The west Cork school are back in the decider for the first time since 2009, when they won a memorable all-Bandon clash with Coláiste na Toirbhirte.

Scoil Mhuire's Emma Dobson attempts to get past Bandon Grammar's Laura Buttimer and Acacia Taylor. Picture: Andrew Gray

In a game mostly played between the 25s, Lorraine Copithorne got the decisive touch for the west Cork school when she forced home a short corner breakdown midway through the second half, the ball just getting over the line before it was cleared.

Clear-cut chances were at a premium, meaning corners provided the best chance of a goal. But all too often goalkeepers Ciara Randles and Muireann Mellot went untested; Copithorne did an excellent job in running down Scoil Mhuire’s efforts while Bandon rarely opted for a straight shot.

Scoil Mhuire were unable to match the brilliance they showed in defeating Mount Mercy 5-1 the previous week, despite the best efforts of Emily Reidy, Holly Lehane, Clio Cogan and Emma Dobson.

For Bandon, Laura Buttimer, Vicky Burns and Copithorne had notable outings but they know they’ll need to step things up when they play the winner of the clash between Crescent and Ursuline Convent Thurles.

That game was scheduled to go ahead yesterday but clashes with pre-Leaving Cert examinations have left uncertainty surrounding when it will now be played.

SCOIL MHUIRE: C Randles (GK), E Reidy, I Harding, R O’Dwyer, E Dobson, J Kelleher, C O’Toole, K O’Neill, H Lehane, C Cogan, M Egan, N O’Donnell, N O’Kelly, J Tingle, K Murphy (GK), A Dennehy.

BANDON GRAMMAR: M Mellot (GK), K Coombes, A O’Leary, C Helen, L Buttimer, V Burns, G Kingston, A Taylor, L Copithorne, S Sullivan, S Houston, D Obialor, C Smyth, L Nyhan.

Umpires: J Dennis & F Kelleher

Check out Southern Fried Hockey’s Facebook page for more pictures from the game!

Niamh O'Donnell (left) and Roisin O'Dwyer (on ground) celebrate after combining to set up Scoil Mhuire's second goal against Mount Mercy. Picture: Aide O'Dwyer

The Cork school routed 2010 and 2011 finalists Mount Mercy 5-1 on Wednesday, despite being behind at the break, Elisa Buckley mopping up a short corner breakdown to give Mount Mercy a single-goal half-time lead.

But David Egner’s Scoil Mhuire side ran riot in the second half, notching five from play as their counter-attacking game came up trumps. Munster U16 starlet Niamh O’Donnell fired a hat-trick, while Roisin O’Dwyer and Emma Dobson notched the others.

They’ll now face Bandon Grammar at Harlequin Park next Wednesday, January 25 (3pm) with a place in the decider at stake.

Meanwhile, Ursuline Convent Thurles cruised into the last four with a 5-0 defeat of Laurel Hill Coláiste at the Tipperary school on Thursday.

Irish youth Olympian Antonia McGrath notched a treble with Leanne Fogarty and Paula Farrell also on target. They will play holders Crescent Comprehensive – who are seeking a third consecutive title – in the semis.

Munster Senior Schoolgirls Cup quarter-finals: Scoil Mhuire 5 (N O’Donnell 3, R O’Dwyer, E Dobson) Mount Mercy 1 (E Buckley).

Ursuline Convent Thurles 5 (A McGrath 3, L Fogarty, P Farrell) Laurel Hill Coláiste 0

Semi-finals: Scoil Mhuire v Bandon Grammar, Harlequin Park, Wednesday January 25, 3pm; Crescent College Comprehensive v Ursuline Convent Thurles (TBC).

For Midleton, semi-finalists in 2010, their tournament was all but ended in gut-wrenching fashion by Banbridge Academy – the reigning champions. A corner exchange by Matthew Bell and Adam Colton saw the sides level at 1-1 deep into the tie with the East Cork outfit rattling the fancied northerners.

But a final hooter corner offered Bell a chance which he duly converted for a 2-1 win which virtually assured progression to the semi-finals – a task they completed with a high quality 1-0 win over RBAI. Midleton, meanwhile, closed out their competition with a tired 1-1 draw against St Columba’s in a dead rubber.

