Pembroke Wanderers were drawn in Pool F with Dutch side HGC and Ukranians Olympia Kolos Sekvoia last night in the EHL Round 1 draw. They will play in HC Oranje Zwart in Eindhoven next month, October 15th – 17th. Details of match times will be announced soon. As Deirdre Mackay has reminded us – start saving now and get those days booked off work!

Only the top two in each Pool go through to the last 16 of the competition – Pembroke were the first ever Irish side to get through to the EHL KO16 stage last year by beating Scottish outfit Kelbourne, this time a tricky fixture against the Ukranians should prove to be the decisive fixture – Paddy Good sensibly warning ‘there are no easy fixtures at this level’.

HGC will prove to be tough opponents and have vast experience in the competition – finishing runners up back in 2008. The dutch side from The Hague finished runners up in the dutch Hoofdklasse league in the season just gone to qualify and have clear pedigree. Round 1.1 of the EHL will be hosted by Oranje Zwart of Eindhoven, who along with HGC and HC Bloemendaal complete a trio of dutch teams in this year’s competition.

In the other half of the draw Glenanne have been drawn to play WKS Grunwald Poznan of Poland, and formidable Mannheimer HC of Germany, Round 1.2 taking place in Barcelona from Oct 29th. Full details are on the official EHL website.

Welcome all to the new season!

Training for Ladies 1sts and 2nds continues, please contact ladies@pembrokewanderers.ie for more info on this.
NB Normal Season training times for the 1sts and 2nds will recommence on Monday 6th September.

Teams 3rds to 8ths please note the following sessions:
Sept 1st Wed 18.30-20.00 sand
Sept 4th Sat Open Day 13.30 (3rds – 8ths + new members)
Sept 6th Mon 18.30-20.00 water
Sept 8th Wed 18.30-30.00 3rds & 4ths sand
                          20.00-21.30 5ths – 8ths water

From Monday Sept 13th season training times will resume:
Mondays
3rds-4ths 18.30-20.00 water
5ths-8ths 19.00-20.30 sand
Wednesdays
3rds-4ths 18.30-20.00 sand (first 30mins shared with Mens Jnr teams – fitness)
5ths-8ths 20.00-21.30 water

NB Season training times can be found here www.pembrokewanderers.ie/ladies