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Men’s Division 2
Cork C of I C remain the team to beat in Division Two, having established a vice-like grip at the top of the table by chalking up five wins from five.
Davy Herbert and Neville Foott continue to be their tormentors-in-chief. Their most recent win, a 4-1 success at Galway, saw Bobby MacAllister open their account with a short corner strike, before Herbert skinned the last defender to finish for the second and Peter Creighton made it three before half time.
Darren Fahy claimed one back for Galway midway through the second half, but Herbert claimed his second, getting on the end of a swift counter-attack to put the result beyond doubt.
The going had been tougher in their 5-4 away win over their nearest rivals, Quins C, the previous week. Rob Jenkins finished beautifully at shoulder height to put Quins in front, but Foott, Herbert and Peter Creighton had C of I 3-1 up at the break.
Quins rallied in the second half with efforts from Eoin Kennedy, Greg McClelland and Wes Bateman – with Foott responding – bringing it to 4-4 with ten minutes remaining, but Foott completed his hat-trick with a lovely deflection that ultimately proved decisive.
Quins are three points off the pace, having also recorded a notable 3-2 win at Bandon B, with McClelland’s double the catalyst for that win.
Behind those two, Ashton and Bandon B lead the chasing pack but are still four points behind Quins. Both benefited from big wins against an out-of-sorts UCC B, but Ashton will be kicking themselves for dropping a point at home to winless Limerick A in a 2-2 draw.
Aaron Beamish and Cathal Duggan gave Bandon B a valuable 2-1 win over C of I D, who subsequently crashed 3-1 at home to a Phil Brennan-inspired UCC before bouncing back with a 2-1 win at Limerick.
Men’s Division 3
This has turned into a very clear two-horse race, with Catholic Institute B and Quins C miles ahead of the chasing pack after Midleton’s challenge fell away in recent weeks.
Quins lead the way on 21 points, winning handsomely against their own fifths (8-1) and C of I F (7-0), Eoin Kennedy taking most of the plaudits having claimed seven of those 15 strikes.
Institute are three points behind having played two games less, and look unstoppable having hit 39 goals in their six wins, while conceding just three.
Their facile 15-0 win over C of I F did neither side any good and highlighted the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots at this level – the Garryduff sixth string also went down 9-2 to Limerick B on a miserable weekend in the Treaty city.
Seven points separates Institute and third-placed Midleton, who could only manage a 1-1 draw at Bandon C and lost 2-1 at Limerick B, Burton and Andrew Smith getting the all-important strikes there.
Belvedere are also in the shake-up for third spot, tied on 11 points with Midleton. They did well to limit Institute to a 3-0 win in Ballincollig while also seeing off Bandon C 2-0, also on home turf.
Below them, five points separate the next four teams after the sides took points off each other in recent weeks. David Wolfe and Stuart Miller helped C of I E come from a goal down to beat UCC C 2-1, but the students broke their losing run the following week when Phil Brennan finished off a beautiful reverse-stick cross from Colin Manning to give them a 1-0 win at pointless C of I F.
Women’s Division 2
Little has changed in this division as postponements and Irish Junior Cup commitments interrupt the fixture programme. Quins three wins from three keeps them top on nine points, with C of I second on seven having played twice more.
The Garryduff girls missed a great opportunity at home to bottom of the table UCC, where a sterling defensive performance – led by Kate Burke and Kate O’Sullivan – helped College frustrate the likes of Rachel O’Hanlon and Cathy Walsh to grind out a second successive 0-0 draw.
The only other game in recent weeks saw Wendy Keenan and Angie O’Mahony give Ashton a 2-1 win at home to Belvedere, and all the indications are that this will once again be the most competitive women’s division this season.
Women’s Division 3
The title appears to be Fermoy’s to lose, though C of I are doing their best to keep the pressure up on the free-scoring north Cork side.
Fermoy have hit Waterford and Belvedere for four in their past two encounters, with Orla Cotter to the fore, while C of I won’t have been pleased to drop their first point of the season when Nollaig Quinn earned UL a 1-1 draw, Emily Brownlow scoring for C of I.
The Garryduff side are four points in arrears with a game in hand, though Clonmel and Dungarvan are both snapping at their heels. The former were held 2-2 by Quins in their last outing, but Linsey Keane’s double helped Dungarvan to a 4-1 win at Belvedere.
Waterford and UL remain the divison’s Jekyll and Hyde outfits – the Déise girls spanked UL 6-0 thanks to an Eileen Guiry hat-trick recently, but that is their only win in six outings and they find themselves just one place off the bottom, with Belvedere bringing up the rear.
Women’s Division 4
Quite a ding-dong battle for supremacy is developing in a division where away wins have strangely become the norm, with Tipperary and Ashton slugging it out at the top while Limerick lie in the long grass in third.
Tipp’s ability to win on the road has them top on 17 points; Lynda Kelly’s hat-trick helped them to a 4-1 success at C of I, while the 3-2 win at Waterford was another noteworthy result.
Ashton also won at C of I, 2-1, while Limerick have arguably been the most impressive away from home, hitting 16 goals in two games – a farcical 11-0 win at UCC, which broke a run of three straight draws for the students, and a 5-2 success at Fermoy. Jenni Lyttle, Claire Casey and Ciara Hayes are doing the majority of the damage for them.
A rare old scrap is developing behind them, with just three points dividing six teams. Cobh are the pick of the bunch at the moment thanks to wins at Mallow (1-0) and Bandon (3-0), but the next couple of weeks should see if anyone is able to split from the pack or whether the dogfight will continue.
Waterford are still looking for their first win of the season, with a lack of firepower their obvious problem – they have failed to score in five of their six games and have just a point to their name.
Women’s Division 5
Clonmel and Limerick have been most impressive so far in a truncated campaign that has seen cup action dominate the agenda for most teams in recent weeks.
Susan McGivern and Deirdre Morrisey have emerged as the Tipperary outfit’s go-to-girls when it comes to goals; they have won twice at Belvedere recently, 3-0 in the league and 2-0 in the Combined Div 5/6 Cup.
Rachel Brickenden has developed a knack of scoring important goals for Limerick, including the winner in a 1-0 cup success at Dungarvan and the opener in a comfortable 3-0 win over UCC.
C of I have also been motoring well this month, Evanne O’Donovan and Aisling Colwell helping them to a 2-0 win at Ashton.
A weird week of cup action saw one of the most thrilling games that will be played anywhere this season end in drama at The Mardyke.
A Claire O’Mahony-inspired UCC led Quins’ Div 6 side twice only to be reined in by a Denise O’Connor double, and Munster U18 keeper Elaine Donnolly Murphy, who scored while playing outfield before donning the pads to make two saves in the penalty shootout, which Quins won 4-2. Despite that success, Quins then gave Bruff a walkover in the next round.
Women’s Division 6
Bruff look the team to beat in this division, having helped themselves to 17 goals in their three wins thus far, with Sharon Bulfin, Deirdre Fitzgerald and Gillian Keane leading the way.
Quins are also going well, Denise O’Connor adding two more to her tally in a 3-1 win at Dungarvan, while they also saw off Belvedere 3-0 at home.
UCC’s inexperience at this level continues to be ruthlessly exploited by the other teams in the league – the students, many of whom are playing the game for the first time, have shipped 18 goals in their last three matches.