Ashton will rue their profligacy in front of goal as they carved out far more chances than Wesley but could not take any, including seven penalty corners, while Ian Stewart nabbed a pair for the Dubliners. He snapped one up in the first minute and would later provide the insurance goal in their must-win game with Ashton only needing to draw.

That was because the Blackrock Road club stormed to a 6-1 win over Sullivan Upper in the morning to head up the group on goal difference after two rounds of matches after Wesley laboured to a 3-2 win over Wallace.

It means the Ballinteer boys will face Ian Sloan and his Cookstown HS team mates in the final four early on Friday morning while the Andrew’s play Banbridge Academy in a repeat of the 2010 final.

Andrew’s corner prowess helped them through ahead of Friends. Needing just a draw, the first half was tight for the Booterstown side as the Ulster school held more possession and clipped a post and the bar.

After a scoreless first half, though, Andrew’s stepped up as Fiachra Maher twice slid onto disguised David Cole corner flicks, sandwiching a straight Cole drag. Friends did pull one back but Lee Cole’s solo effort capped a solid win, over-turning a 4-3 loss to the same opposition a month ago in a friendly tie.

It added to a 4-1 win over Bandon in the morning but the West Cork school bounced back with a 3-3 tie with Regent House.

Cookstown almost fell to a huge shock as Keith O’Hare, Jack Spain and Jack Ryan built a 3-1 lead for Sutton Park but a four-star second half saw the Co Tyrone school bounce back in style and complete the group with a perfect record.

All-Ireland Schoolboys Championships, day two results and final group standings
Group One: Newpark 2 (J McCormack, J Walsh) Sutton Park 2 (A Fee, S Graham); Cookstown 4 (I Sloan 4) Campbell College 1; Cookstown 5 Sutton Park 3 (J Spain, J Ryan, K O’Hare); Campbell College 4 (M West 3, J Cox) Newpark 0
Standings: 1. Cookstown 6pts (+12) 2. Campbell College 4pts (-6) 3. Sutton Park 1pt (-3) 4. Newpark 1pt (-11)

Group Two: Friends 4 (Getty 2, Marshall, Tinsley) Regent House 3 (Black 2, Shepherd); St Andrew’s 4 (B Campbell 2, F Maher, M Loughrey) Bandon GS 1; St Andrew’s 4 (F Maher 2, D Cole, L Cole) Friends 1 (Getty); Bandon 3 Regent House 3
Standings: 1. St Andrew’s 6pts (+12) 2. Friends 4pts (-1) 3. Bandon GS 1pt (-4) 4. Regent House 1pt (-7)

Group Three: Wesley 3 (I Stewart, J Sutton, L Madeley) Wallace HS 2 (C Kelly, T Crean); Ashton 6 (P Daunt 2, S Wolfe, C Casey, R Sweetnam, R Lynch) Sullivan Upper 1 (P Douglas); Wesley 2 (I Stewart 2) Ashton 0; Wallace vs Sullivan Upper, tbc
Standings: 1. Wesley 6pts (+5) 2. Ashton 4pts (+7) 3. Wallace 0pts (-4) 4. Sullivan 0pts (-8)

Group Four: RBAI 3 (J Lorimer, A Fallis, McConaghie) St Columba’s 1 (R Canning); Banbridge Academy 2 (M Bell 2) Midleton 1 (A Colton); Banbridge Academy 1 (M Colussi) RBAI 0; Midleton 1 (N Hodson) St Columba’s 1 (R Canning)
Standings: 1. Banbridge 6pts (+10) 2. Midleton 3pts (0) 3. RBAI 2pts (-1) 4. St Columba’s 1pt (-9)

The former look like they might be on a collision course with Wesley at 1.30pm on Thursday after both sides picked up 3-0 wins in their opening group games.

Gary Wilkinson struck a classy goal to help Ashton pick up a 3-0 win against Wallace Pic: Stephen Findlater

They eased any tension in front of a home crowd when Richard Sweetnam scored a stroke midway through the second half and Wilkinson cracked home an open-side shot to share top of the table. Luke Madeley’s double, meanwhile, helped Wesley to a three-goal success against Sullivan Upper.

In Group Four, Midleton – semi-finalists a year ago – edged home against RBAI as they transformed a 1-0 half-time lead into a three goal margin with Andrew Colton and Greg Chambers on the mark. But they were rattled late on but the east Cork side held on to win 3-2.

