In a repeat of last years draw the mens 1sts have been drawn against Monkstown in the semi final of the Irish Senior Cup.

They face the Town on February the 22nd, at 5pm in Belfield with the winner progressing to the final the very next day.

Keep the date in the diary as it marks the start of an important few weeks, coming just before the beginning of the Irish Hockey League in March.

* For tickets to the club dinner on March 29th are now on sale, please contact alisonfkeogh@gmail.com to buy one

For the information of members and supporters due to illness Rachel will not be in the club this weekend but will be back as usual next week.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused

A disappointing 6-3 loss to Monkstown on Sunday means that the hopes for a league title are all but over for the mens 1sts. With town being the better team on the day, unless they lose to Glenanne this Saturday, it means that the 1sts remaining 3 league games will not count for much. Johnny Bruton (x2) and Paul Fitzpatrick goals were not enough to keep the lads in contention as they were undone by defensive errors in crucial areas of the pitch, and by giving away countless corners. Their season is far from over though as the IHL is still yet to commence, while the next big game comes around this Saturday as they face Fingal away in the ¼ finals of the Irish Senior Cup. Tip off is 1pm in ALSAA. Another double weekend is scheduled as they then face YMCA away on Sunday at 3.40pm in Alex.

Better fortune fell to the mens 2nds on Saturday in the Irish Junior Cup as they won out 10-5 winners over Belfast Harlequins. Having been leading 9-2 at one point in the game the bitter conditions got the better of them towards the end of the game as a few goals were leaked. They’ve been given a home tie against Monkstown 2nds in the next round. Sundays game was more frustrating for the lads as they led 3-1 against Suttonians, only to end up drawing 3-3 at the final whistle. They face Weston away this Sunday at 1pm

The mens 4ths won 5-0 on Saturday to stay within a point of top spot and set up a crucial tie away to Kilkenny at 12pm this week.

The 5ths meanwhile lost 6-1 to table toppers Avoca, although according to twitter the scoreline doesn’t reflect the match which was apparently played in great spirits and has been reported as being very enjoyable to be a part of. They play host to Glenanne at home at 3pm, while the 3s return to action before this at 12pm against Suttonians

On the ladies sides, each of the teams bowed out of their cups at the ¼ final stages. The 2s were undone by Our Ladies on Wednesday night, the 3s by a very strong Pembroke side and the 4s narrowly by just one goal against Botanic. The 1s meanwhile were on the wrong side of a 6-0 scoreline v mid table div 1 side Pembroke on Sunday.

The 1s also fell to a very narrow 1-0 loss against Alex last Wednesday which makes this weeks game away to Hermes at 3pm a crucial one to bring them back up the table. The 2s also have a key game if they are to avoid relegation as they face Clontarf away at 8.30 on Wednesday night before travelling to North Kildare at 11.30 on Saturday morning.

The 3s will play at home at 5pm against Swords, while the 4s have an early 11am match against a strong Rathgar side.

On the junior front the As girls ran out clear 11-1 winners over Corinthians on Sunday morning, while the Bs beat Glenanne.

The club dinner will be held this year at the end of the season. The date has been set for March the 29th and the venue will be the Stillorgan Park Hotel. Ticket prices will be €55 or €50 for students and pavilion members.

Should you wish to reserve a ticket please contact Ali Keogh at alisonfkeogh@gmail.com. We will try to accommodate preferred seating arrangements where possible if we are aware of them.

Voting is open now and will close on the 4th of February so make sure you get yours in early. Nominations are ranked 1 to 4 in each category. More information of the nominations can be found in a link on the voting pages. Each person may only vote once. The top 4 in each category will be sent to a committee who will decide on the eventual winners which will be announced in advance or at the event on the 21st of March.
Please take the time to vote for our club and some of its members.

To vote, copy and paste the link below into your browser and follow the instructions. Each person may only vote once.

http://www.hockey.ie/contentPage/160845/vote2013

The following are up for awards:

Senior mens club player
Jody Hosking
Peter McConnell
Garry Ringwood
Stephen West

U18 male player
Luke Madeley

Coach of the year
Joe Brenann
Ben Epstein

Umpire of the year
Ali Keogh

Volunteer of the year
Ali Keogh
Siobhan Madeley

Club of the year
Three Rock Rovers!

