Revenge mission on the cards for UCC

Northern exposure remains the order for the day for UCC, who will fly the flag for Munster in the semi-finals of the men’s Irish Hockey Trophy. With three Ulster sides remaining in the draw – College have dispatched two of them already this year – the students will be glad to be on home turf  at the Mardyke when they take on South Antrim in a repeat of last year’s final on March 3. Saturday saw them eke out a 2-1 win at Bangor, which owed much to their ability to clean up on the counter-attack. Fionn O’Leary forced a turnover on the press and played a one-two with Roger Gray before sliding the ball under the onrushing goalkeeper for 1-0. Corners came and went at both ends while Mark Welch had a shot taken off the line, with Catchpole brothers Peter and Graham putting in decent shifts for the students.

Their second arrived when Andrew Gray got an overhead away from a hit-out before Bangor could set up their press, finding O’Leary. He skinned a defender before unleashing a trademark reverse-stick effort under the goalkeeper for 2-0. It should have been more comfortable thereafter for College, and would have been were it not for something of a freak goal. James Trimble got down the left endline to draw Kieran Healy and hit the ball back towards the penalty spot; the ball bounced over the UCC keeper and was re-directed over the line off Stuart O’Grady’s knee, with College appealing in vain for a raised ball. It mattered little in the end as College ran the clock down to advance to the last four, while there was a further boost for the students as six of their side — O’Leary, Andrew Gray, Shrew Power, Stuart O’Grady, Adam O’Callaghan and Peter Catchpole — stopped in Dublin en route back to Cork to trial for the Irish Universities, with each getting selected for a spring tour to Scotland. There was no such joy for Catholic Institute however, who were left ruing a slow start as Dongeal outfit Raphoe escaped Limerick with a 4-1 victory. Gavin Lecky, scorer of their winner in the previous round against Suttonians, opened the floodgates here with a drag-flick before his namesake Matthew – a former Ulster U18 captain – notched the second, the ball trickling over the line despite Insta netmminder Tristan Murphy getting a touch. Gary Acheson’s yellow card put the hosts further under the cosh and Raphoe were awarded a penalty stroke when Murphy took out one of their forwards, Richard Patterson converting. The game was then ended as a contest when Trevor Patterson hoovered up a rebound after Murphy had saved a straight strike at a corner, although Eric Callender did notch a consolation 15 minutes into the second half. Munster’s interest in the women’s Irish Trophy came to an end in west Cork as a controlled Greenfields performance saw off Bandon 2-0. John Dennis’ side flew out of the blocks and forced a number of neat saves from the Galway side’s goalkeeper Sinead Collins in the opening minutes, but were hit by a sucker punch around the 15-minute mark. Sarah McDonald’s accurate long ball from the right found Greenfields skipper Aine Whelan in the circle, and her first touch eliminated Vicky Burns from the equation and she finished adroitly under Claire Hayes. And Bandon’s task was made twice as tough a couple of minutes later when Trish Garrett nipped past some weak tackling on the left, getting to the endline before flipping the ball back with her reverse for Neasa McGettigan to finish. Bandon won the corner count 8-5 but rarely carved out clean-cut chances – Hilary Chapple’s trickery created space but her crash balls were easily dealt with by a defence led by former Loreto Irish Senior Cup-winning captain, Clodagh Grealy. Chapple (not retreating) and the visitors’ Gillian Heavey (tackle from behind) were both yellow-carded in the second half but neither side made their numberical advantage count on the scoreboard. The best chance fell to Whelan, who was played in one-on-one with the Bandon defence – in which Ciara Harte had a superb outing – caught high. But Hayes gambled and won, racing out to the top of the circle to block the shot. McDonald was binned late on but it was all over bar the shouting, with Bandon forcing three consecutive corners on the final whistle but Greenfields retained their clean sheet. Irish Hockey Trophy quarter-finals Men Bangor 1 (J Trimble) UCC 2 (F O’Leary 2); Catholic Institute 1 (E Callender) Raphoe 4 (G Lecky, M Lecky, R Patterson, T Patterson) South Antrim 6 Rathgar 1 Portadown 2 Armagh 1 Women Bandon 0 Greenfields 2 (A Whelan, N McGettigan) Wexford 2 NICS 2 (aet, NICS win 4-3 on strokes);