If they want to emulate last year’s performance, though, they must get the better of reigning champions Banbridge Academy who look in rude health. St Columba’s put in a decent first half shift before running out of gas. Bann are without Josh Moffett but EHL representatives Owen Magee and Matthew Bell both netted in the first half but the Rathfarnham outfit had their moments, hitting the post and winning corners.

But six goals in the closing quarter gave the tie a lop-sided look as Rory Woods and John McKee grabbed quick-fire doubles.

In Group Two, David Cole’s hat-trick of penalty corners gave St Andrew’s all the impetus they needed to get their campaign off to a fine start against Regent House. He netted the first two before Jonathan Codd finished off from close range on the half-time hooter from a corner rebound for 3-0.

Owen Magee started Banbridge's rout of St Columba's Pic: Stephen Findlater

Cole made it four before a Cillian Hines deflection to Lee Cole’s reverse – perhaps fortuitous as there appeared to be a foot in the build-up – and Aaron Bailey’s goal completed a 6-0 win. With Friends edging out Bandon 2-1, it gives the Booterstown school the initiative in Group Two.

Cookstown look on course to boss group one as Ian Sloan’s half-dozen powered them to a 9-1 win over Newpark while Sutton Park were edged out by Campbell College 1-0.

All-Ireland Schoolboy’s Championships, day one results
Group One: Cookstown 9 Newpark 1; Sutton Park 0 Campbell College 1 (J Lyner)
Group Two: St Andrew’s 6 (D Cole 3, K Codd, A Bailey, C Hines) Regent House 0; Bandon 1 (B Scott) Friends 2 (A Allen, Marshall)
Group Three: Ashton 3 (S Wolfe, R Sweetnam, G Wilkinson) Wallace 0; Wesley 3 (L Madeley 2, K von Eickholdt) Sullivan Upper 0
Group Four: Midleton 3 (A Colton 2, G Chambers) RBAI 2; Banbridge 8 (O Magee 2, R Woods 2, J McKee 2, M Bell, B Cosgrove) St Columba’s 0

** For full Thursday fixture list, click here

** To keep up to date with all the results as they occur throughout the day, go to twitter.com/hookhockey or use the #irishhockey hashtag

** Photos from Day One of the championships can be viewed by clicking here

Last year’s semi-finalists will face reigning champions Banbridge Academy who have a series of stars available to return with Josh Moffett, Owen Magee, Matthew Bell and Peter Brown among the town’s first team stars on the club side. They are likely to be coming into the three-day competition off the back of Bann’s EHL trip to Antwerp when they begin their defence of the title on October 26 in Ashton.

Banbridge Academy continue to set the pace for home-grown talent in Ireland and will start as favourites to retain their All-Ireland Schoolboys crown.

Seven-time winners RBAI are also involved in Group 4 while St Columba’s make up the quartet. Midleton have seen talisman Nick Burns move on but younger brother Alex is still around. Colton twins Andy and Adam will anchor the defensive effort, with Alex Simonin the key man in midfield and Marc Hornibrook a danger up top.

Leinster contenders St Andrews’ bid for a third title is powered by David Cole and there are plenty of emerging talents to make them contenders like Eric Foy, Mark Loughrey and Ben Campbell who recently made his YMCA first team debut.

The Booterstown academy faces Friends, Regent House and Bandon Grammar who have a quintet of Munster U18s including vice-captain Scott Sullivan, Fred McElroy, Ben Scott and Stuart Miller.

Host school Ashton are lumped in with Wesley – plus Ulster schools Wallace HS and Sullivan Upper – but might fancy their chances given 10 sixth-years have moved on from the Dublin school, although Kirk Shimmins is a talisman who already has EuroHockey League experience with Pembroke Wanderers under his belt.

Ashton’s efforts will revolve around Munster U18 captain Richard Lynch and last year’s U16 skipper Richard Sweetnam, the hosts having come through a nervy qualifier a few weeks back when they were two goals down to Newtown going into the final minutes only to pull a win out of the fire late on.

In Group One, Leinster pair Sutton Park and Newpark have a very tough draw against Ulster giants Cookstown and Campbell College. Sutton have begun the new season in fine style with a big win over St Killian’s on the domestic front but will have their work cut out against Town whose centre-piece is Irish senior international Ian Sloan.

