This week’s fixtures

MEN’S SENIOR FIXTURES TODAY: McCullough Cup final (Lisnagarvey): Sullivan Upper v Friends (2pm). SATURDAY: EY Irish Hockey League: Banbridge v Cookstown (5pm); Lisnagarvey v Annadale (4pm); Monkstown v Glenanne (2.15pm).

Irish Senior Cup second round:

Belfast Harlequins (2.30pm).

Irish Hockey Trophy first round: Civil Service v Kilkenny (2.30pm); North Down v Raphoe; Portadown v Bangor (1pm); Weston v Newry (3.30pm).

Ulster Premier League: Antrim v Queen’s (1pm); Instonians v Cliftonville (2.30pm).

Mossley v

jor schoolboy trophies in the one calendar year.

And in this season’s McCullough competition, they ran off five straight wins to top their pool, beating Methody (3-1), Cookstown High (4-0), Wallace High (5-2), Grosvenor (10-0) and Campbell College (3-2) before knocking out holders Banbridge Academy (2-1) in the semi-finals.

Those goals against Bann came from Matthew Willis and Fergus Gibson and these are just two of the players that Friends will have to keep a close eye on.

Friends, though, have an incentive to win — they haven’t landed the trophy since 1980, a 37-year gap they want to bridge.

The Lisburn lads romped through their pool with wins over RBAI (6-0), Regent House

WOMEN’S SENIOR FIXTURES FRIDAY: Ulster Premier League: Ulster Elks v North Down (8pm).

SATURDAY: IHL: Loreto v Cork H’quins (1.15pm); Monkstown v Trinity (4.10pm); Pembroke v Railway (4pm); UCD v Ards (2.50pm); Pegasus v Belfast H’quins (4pm). Ulster Premier League (2.30pm): Ballymoney v Lurgan; Banbridge v Dungannon; Randalstown v Queen’s.

Senior One: Ballyclare v Armagh (2.30pm); Raphoe v Knock (1pm); Victorians v Lisnagarvey (4pm).

Irish Hockey Trophy:

Portadown.

Ballymena v

(11-0), Banbridge (4-1), Kilkeel (6-0), Royal & Prior (4-0) and Bangor (3-2) before beating Methody 3-1 in the semi-finals.

With Irish U18 players like Matthew Milliken (pictured) and Oliver Kidd in their ranks, they are certainly not turning up to make up the numbers.

And if Sullivan were to concede too many penalty corners in the decider, then Andrew Edgar is the man to punish them — he scored all three from set-pieces in the semi-final.

“Yes, we have a decent corner routine and obviously set-pieces are important,” said Friends coach Craig Cunningham. “Sullivan start favourites but there is certainly no pressure on us going into it.”

When the final is done and dusted, Williamson’s attention quickly moves to Saturday’s IHL game against Annadale.

Garvey lost their unbeaten record last week after losing 3-2 against Glenanne in Dublin and want to bounce back in the late Saturday slot (4pm), whereas the Dale are keen to build on their momentum after beating Railway 2-1 to move clear of the relegation zone.

There are just three IHL games on Saturday, with another Ulster derby when Banbridge, bidding to break their bad run of results, face Cookstown at Havelock Park at 5pm.

There is also one Irish Senior Cup tie scheduled, with Mossley and Belfast Harlequins meeting at The Glade, and just two Ulster Premier League games as a handful of teams are involved in the Irish Hockey Trophy’s opening round.