Finance
The accounting year end is the end of Feb, so Rob is currently liasing with council re the final accounts. Budgeting for next year will begin to take place when the new vice captains are brought in

Kit
The mens 1sts new kit is due to arrive at the end of January. It has been suggested that a sponsors day be held on March the 17th, to run alongside the Mills Cup Final which the men are in.

Social
The club dinner has been booked in the Stillorgan Park Hotel on March the 29th. Tickets will be €55 or €50 for pav/students. Entertainment will be looked at during the next few weeks. A group of individuals will be sought to help with the selling of tickets.

We are waiting to hear more details from the UK company who we have asked to help with the running of Mayfest this year. The proposed date is the 1st weekend in May. We hope to attract teams from the UK and Ireland if possible.

Personnel
A mens vice is still required. Next year we will need a new elected member as Wendy Lee will step down after many years of service. We will also require a new club secretary, while the position of honorary treasurer is also available. Some possible names were suggested and will be contacted over the coming weeks.

Development
The mens side of the club will hopefully be able to field 6 teams next season. Emphasis must now turn to increasing the numbers on the ladies side. A meeting is to be held with some club members, Siobhan and Mandy to develop an action plan re the same.

The concept of a head of junior coaching was discussed, whos role it will be to oversee Junior coaching at weekends. Rob is to source more info on the same

Tours and trips
A trip to Lisnagarvey has been set for the u14s on the date of the IHL game in March. Details need to be finalsised in relation to the u16 proposed trip to Barcelona

Update from council
Martin Roe has developed a new club database system for use from next year. This will require a person from committee to be assigned to run this with him in order to update our list. It will act as a method of keeping track of subs also

A timeline has been set for the upgrade of the front pitch:
Tenders will be sent out the week of Feb 17th, for return on the 14th of March.
Between the 18th of March and the 28th, meetings will take place with the pitch replacement committee in order to come to a recommendation
The committees recommendation will be brought to council on the 31st of March for approval
The recommendation will then be brought before the members at the AGM which has been scheduled for the 2nd of April
If passed, work will aim to commence on the 26th of May 2014, with an aim of being completed at the end of August 2014.

Committee: Siobhan, Stephen, Mandy, Barbara, Peter, Simon, Wendy, Rob, Ali

Three Rock Rovers has no less than 11 nominations for this years Irish Hockey Awards!

Voting is open now and will close on the 4th of February so make sure you get yours in early. Nominations are ranked 1 to 4 in each category. More information of the nominations can be found in a link on the voting pages. The top 4 in each category will be sent to a committee who will decide on the eventual winners which will be announced in advance or at the event on the 21st of March.

We are delighted to have so many individuals up for awards and congratulations to all on their nominations! Please take the time to vote for our club and some of its members.

To vote, copy and paste the link below into your browser and follow the instructions. Each person may only vote once.

http://www.hockey.ie/contentPage/160845/vote2013

The following are up for awards so get voting now as there are plenty of Rovers worthy of recognition!

Senior mens club player of the year
Jonny Bruton
Jody Hosking
Peter McConnell
Garry Ringwood
Stephen West

U18 male player
Luke Madeley

Coach of the year
Joe Brenann
Ben Epstein

Umpire of the year
Ali Keogh

Volunteer of the year
Ali Keogh
Siobhan Madeley

Club of the year
Three Rock Rovers!

The club dinner will be held this year at the end of the season. The date has been set for March the 29th and the venue will be the Stillorgan Park Hotel. Ticket prices will be €55 or €50 for students and pavilion members.

The date will mark the end of the season for most teams who will have mainly finished up the weekend prior to this, while it is also the last round of IHL league games for the mens 1sts. As with last year, all members, partners, friends and family are welcome.

Should you wish to reserve a ticket please contact Ali Keogh at alisonfkeogh@gmail.com. We will try to accommodate preferred seating arrangements where possible if we are aware of them.