His drag-flicking alone makes him a serious threat but his creative instincts can help bring in other players while Matthew Rollins and Daniel Crooks provide a strong defensive line. Newpark are outsiders in the group with Andrew Ramsey the midfield schemer and Stefan Gallagher a class act between the posts.

The event runs for three days across Cork, played in Ashton, Bandon, Midleton and the Mardyke while Garryduff will host the final at 2.30pm on Friday, October 28.

All-Ireland Schoolboy Championships draw

Group 1: Cookstown, Campbell, Sutton Park, Newpark
Group 2: St Andrews, Friends, Bandon Grammar, Regent House
Group 3: Ashton, Wallace, Wesley, Sullivan Upper
Group 4: Banbridge, RBAI, Midleton, St Columbas

** For the full fixture schedule, click here

Adapted from Stephen Findlater’s original post on The Hook.

The Limerick school nabbed an early lead when they broke from a defensive short corner and eventually worked the ball to Jeffery Smith who slotted home.

But Newtown were level just before the break thanks to the predatory instincts of their Munster U18 representative Sam Butler, who pounced to convert a well-worked corner move.

At the start of the second half Newtown continued to apply pressure to a well-marshalled Villiers defence, and as the half wore on it became evident that one more goal was likely to win it.

That came for Newtown, who won a corner via Luke Fitzherbert’s trickery down the right and the set-piece was converted by Jamie Petch, sweeping in from a tight angle with 10 minutes to go.

The Waterford side subsequently endured a tense finale but they successfully closed the game out to prevail.

NEWTOWN: Sliabh Wells(GK), Stephen Scallan, Gary Marshall, Alex Hackett, Luke Bailey, Luke Fitzherbert, Sam Bulter (capt), John Boyd (vice-capt), Theo Marden-Wastneys, Alan Jephson, Jamie Petch.

Subs: William O’Morchoe, Wilko Von Schaeffer, John Mullins, Geoff Graham, Andrew Davis.

*If anyone has the Villiers team can they leave it the comments please! Thanks

Ashton celebrate with relish after defeating BGS. Picture: Donal Warren

The Cork city outfit dominated schoolboys hockey at the start of the millennium as stars like John Jermyn, Jason Black and David Hobbs ruled the roost, but have since seen Bandon Grammar and latterly Midleton College steal the limelight.

But they took advantage of Bandon’s slow start here, with Simon Wolfe beating two players at the top of the circle at short corner time before squeezing the ball under Bandon’s excellent goalkeeper Joe Fitzgibbon for the only goal of the game early in the second half.

Gary Wilkinson and Wolfe both missed gilt-edged chances to kill the game off before Bandon came back with a late surge in the finalten minutes.

That yielded five short corners, but their talismen Scott Sullivan and Stuart Miller couldn’t find an equaliser for the 2009 champions, allowing Ashton to claim a first crown since 2003.

BANDON GRAMMAR: Joe Fitzgibbon (GK), Colin Kingston, Trevor Gray, Jack Robinson, Aidan Walsh(capt), Scott Sullivan, Ricky McMahon, Fred McElroy, Darren Sweetnam, Ben Scott, Stuart Miller, Trevor Bateman, Mark Kingston, Ivor Sweetnam, Cathal Stone, Phillip Peters, Julian Dale.

ASHTON: James Philips (Gk), Richard Lynch, Richard Sweetnam, Kev Byrne, David Doherty (capt), William Johnston (vice-capt), David Wolfe, David Treacy, Simon Wolfe, Calvin Casey, Cian Kavanagh, Cillin Corbett, Peter Daunt, Clyde Buttimer, David Whitaker, Gary Wilkinson.

Pictures from Donal Warren to follow on Irish Hockey Photographers in due course. If anyone has an Ashton team-list could they leave it in the comments? Thanks!

Limerick proved a happy hunting ground for Lurgan College once more as they claimed overall victory on a remarkable final day of the  Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships at Crescent College Comprehensive.

The Ulster school had won the last time the competition was hosted by Crescent in 2003, and they did so here on goal difference as fatigue and motivation proved a decisive factor in some hammerings exacted late in the day.

