Hockey: Internationals Set For Three Rock Rovers & Alexandra College

As Electric Ireland's Green Army continue their Olympic Qualification preparation three further International matches have been confirmed to take place in Dublin against Scotland this November.
Irish Hockey will be bringing these matches to the club grounds of Three Rock Rovers on Grange Road and the school grounds of Alexandra College in Milltown.

The two matches scheduled for Three Rock Rovers will showcase their newly laid pitch which was completed recently. While, Alexandra College is of great significance due to its place in the Irish Hockey history books as the venue of the very first official international hockey match which took place on March 2nd 1896, when Ireland women beat England 2-0.

Ireland's national women's team have had an intense period of late with 15 international matches taking place over a four month period this has given Irish Hockey an opportunity to bring these international fixtures to suitable alternative venues.

National Coach, Darren Smith commented ""The pitch at Three Rock Rovers looks fantastic and the club must be delighted that all their hard work has paid off. We will get the chance now to play an international match against Scotland at this fine facility"

"We looked at the timing of the match, which had to be played in the middle of the day and thought it was a tremendous opportunity to link up with Alexandra College to play the game during school hours. This school has Emily Beatty, Deirdre Duke and Nikki Evans as past pupils in the squad and always produces talent through their hockey programs. Playing in Alexandra College will be an enjoyable experience"

Smith went on to discuss the opposition who are ranked 16th in the world, just one place behind Ireland, "Scotland are a very good team. We have seen them deliver some good performances over 2014 in the Champions Challenge and Commonwealth Games both hosted at their impressive new national training centre, Glasgow Green. We always enjoy playing them and our close link between the two teams ensures we get plenty of opportunities to do so. The three matches will be very competitive and we look forward hosting Scotland"

Ireland are also currently in Belgium competing in a double header on 14th & 15th October (squad details) as the team continues preparation for 2016 Rio Olympic Qualification in the form of the World League 2 set for Ireland, March 2015.

Ireland v Scotland Match Schedule
Sunday 2nd November IRELAND v SCOTLAND (Three Rock Rovers 18.00)
Monday 3rd November IRELAND v SCOTLAND (Three Rock Rovers 19.00)
Wednesday 5th November IRELAND v SCOTLAND (Alexandra College, Milltown 12.15)