Students take the long road to the final

UCC continued their habit of doing things the hard way but eventually progressed to a second successive Irish Hockey Trophy final with a 3-2 win over South Antrim at the Mardyke on Saturday. Neil Welch’s students were gunning for revenge after losing last year’s decider to South, and that desire showed in the opening 10 minutes as they raced into a 2-0 lead. Fionn O’Leary is better known for his trademark reverse-stick strikes but it was his positioning for two deft deflections, redirecting hard passes from Andy Gray and Stuart O’Grady to the backboard, that did the damage here.

The Munster U21 hitman also had College’s best other chance of the half, forcing South netminder Paul Montgomery to bat over the bar a reverse-stick strike bound for the roof of the net. The students forced their only three penalty corners at the end of the half, but Andy Gray’s pair of drag-flicks were saved while South also repelled a switch to the back post. But College had failed to kill the game off despite their first-half superiority and allowed the Ulster outfit back into it after the break, despite the efforts of man of the match Andy Gray, whose distribution and defence were top-drawer. South had one back in the 50th minute when John Catchpole’s attempted clearance was blocked and Ian Harbinson snapped up the loose ball to reverse past Kieran Healy. The UCC keeper also had to make a fine triple save at the feet of Chris Henry as the visitors began to rack up the chances. But the Ulster men were not to be denied, and Henry tipped in from close range off a well-worked corner to level it up with 15 minutes to go. College woke from their slumber without creating many clear-cut opportunities – Peter Catchpole’s crash ball found the backboard, but without a scoring touch. That was until three minutes to go, when brothers Andy and Roger Gray combined to set O’Leary free down the left. He turned provider to square to Colin Manning, and the Kilkenny man’s slightly miscued shot found its way into the bottom corner to win it. College will now meet Donegal side Raphoe — conquerors of Portadown in the other semi — in the April 1 decider at UCD. The psychological advantage should be with the students, given they won 3-1 away to the Ulster side en route to last year’s final. Meanwhile, in the Munster Senior Women’s League, UL were left with mixed feelings after drawing 2-2 with UCC despite leading twice, ending the Cork side’s hopes of automatic Irish Hockey League qualification in the process.

George Blackwell’s girls had the better of a timid first half, with Steph Peters twice forcing good saves from her cousin Susan in the UCC goal. But the breakthrough came just 60 seconds into the second period, as Emma Sherlock took advantage of a moment’s hesitation from Orla Crowley at the back, stealing the ball and out-pacing her to the goal, where she forced the ball through Peters for 1-0. That strike and the introduction off the bench of Ali O’Regan spurred UCC on, and it was her crash ball that eventually found its way to the lively Kate Humphries via a UL foot for her to pounce for the leveller. With Amy Kate Trevor outstanding at sweeper and Nicola Kerr creating openings for Humphries and Emily O’Leary, it looked like College would turn the screw. But they were hit by a sucker punch 10 minutes from time. Elaine Breen’s cross from the right hit a UCC stick and looped high into the circle without danger. Eadaoin Moore claimed the slightest of touches on it before it bounced into the top corner, to the bemusement of the hosts. To their credit, they stuck to the task and ensured the game wasn’t a dead loss with a corner goal five minutes from time. O’Regan’s first effort was repelled by Hilary Griffin while Kerr’s follow-up was blocked, but Aine Curran made it third time lucky. The Kilkenny woman could have plundered a winner late on, seeing two chances go unrewarded, but a draw was the least UL deserved. Meanwhile, Karen Bateman bagged a hat-trick in Quins’ 8-1 dismissal of Cork C of I, meaning they need just a draw from their final league clash against the west Cork side. They could wrap it up before that though, if Bandon fail to take maximum points from their three games in hand. Orlagh Cotter added two, dragging the ball into the corner in a one-on-one with Ciara Randles for the best of them, while Cliodhna Sargent, Claire Bergin and captain Yvonne O’Byrne also got on the scoresheet. Katie Campbell hit the pick of the goals as champions Catholic Institute put themselves one win away from a perfect season with a 9-0 win at Ashton, but the Limerick club’s men went down 4-3 at Quins B to all but condemn them to the bottom rung in the men’s top tier.

Campbell opened up to hit a gorgeous forehand shot to the far top corner from the left of the circle, but the damage was already done by that stage for an Ashton side who played well but were undone by a few quick early goals before the roof fell in. The first and third goals were wide-bound shots that went in off a defensive stick, while Elaine Bromell potted a penalty stroke in between after a goal-bound shot hit Dee Keohane on the chest. Eimear Cregan forced home at the third attempt for number four before half-time – the first of a hat-trick for the league’s runaway top goalscorer – while Bromell dispatched another stroke after the Ashton netminder flung a glove in a bid to stop a certain Cregan goal. Naomi Carroll, Campbell and Kym Daly also claimed goals to leave Insta with a remarkable 68 from 11 games and just one win away from a perfect season, their final game coming at home to UL on March 31. Goals from Eric Callender, Simon Brickenden and Rowan Fitzgerald weren’t enough to prevent Institute from falling 4-3 to Quins B, who rounded up a good weekend by beating C of I C 2-1 at Garryduff to make the Munster Junior Cup final. C of I B once again stand in their way, but the Rochestown side advanced without hitting a ball in anger after being given a walkover by Bandon B. Men  Irish Hockey Trophy semi-finals  UCC 3 (F O’Leary 2, C Manning) South Antrim 2 (I Harbinson, C Henry); Raphoe 4 (I McGonigle, G Leckey, L Coll, R Patterson) Portadown 1;  Final (April 1, Belfield, UCD): Raphoe v UCC. Munster Div 1: Cork Harlequins B 4 Catholic Institute 3; Munster Junior Cup semi-finals: Cork C of I B w/o Bandon B scr; Cork C of I C 1 Cork Harlequins B 2 ; Women  Electric Ireland Irish Hockey Trophy semi-finals  Galway 1 Omagh 2;  Greenfields 1 (T Garrett) NICS 0; Munster Div 1  UCC 2 (K Humphries, A Curran) UL 2 (E Sherlock, E Moore); Cork Harlequins 8 (K Bateman 3, O Cotter 2, Y O’Byrne, C Bergin, C Sargent) Cork C of I 1; Ashton 0 Catholic Institute 9 (E Cregan 3, K Campbell 2, E Bromell 2, K Daly, N Carroll);