Updates from the Captains
It's a big season for both the men and the ladies with all four teams facing their own challenges.
The Mens 1s have returned to the Intermediate League after being relegated from the Premier League last season. The Ladies 2s team have just reformed after a long break and are making their debut in Junior League 9.
The four captains gave us their thoughts on how things have gone so far and their hopes for the rest of the season.
Mens 1s - Josh Porter
New 1s captain Josh Porter shared his views, "It was disappointing to be relegated last season but the Intermediate League will give us a chance to rebuild and introduce some new players to the squad."
"Although a few players decided to hang up their sticks, we welcomed some old faces back to the squad and have injected new blood with James Macauley joining from Banbridge."
"We made a good start to the season recording four wins on the bounce before a narrow loss to Mossley. In the three games since we have won one and lost two. The two defeats were to a very strong PSNI team who are top of the league."
"Unfortunately, one of the losses to the PSNI was in the semi-final of the Linden Cup. We had been looking forward to a potential cup final but it wasn't to be."
"Going forward we still have the Irish Hockey Challenge Cup to contest and I'm hopeful we will also be challenging for the league come the end of the season."
Ladies 1s - Kathryn Baird
Ladies 1s captain Kathryn Baird said, "The ladies 1st XI are currently sitting twelfth out of thirteen in the Senior League 3. We got off to a shaky start in the season, with a few narrow defeats, but the team is now picking up a bit of form and we had a great 1-0 win against Ballynahinch Ladies at the start of November.
After losing in the first round of the Intermediate Cup against a strong Kilkeel side, we're hoping to have a good run in the Intermediate Plate in the New Year. We don't know yet who we'll be playing, but the first round match is on 20th January. All support will be welcome!"
Ladies 2s - Laverne Inns
Laverne Inns has had the privilege of playing for Newry Olympic Ladies for 18 years. She captained the 1st XI for seven years and now that the ladies are expanding, she's taken on captaincy of the newly formed Ladies 2s.
Laverne told us "Its been fantastic to get the Ladies 2s going once again and playing competitively. We're playing in Junior League 9A which is giving us great experience and some really exciting games."
"The team are a great bunch of girls. To date we've have had some wins and losses in our league journey and after a really close game with local rivals Banbridge, we're through to the 3rd round of the Junior 9 Cup where we will play Lisnagarvey 6s at Hillsborough on Friday 1st December."
"We've been fortunate that as well as our primary kit sponsor SMET, we've had match balls sponsored by Noleen O'Neil, Sports Physio; Oggies Dessert Bar and A J Elite to name but a few."
"As I always say, Teamwork makes the Dream work!"
The push back for the Junior 9 Cup match, away to Lisnagarvey on Friday 1st December, is at 8.15pm. All support will be welcome.
Mens 2s - Simon McCafferty
Simon has been captain of the Mens 2s for the last five years.
He told us "The seconds have had a difficult start to the season with six defeats and two wins from our first eight matches. Our highlights from the opening weeks have been fine cup wins over North Down and Raphoe."
"We lost a few of our regular players from last season who moved up to the firsts, but I'm glad to say we've welcomed back former players after a number of years away and we hope it will all gel together in the coming weeks."
"Our aspirations for this season are to consolidate our place in Junior 3 and have a strong cup run"
Training Days
The men's squad train every Tuesday evening from 7-9pm and the ladies on Wednesday's 7-9pm. We're always keen to welcome any new players aged 15 and over.
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