This years annual gold outing will take place on the 13th of June. Plenty of notice so put the date in the diaries now! More details will follow in due course.

Congrats to Daragh Walsh, Johnny Mc Cormack and Ben McCrea who have been selected for the Irish u18 panel that will play in the u21 interpros in February. The tournament takes place in HQ between the 7th and 9th of Feb. Best of luck guys!

Good luck and safe travels to Shane Madeley who embarks on an Erasmus to Hong Kong this week!

And finally, our Dutchman Huub returned home this week. We would like to thank him for his time here and hope he has enjoyed it. We hope to see him back very soon!

Results
Mixed results from the games this weekend as the second half of the season finally returned for all.

The mens 1sts will be happiest of all involved as they scored 15 and conceded 2 during their double weekend. Saturday saw them face Fingal in the Leinster league, who they beat 7-1 with goals from Jonny Bruton, Alan White, Michael Maguire, Garry Ringwood, Jody Hosking and Mitch. On Sunday they secured a place in the Mills Cup Final on St.Patricks day as they beat Rathgar 8-1 with two goals from Mikey Maguire, along with one each from Jody, Jonny Bruton, Jonny McCormack, Ali Haughton, Dylan Shirley, and Peter Blakeney.

The ladies 1sts hopes of a promotion place are all but mathematically over however, after Saturdays 2-0 loss to Loreto. The scoreline was identical to that suffered by the ladies 2nds, also to Loreto earlier in the day.

The ladies 3rds also had a double weekend but were unable to capitalise as they fell 5-2 to Pembroke on Sunday while also losing to Bray on Saturday.

The mens 2s lost 2-1 to Monkstown on Saturday with Shane Madeley grabbing the goal there.

The mens 3rds had a busy weekend. They lost to Corthians in a thrilling 3-2 game on Sunday in the intermediate cup. They won 7-0 though on Saturday with Stu-Rigby Jones getting 2, Findo one and Ed Tottenham another in the 1st half.

The mens 4ths lost 6-5 to Clontarf in their Junior Cup quarter final in what sounds like a thrilling round. Some photos from Deryk Voncent can be seen here https://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsport/sets/72157639935933844/ Their league form continued well though as they won 4-2 against UCD on Saturday.

The junior boys did well over the weekend with the u16 boys made it 3 wins from 3 in their league with a 6-1 win over YMCA! The u14s meanwhile did very well at their indoor event, beating Navan, Clontarf and Wicklow and drawing 1-1 with Monkstown.

Fixtures
This week sees another bumper round of games with the pick being the top of the table clash between our mens 1sts and Monkstown. The lads do not have a game Saturday so this match takes place away in Rathdown on Sunday at 2.15pm.

The ladies 1sts have a re-fixed game v Alex on Wednesday at 8.30pm where they will hope to return to form. They face a tough tie on Sunday though in the quarter final of the Jacqui Potter Cup as they take on mid-table Div 1 side Pembroke at 2.30pm at home. They too are without a game on Saturday.

The mens 2nds have Irish Junior Cup action on Saturday afternoon with an away tie to Belfast Harlequins at 1pm. They have a double weekend as they then play Suttonians at home at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon.

The mens 3rds get a weekend off after their double header last week, while the 4ths are the only home game of the day, playing Rathgar at 3.30pm. The mens 5ths are also away with a trip to Wicklow at 1.30pm.

The ladies have early starts as the 2s face Malahide away at 10am, while the 3s have a cup quarter final at 9.30 away in Pembroke! The 4ths meanwhile have a cup quarter final on Saturday and travel to Botanic for a 12pm start. They have a double weekend as they play Bray on Sunday at 3.30pm away.

We have another name to add to our international list this week as Stephen West received his first senior cap for Ireland against Spain. Westy made his debut on Monday afternoon in a game where he was kept very busy! Ireland lost 3-1. More details can be seen in Findos match report on the hook

Experienced Spain see off Irish men

An ex Rover Ross Canning also won his first senior caps during the test series, making his debut on Saturday.

Huge congratulations to both, hopefully the first caps of many!