Catholic Institute threw a major spanner in the works in the race for semi-final spots in the women’s Irish Hockey League by stunning Loreto 2-1 at Rosbrien on Saturday.
Institute goalkeeper Ciara Ronan had one of the games of her life to keep the heavily-fancied Dubliners at bay, setting the tone early on with three consecutive short corner stops.
And Institute got the go-ahead goal through talismanic forward Eimear Cregan, who redirected Nikki Sterritt’s strike for a half-time lead.
Loreto pushed hard for an equaliser but found Elaine Bromell and Christine O’Shea in uncompromising mood at the back, while the Institute defence thwarted another five corners.
However, with eight minutes to go and against the run of play, the hosts won a corner of their own and switched the ball right to Claire Sullivan, who fired across the keeper into the far corner for 2-0.
Ronan had pulled off two stunning stops before that, but there was little she could do about Nikki Symmons’ goal five minutes from time, which brought Loreto back into bonus point range and setup a grandstand finale.
But Munster netminder Ronan thwarted another two corners to secure a famous win for Institute, and one which just about keeps their interest alive going into next weekend’s final round.
UCC’s dreams had already been dashed by Friday’s news of a points deduction for fielding an ineligible player, and things didn’t get any better as they went down 5-0 to an in-form Pegasus.
That has ensured semi-final qualification for the Belfast side, with Hermes favourites to join them after Jenny Burke, ex-UCC girl Audrey O’Flynn and Anna O’Flanagan all netted twice in a 7-1 demolition of Belfast Harlequins.
Loreto travel to Hermes next week in a tie likeliest to decide the second qualifier from this pool but Institute are not out of it yet.
Avoiding defeat will suffice to put Hermes through, while a bonus-point victory for Loreto would guarantee their passage instead. Any other result, combined with a bonus-point win for Institute at UCC, and the calculators will be coming out.
College’s tussles with Institute in Munster, where they have thrice been on the end of single-goal defeats, means they won’t be short of motivation despite a lop-sided loss to Pegs, the heaviest home defeat suffered by any side in the competition this term.
Kate McConnell’s finish from play and a Grace Irwin corner goal gave Pegs the early initiative, but College had the better of the two middle quarters with Miriam Crowley and Ali O’Connor carving out chances while Olivia Roycroft’s drag-flick brought out the best in Pegs keeper Sharon Moffett.
However, three goals in a bizarre two-minutes spell put a rather unfair gloss on the scoreboard, Suzanne Beaney notching one from play and one corner before Michelle Harvey finished the job.
Meanwhile, UCD joined Pegasus in the last four as two poacher’s goals from Caroline Hill and a moment of magic by Chloe Watkins helped Johnny Harte’s students win 3-0 at Cork Harlequins in Pool B.
UCD thwarted two early Quins corners before Watkins played in Hill to force home the opener. The Irish international’s runs frightened the life out of the Quins defence, and one such forway saw her expertly take the ball around Vanessa Sargent before flicking home.
Leanne Mullins, Acacia Taylor and Rachel McSharry attempted to carve some openings for Stephen Dale’s Quins but in Megan Tennant-Humphreys and Laura Wilson, UCD had a solid look about them in defence.
Niamh Atcheler’s aerials from right-back were also causing a myriad of problems, but it was a rare foray into opposition territory from skipper Tennant-Humphreys – who played a one-two with Watkins before forcing the ball under Sargent for Hill to tap in, that put them into bonus point territory.
Cliodhna Sargent was everywhere for Quins in the final quarter as they attempted to salvage something, but was if anything a little guilty of trying to do too much herself, and they couldn’t force a consolation goal.
Railway Union are favourites to join UCD in the semis after Jeamie Deacon’s brace helped them come from behind to notch a 3-1 win at Armagh, as coach Mick McKinnon put one over his former side.
They host out-of-contention Ards — who lost 1-0 to Ballymoney — next weekend, while Armagh and Ballymoney must get something from their trips to UCD and Quins respectively to stay in the hunt.
Domestically, Bandon women’s IHL qualification hopes took a knock as they drew 2-2 with Ashton, ending a five-game winning streak for the city side in the process, while C of I routed Belvedere 7-0.
Women’s Irish Hockey League Rd 4
Pool A
Catholic Institute 2 (E Cregan, C Sullivan) Loreto 1 (N Symmons)
UCC 0 Pegasus 5 (S Beaney 2, K McConnell, G Irwin, M Harvey)
Hermes 7 (J Burke 2, A O’Flanagan 2, A Connery, A O’Flynn 2) Belfast Harlequins 1 (J Kee)
Women’s Pool A standings: 1. Pegasus 14pts (+11) 2. Hermes 11pts (+8) 3. Loreto 9pts (+2) 4. Catholic Institute 8pts (0) 5. UCC 2pts (-8)* 6. Belfast Harlequins 1pt (-12).
* UCC docked two points for fielding an ineligible player
Pool B
Cork Harlequins 0 UCD 3 (C Hill 2, C Watkins)
Ards 0 Ballymoney 1 (J Nelson)
Armagh 1 (S Holdsworth) Railway Union 3 (J Deacon 2, C Joyce);
Pool B standings (after round four): 1. UCD 13pts (+7) 2. Railway Union 11pts (+7) 3. Armagh 8pts (+1) 4. Ballymoney 5pts (0) 5. Ards 5pts (-4) 6. Cork Harlequins 0pts (-11)
Munster Div 1: Bandon 2 Ashton 2; Belvedere 0 Cork C of I 7.
