from the night can be seen in the photo section of the site (https://www.threerockrovershc.com/photos/), or by following this facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203581982776119.1073741836.1411877517&type=1&l=462f068bbc

Please remember to attend this Wednesdays Players and Annual General meetings

The AGM motions this year are regarding a proposed increase of €10 in junior subscriptions, with all other categories remaining the same, and also to approve spending of the sinking fund in order to replace the front pitch.

The committee and council wish to note that the mandatory full sinking fund transfer will not occur this year due to the upcoming refurbishment of the clubhouse.

The PGM commences Wednesday night at 7pm
The AGM commences Wednesday night at 7.30pm