With all five sides winning and  losing on day one, it was open season yesterday with Lurgan taking the early initiative with a 3-0 dismissal of Coláiste Iognáid. Crescent and Loreto Kilkenny’s hopes then all but faded as the hosts failed to convert a flurry of corners aside from Roisin Upton’s late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Emily Beatty and Nicola Gray both notched braces in a 5-0 dismissal of a tired Coláiste Iognáid that seemed to tilt the balance in Alexandra College’s favour.

But  Lurgan then put seven past Loreto Kilkenny, Chloe McCann on target four times with Hannah Grieve  netting a hat-trick, to leave Alex needing to beat Crescent by six goals in the final game.

The Dublin school gave it one hell of a rattle, winning 6-1 with Beatty, Gray and Hannah McDermott all to the fore, but Crescent cleared three late corners to prevent Alex getting the last goal they required, as well as giving the Limerick girls the bronze medal.

ESB Electric Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirl’s Championships, Day 2

Colaiste Iognaid 0 Lurgan College 3 (K Scott, H Grieve, B Barr);

Crescent Comp 1 (R Upton) Loreto Kilkenny 1 (N Byrne);

Alexandra College 5 (E Beatty 2, N Gray 2, D Duke) Colaiste Iognaid 0;

Loreto Kilkenny 0 Lurgan College 7 (C McCann 4, H Grieve 3);

Crescent Comp 1 (A McMahon) Alexandra College 6 (E Beatty 2, H McDermott 2, M O’Donnell, N Gray)

Final standings: 1. Lurgan 6pts (+11) 2. Alexandra Coll 6pts (+10) 3. Crescent 3pts (-6) 4. Loreto Kilkenny 3pts (-7) 5. C Iognaid 2pts (-8)

Day 1

All five teams are still in contention for the Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships title after a bizarre first day’s play saw each end with a win and a loss to their name in sun-drenched Limerick.

Loreto Kilkenny caused one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s recent memory, the South East champions blowing a 3-0 lead before defeating a hotly-fancied Alexandra College 4-3 on a day when just one of the five games was decided by more than a single-goal margin.

Two of those goals came from Grace Walsh, younger sister of Kilkenny All Star hurler Tommy. She is one of seven players, alongside fellow double-getter Aoife Murphy and captain Emma Copmerford, in the side who won the All-Ireland schools camogie title a fortnight ago.

They had earlier gone down 3-2 to 2009 champions, Coláiste Iognáid of Connacht. Ciara Power finished off a flowing team move for the Jes’ opener, before Lynsey Trainor belted home a corner for two-zip, before netting a third to seemingly put them out of sight.

Despite being smothered for long stages, Loreto fought back with an Aoife Murphy goal before the break, before pulling back another 10 minutes later to setup a grandstand finale. They couldn’t quite manage an equaliser, however.

Against Alex, Aoife Murphy’s goal and a Grace Walsh double had Loreto cruising at the break, but Hannah McDermott – whose double had earlier given Alex a 2-1 win over Lurgan -Emily Beatty and Millie O’Donnell amazingly hauled the Milltown school level.

But Murphy grabbed the crucial winner from a corner five minutes from time to help keep a side perceived as outsiders before the tournament well in the hunt.

It was also a mixed day for hosts Crescent College Comprehensive, who lost to Lurgan 3-1 but recovered to see off the Jes 3-2.

Their campaign got off to a flyer when Aileen McMahon’s short corner bash had them in front on 30 minutes against Lurgan. Lisa Barrett had taken a stick to the mouth amid some defensive heroics at that stage, and Crescent held their advantage through to the second half, until Natalie Barr took the game by the scruff of the neck for Lurgan.

She scored the first and won the short corner which Kim Scott converted for the third, with sister Bethanie Barr notching one in between, again thanks to good work from Natalie in the build-up.

The Barr sisters – who also include Bethany’s twin Serena, and had revealed the emotional driving force behind their Ulster victory, coming after elder sister Charlene passed away from cystic fibrosis – were also to the fore as Lurgan went down 2-1 to Alex.

Ireland U16 Hannah McDermott put Alex ahead on six minutes and notched her second 12 minutes later, but Lurgan shut up shop and gave themselves hope with a late Gemma McBride effort, before seeing Alex netminder Catherine Bell thwart a late chance.

