The men’s hockey season gets underway this weekend with Banbridge hosting North Down in the first round of the Anderson Cup.
The tie is one of four taking place on Saturday afternoon while Lisnagarvey booked their quarter-final place on Thursday evening.
Scott McCandless’ side come into the game as very heavy favourites as well as the competitions reigning champions.
Brothers Adam and Matthew McKee are both likely to play a key role up front for the side whilst Max Nicholson, Denver Golbey and Ben Walker could all also feature.
North Down come into the new campaign with an identical squad to last season and if they are to cause an upset, they will be reliant on last season’s top scorer Gareth McKeown to make the difference.
The second game of the afternoon sees Annadale host Premiership side Kilkeel at Lagan College.
It is the home side who come into the tie as narrow favourites following a summer of change at the club.
Having lost a number of key players such as Fergus Gibson and Neal Glassey, the new look side will be hoping for a quick transition for their new players.
However, with plenty of goalscoring prowess in their side, Kilkeel are more than capable of causing an upset in round one.
With a combined 26 league goals last season, Luke Russell and David Rae provide plenty of goal threat for the premiership side giving them plenty of potential to cause a first-round upset.
Elsewhere Instonians, now under the stewardship of former Ards Ladies coach Adam Louden, take on fellow Premier League side Portadown.
An immediate return to the EYHL will be a priority for the side this season, the Belfast club will be keen to have an early cup run this season but face a difficult tie in the first round.
Despite finishing mid table in the Premier League last year, Portadown proved capable of causing an upset whilst also scoring the third most goals in the division in the 2023/24 season.
In the final game of the afternoon, a new-look Queen’s University travel to take on PSNI.
The students are one of many teams who have seen a lot of upheaval in the summer with plenty of new additions.
Josh Brownlee, Ethan Clotworthy and Sam McMillan are just three of the youngsters to have joined the side and all are likely to make their debuts on Saturday afternoon.
PHOTO: FRONT ROW UNION
