Buccs seniors and U20s both face northern rivals this weekend

Following a quiet weekend, Buccaneers face a busy fixtures schedule this coming weekend with the senior squad making a long trip north to square up to Malone in the seventh round of the Energia All-Ireland League.

This Division 2B game, Buccs’ second away fixture in a row, takes place at Gibson Park in east Belfast on Saturday with a 2.30pm kick-off.

Malone got off to a perfect start this season, winning their three opening matches and currently are very comfortably placed third on the league table. After a couple of subsequent defeats, they got back to winning ways with a 35-19 win over Sligo at Hamilton Park. Ross Todd, Zach Devine, Ben Gibson and Matty Rae are key operators for the Ulster side.

Buccs were decidedly unlucky to be pipped at Skerries, who overcame Malone up north. Their performance was a big improvement on the preceding outing and, had discipline been a lot better, then the Pirates would surely have prevailed.

Darin Claasen looks like he may have a full squad to select from and if the midlanders play to their collective potential, then it should be a battle royale against the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, Buccaneers U-20s also face Ulster opposition when Queen’s University come to Dubarry Park on Sunday for what looks like being a cracking JP Fanagan Leinster Premier League 2 encounter.

Queen’s top this pool and will provide formidable opposition for the Athlone side who slipped up away to Wanderers last time out. In the interim their fixture against Seapoint fell through with the Dublin club conceding.

Coach Patsy Gorman may not have a full deck to play with as a number of U-20s are likely to be involved in the All-Ireland League game versus Malone. But there is some depth in this squad and Buccs will be keen to topple the leaders when the action gets under way at 2.30pm.