That result left Crescent in need of a maiden victory to keep pace, which they duly managed by seeing off Coláiste Iognáid 3-2. Talismanic midfielder Roisin Upton dragged them into a second-minute lead, with Orla Hickey converting one from the push-out spot for 2-0 at half-time.

Coláiste had been unfortunate to see some decent short corner attempts go begging, but Trainor popped up again with a spectacular 50th-minute effort to keep them in the hunt.

Ciara O’Sullivan’s pace engineered a third strike for Crescent though, a buffer they were glad of when Maeve Russell made it a tight endgame late on.

All five sides will therefore begin tomorrow’s final round robin fixtures — they each play twice more — on level pegging.

**In an innovative idea from teacher Diarmuid Mullins, Crescent College Comprehensive transition year students have been tasked with supplying information and match reports to the media from this tournament. A big thank-you from Southern Fried Hockey therefore goes to Luke Murray, Conor Beatty, Tim Fitzgibbon, Clodagh Treacy and Ciara Power for their excellent efforts!

Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships, Crescent CC, Limerick, Day 1

Crescent Comp, Limerick 1 (A McMahon) Lurgan College 3 (N Barr, B Barr, K Scott);

Coláiste Iognáid, Galway 3 (C Power, L Trainor 2) Loreto Kilkenny 2 (G Walsh, A Murphy);

Lurgan College 1 (G McBride) Alexandra College, Dublin 2 (H McDermott 2);

Crescent 3 (R Upton, O Hickey, C Sullivan) Coláiste Iognáid 2 (L Trainor, M Russell);

Loreto Kilkenny 4 (G Walsh 2, A Murphy 2) Alexandra College 3 (H McDermott, E Beatty, M O’Donnell);

Standings (goal difference): 1 Lurgan 3pts (+1); 2 Alexandra College 3pts (0); 2= Coláiste Iognáid 3pts (0); 2= Loreto Kilkenny 3pts (0); 5 Crescent CC 3pts (-1).

Day 2: Coláiste Iognaid v Lurgan College (9.30am); Crescent Comprehensive v Loreto Kilkenny (11am); Alexandra College v Coláiste Iognáid (12.30pm); Loreto Kilkenny v Lurgan College (2pm); Crescent Comprehensive v Alexandra College (3.30pm).

Ollie O’Connor’s side have annexed three of the last four Munster titles, but success in the national tournament — which sees the five provicinal champions (including South East) face off in a round-robin format, has thus far eluded them.

Eimear Cregan (centre) launches Crescent;s hosting of the Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships alongside Ireland U18 Roisin Upton, coaches Brenda Moloney and Ollie O'Connor and captain Eimear McManus.

Alexandra College, who halted St Andrew’s three-in-a-row bid and have talent to burn in the form of Irish U18s Deirdre Duke, Erika Hinkson and Emily Beatty, as well as Nicola Gray’s corner threat, are arguably favourites on paper.

Ulster kingpins Lurgan have fond memories of Limerick, having claimed the honours the last time Crescent hosted in 2003, while Galway’s Coláiste Iognáid claimed victory as recently as 2009. Kilkenny College will be the dark horses.

Crescent have plenty of weapons of their own though, as they seek a first ever national success. Six of their side have interpro experience with Munster and in Roisin Upton, they have a classy fulcrum with Youth Olympic experience.

She and Tara Lyons run the midfield, while Aileen McMahon is the totem up front, ably supported by Ciara O’Sullivan. Their right flank is particularly strong thanks to the assured build-up play of Orla Hickey and Jane Dickinson.

Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships, Crescent College Comprehensive, Limerick, Day 1

9.30am: Crescent CC (Munster) v Lurgan College (Ulster); 11am: Coláiste Iognáid (Connacht) v Loreto Kilkenny (South East); 12.30pm: Lurgan College v Alexandra College (Leinster); 2pm: Crescent CC v Coláiste Iognáid; 3.30pm: Loreto Kilkenny v Alexandra College.

With Catholic Institute on course to end Cork Harlequins’ 15-year monopolisation of the Munster women’s league title and Limerick HC emerging as one of the country’s most progressive young clubs, women’s hockey is certainly flying in the Treaty city.

Crescent's Jane Dickinson surges past the Mount Mercy defence. Picture: Ondine Roche

Ollie O’Connor’s Crescent are certainly doing their bit too, deservedly notching back-to-back wins in this competition.

