Cookstown Hockey Club

Stewart Wylie in the heat of the action. Picture by Alan Donnelly.

The aim is to earn a place back at the top table of Irish hockey at the first opportunity. Kilkeel will be one of those looking towards promotion too.
“This promises to be a very tough match,” said Cookstown hitman Stuart Smyth.
“We’ve had a so-so start to the season. We’ve done some things very well and others not so much. But we are building and that has to continue on Saturday.
“You can be sure that Kilkeel will test us in a number of ways.
“They will make it physical and we’ve got to match that as well as up our intensity and accuracy. They will look to hit us on the break so we’ll have to show good discipline and get our tackles in.
“This should be a really good match, probably the biggest test we’ve had so far this season.”

Cookstown Ladies have a tough looking match away to PSNI at 1pm.
Their opponents had a big victory over Parkview in their opening game before drawing with Instonians at home.
“PSNI are something of an unknown quantity but we will go into it with the assumption that they will be challenging for the league title,” said Cookstown’s Gemma Stewart.
“We’ve done so well these last three games when we have had possession of the ball. We’ve used it well and our passing has been as good as I’ve ever seen it.
“Three wins on the bounce has given us a really upbeat feeling in the team so we don’t want to disrupt that by dropping our standards.”
Cookstown II have another difficult home fixture in the JL1 League Cup against Banbridge III. Last season, Bann knocked the Reds out of the competition at the semi-final stage and proved awkward opponents in their league campaign too.
Cookstown III are away to Shawsbridge at 2.30pm to take on Instonians III in the JL2 League Cup. With two draws and a loss so far, the Reds could do with a win.
Cookstown IV take on North Down IV at Comber Leisure Centre at 4pm in what looks like a really tough fixture. However, Michael Millar’s men have shown a real hard edge in their games this season and no one would bet against an against-all-the-odds victory in the JL3 League Cup.

FIXTURES
Cookstown II v Banbridge III (1pm)
PSNI v Cookstown Ladies (1pm)
Cookstown Men v Kilkeel (2.30pm)
Instonians III v Cookstown III (2.30pm)
North Down IV v Cookstown IV (4pm)