UCC alumni have last laugh

UCC’s old girls heaped misery on their former team-mates as Hermes completed a weekend to forget for Munster sides with a 3-0 win over the students at Belfield yesterday. College goalkeeper Zoe Cremin did well to keep the navy hordes at bay early on, but Audrey O’Flynn’s sumptuous drag-flick broke the deadlock against her former team-mates.

O’Flynn then turned provider as she dragged along the floor to find Anna O’Flanagan’s stick for a roofed deflection in the second half, before fellow UCC alum Aine Connery finished the job and secured a bonus point by getting a stick to Eimear Horan’s centre. College earned two corners in the fourth quarter in a bid to deny Hermes a bonus, but Emma Grey was alive to Ali O’Connor’s efforts to keep her clean sheet intact. Elsewhere in Pool A, Catholic Institute fell where many others have before them, keeping Pegasus honest until the final quarter as the Ulster standard bearers claimed a 5-2 win. Newcomer Vanessa Surgeoner started the scoring from a corner rebound, but Rebecca Barry’s sweet deflection levelled matters. Kirsty McCollum became the first of three former internationals to score for Pegs, though, just before half-time from another set-piece for a 2-1 lead. Arlene Boyles was the next, hitting home her side’s third goal from a short corner, but former Irish team-mate Eimear Cregan got Institute back in range from a corner rebound. Beaney scored from a McCollum for the game’s sixth goal from a penalty corner before Steph Quinn eventually got one from play to seal the bonus point, taking in Michelle Harvey’s pass and shooting from the top of the circle. Pegasus top Pool A on goal difference from Hermes, while lurking a point further back and with an away win already in the bag are Loreto, who eked out a 2-1 success at Paddy Grimes’ Belfast Harlequins. Nicci Daly continued her excellent start to the season, netting a brace for the second weekend running to lead Loreto to an away day set of three points at Deramore Park.

It took her less than three minutes to break the deadlock, running through the left side of the Belfast Harlequins’ defence before firing home a low shot. Loreto skipper Nikki Keegan saw her effort saved by Jenny Foster. The second goal, however, fell to Daly once again; this time finding space in the circle at penalty corner to touch the ball home from close range. One more would have handed the Beaufort girls a bonus point win but, instead, it was the hosts who pulled on back with time running out in the third quarter. Jenny McAuley drove through a couple of tackles and slipped to Sarah Wilkinson who finished neatly. And the home side almost snatched a draw but Claire Coey’s reverse went over the bar in the dying moments. In Pool A, Railway Union’s hoodoo over Cork Harlequins continued as the defending champions routed the Munster side 7-2 at Park Avenue on Saturday. Quins had failed to score twice in heavy defeats to the Dubliners last season, including a 4-0 defeat in the final, and with the heart torn out of their squad by retirements this term, they were always facing an uphill battle here. Kate Dillon started the rout in the third minute, rebounding Jean McDonnell’s shot and it was two before the tenth minute was up when Alex Speers played the final ball of a slick move to Emma Smyth who slotted home. Nikki Evans shot the third before two goals in the first couple of minutes in the second half put the game out of sight – Kate Dillon’s drag-flick and Irish U16 Kate Lloyd tapping in on her IHL debut. Cliodhna Sargent did pull one back for Quins by three quarter-time, driving forward from half-way and cracking into the goal. But any thoughts of denying a bonus point win were put to bed by another pair of Railway goals.

Lloyd initiated a move via McDonnell to Nikki Evans to reverse her second into the goal and the youngster was again a provider for McDonnell, cutting the ball back into her path for 7-1. Sargent got a late consolation but it was not all good news for Railway as Eimear Dolan looks set to spend several weeks on the sideline, her arm broken in the build-up to one of the Quins’ goals. Elsewhere in the pool, Chloe Watkins swept home the winning goal to hand Johnny Harte’s UCD side a third win in seven days, coming from a goal behind this time to beat Ballymoney 2-1 in a high-paced tie at Belfield. Katie Mullan’s fine straight strike made it 1-0 to the Ulster side before Watkins, played in Caroline Hill after half-time to level. From a finely worked penalty corner, Watkins found the vital touch for a first win of the campaign, making it a full house for Leinster clubs on the women’s side. Rachel Mulligan grabbed a precious bonus point win for Armagh in the final minute of their tie with Ards, marking their return to the competition in style with a 4-1 win. They started brightly and Amy Stewart – recently returned from a lengthy ankle injury – deflected home in the 13th minute. Lucy McKee added a fine reverse two minutes later but, in the second quarter, Chloe Brown pulled one back for the visitors. A 66th minute stroke, converted by Christine Russell, handed the three winning points to Armagh and they stole a fourth when Mulligan deflected a corner home. Domestically, Ashton’s hoodoo over Cork C of I continued as they won an Examiner Cup thriller 4-3 on penalty strokes yesterday, but there was less good news for Belvedere and Bandon, who lost 2-1 and 2-0 to Greenfields and Galway respectively on neutral turf in Limerick. Irish Hockey League Rd 1 Pool A Armagh 4 (A Stewart, L McKee, C Russell, R Mulligan) Ards 1 (C Brown) Railway Union 7 (K Dillon 2, N Evans 2, K Lloyd, J McDonnell, E Smyth) Cork Harlequins 2 (C Sargent 2) UCD 2 (C Hill, C Watkins) Ballymoney 1 (K Mullan) Pool B Hermes 3 (A O’Flynn, A O’Flanagan, A Connery) UCC 0 Pegasus 5 (V Surgeoner, K McCollum, S Beaney, A Boyles, S Quinn ) Catholic Institute 2 (R Barry, E Cregan) Belfast Harlequins 1 (S Wilkinson) Loreto 2 (N Daly 2) Examiner Cup: Greenfields 2 Belvedere 1; Galway 2 Bandon 0; Ashton 4 Cork C of I 3. Pool A Standings (points/goal difference): 1. Pegasus 4pts (+3) 2. Hermes 4pts (+3) 3. Loreto 3pts (+1) 4. Belfast Harlequins 1pt (-1) 5. Catholic Institute 0pts (-3) 6. UCC 0pts (-3) Pool B Standings: 1. Railway Union 4pts (+5) 2. Armagh 4pts (+3) 3. UCD 3pts (+1) 4. Ballymoney 1pt (-1) 5. Ards 0pts (-3) 6. Cork Harlequins 0pts (-5)