For Mount Mercy the result is yet another bitter pill to have to swallow; Darren Collins’ girls have now fallen at the final hurdle in four of the past five seasons, with three of those defeats coming at the hands of Crescent. Having won a four-in-a-row in the 2000s though, they have appeared in eight of the past nine finals and will surely be back again before long.

Crescent got off to a flyer yesterday, building pressure via a couple of penalty corners before Karen McGrath broke the deadlock in the 16th minute, pivoting in the circle and guiding the ball into the bottom corner after Tara Lyons and Ciara O’Sullivan had engineered the opening.

Very little was getting through Lyons and Irish youth Olympian Roisin Upton as they controlled midfield, while Jane Dickinson and Aileen McMahon caused havoic down the right.

The one major chance which fell Mount Mercy’s way saw Ciara Mullane’s long ball arrive all the way through to Allyson Moore, whose pace took her past the last defender, but her finish was off-target as goalkeeper Jessica Liddy cut off the angle.

It remained 1-0 at the break with Crescent probably ruing not extending their lead, but they then caught Mount Mercy cold at the start of the second half, O’Sullivan crashing the ball home after Upton’s surge had drawn goalkeeper Susan Peters away from her line.

Upton then saw a drag-flick whistle past the top left corner, but Mullane -  who along with skipper Emily O’Leary, Moore and Peters, shone for the Model Farm Road school – gave Mount Mercy a lifeline with 10 minutes to go, sweeping powerfully to the backboard off their sole short corner to set up a grandstand finale.

That coincided with Mount Mercy’s best period of the match, with Moore the catalyst. She darted inside from the right after collecting another long pass but saw her reverse-sweep saved by Liddy, who also did well to thwart Elisa Buckley after Moore had again engineered the opening.

But Crescent know a thing or two about handling pressure, having secured last year’s trophy in extra-time.

They calmly engineered their sixth short corner of the contest four minutes later – after Mount Mercy’s Kate O’Herlihy saw yellow for taking down an aerial above head-height – and Upton stepped up to find the bottom corner of the goal with a drag-flick.

At the final whistle, their ecstatic supporters flooded onto the pitch, forming a circle around their heroines and each raising an item of footwear to the skies. “Shoes off for the champions” went the refrain – and Limerick hockey is  certainly continuing to put its best foot forward.

MOUNT MERCY: S Peters (GK); C Mullane,  G Kelleher, A Oakes, K O’Herlihy, E O’Leary (capt), C O’Connell, S Browner, A O’Donovan, E Buckley, J Murphy, A Moore, J Cremin, S Wrixon, E Coleman.

CRESCENT: J Liddy (GK), O Hickey, K Fitzgerald, L O’Kane, J Dickinson, R Upton, T Lyons, E McManus (capt), K McGrath, A McMahon, C O’Sullivan, L Barrett, E Burke, A Ahern, C Moloney, H Ryan.

Umpires: L Clifford and M Coombes.

**Meanwhile, Villiers yesterday advanced to the last four of the Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup, needing a golden goal to see off a resolute Newtown School 2-1.

David Cardy’s opening effort for Villiers was cancelled out by the Waterford side’s Sam Butler, but Munster U18 forward Nathan Eacrett won it in extra-time from a short corner.

Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup quarter-final

Villiers 2 (David Cardy, Nathan Eacrett) Newtown 1 (Sam Butler) (aet, golden goal).

**UCC’s surge up the men’s Division One table continued on Tuesday night as they marked the official opening of their new Mardyke water-base pitch with a 4-0 defeat of Cork Harlequins B.

A noteworthy cameo from Nigel Bateman, who scored his first top-level goal for the club and provided an assist, came after Fionn O’Leary netted his fifth goal in two games to open the scoring.

Bateman produced a sweet finish to the bottom right corner for 2-0 after O’Leary’s initial shot had been deflected, before Peter Catchpole slammed home the pick of the bunch, a reverse-stick finish after Andy Gray’s aerial had played in brother Roger.

The latter, who missed a chunk of the game after sustaining a facial cut, then had the final say. Bateman reacted first to the loose ball after spurning a chance and fed Gray, who reversed low to the backboard.

Men’s Div 1

UCC 4 (F O’Leary, N Bateman, P Catchpole, R Gray) Cork Harlequins B 0