This weekend sees a break in most of the local competitions, with teams travelling off-island to play in the England Hockey Championships.

Vikings Men travel to Alsager, near Stoke-on-Trent, on Saturday to take on a Triton side currently sitting fifth in North West Division Two.

The latter will provide stern opposition for the Manx team which is looking to go farther than it did last year. Unfortunately John Verall is unable to travel but Eddie Caley is more than capable of stepping up.

Ramsey Women are struggling to put in place their travel plans for this weekend and it may be that their game is postponed until the following Sunday. But they are hoping to travel to Prescot, on Merseyside, and progress after they won Tier 4 so convincingly last year.

Bacchas Men have secured a home game against City of Manchester 1st XI to be played on December 9 at the NSC, while Ramsey Men are scheduled to be travelling to Triton to play their second team on the same day.

Spare weekend sees only THREE games taking place

With this weekend earmarked for catch-up games, only three domestic fixtures are scheduled to take place.

Saracens Colts will be attempting to secure second place in PwC Mixed Division Two, while Ramsey Rookies are desperately looking for survival

If Rookies lose or draw they will be relegated into the bottom tier, but should they win by at least eight goals they will remain up. With all of the scenarios available it looks likely that Rookies will next year be competing in PwC Mixed Division Three.

The PwC Under-16s League has already been secured by Valkyrs who scored a huge 60 goals on their way to the title.

This weekend sees the final two games take place with Harlequins Colts looking to take Valkyrs’ undefeated tag away from them. With this being first-versus-second, it is looking like a tasty fixture.

Valkyrs go in as favourites but Harlequins will want to exact some sort of win against the league winners.

Ramsey Rogues and Rascals moved off the bottom of the table last week against Bacchas in what was a surprise result, and this week sees them take on Vikings.

Neither team can change positions but don’t expect the competitiveness to be any less than normal.

The latter will provide stern opposition for the Manx team which is looking to go farther than it did last year. Unfortunately John Verall is unable to travel but Eddie Caley is more than capable of stepping up.