The Irish Senior Men's coach John Clarke today announced a seventeen-man squad which will travel to Barcelona, Spain, on February 6 to play four matches. The trip forms part of the build up in preparation for the European Nations Cup Qualifying Tournament being held in Dublin from July 8 - 14 inclusive.
With several of the senior members of the squad just returning from injury, Clarke has used this opportunity to bring in some of the younger players from his thirty man panel for an invaluable taste of Senior International hockey.
Of those, Cork C of I's David Hobbs and John Jermyn, who were an integral part of the Irish Under 21 side which competed in the Junior World Cup last October, will get an excellent opportunity to impress upon the senior
coaching staff. Glenanne's Graham Shaw is the only other uncapped player in the travelling party, which will be captained by Pembroke's Nigel Henderson with the experienced Errol Lutton continuing in his role as vice-captain.
The squad will depart for Spain on Wednesday February 6 and play club side Racing Club de Polo of Barcelona on Thursday, followed by two matches against the Spanish U'21s, the current European U'21 champions. It is hoped the final match on Sunday will be a full International against the Spanish Senior side as they prepare for the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, however, full confirmation of this is awaited.
SQUAD LIST (in alphabetical order):1. Wesley Bateman (GK), 2 Caps (Cork Harlequins)2. Jason Black, 24 Caps (Cork Harlequins)3. Mark Black, 10 Caps (Cork C of I)4. Paddy Brown, 28 Caps (Instonians)5. Karl Burns, 1 Cap (Cork C of I)6. Stephen Butler, 23 Caps (Glenanne)7. Gordon Elliott, 7 Caps (Pembroke W)8. Colin Hanna, 13 Caps (Cork C of I)9. Nigel Henderson (GK), 21 Caps (Pembroke W) CAPT10. David Hobbs, 0 Caps (Cork C of I)11. Chris Jackson, 31 Caps (Annadale)12. John Jermyn, 0 Caps (Cork C of I)13. Errol Lutton, 56 Caps (Lisnagarvey) V-Capt14. Mark Raphael, 25 Caps (Lisnagarvey)15. Graham Shaw, 0 Caps (Glenanne)16. Justin Sherriff, 8 Caps (Pembroke W)17. David Smyth, 14 Caps (Annadale)
Coach: John ClarkeAsst Coaches: David Judge and Jimmy KirkwoodManager: Steven Hiles
Filed by Shane Murray
