CIT reclaim mixed varsities crown

Roger Gray’s firepower proved enough for Cork IT to reclaim the ICHA Mixed Varsities Cup following an intensive day’s hockey at The Mardyke and CIT. The final was once again an all-Cork affair between UCC and CIT, with the Bishopstown side coming out on top 4-2 as Gray – who captained CIT to their only men’s intervarsites title in their history in 2010 – netted a hat-trick. His shootout with UCC’s Fionn O’Leary – who bagged two equalisers for his side and top scored in the competition with 10 goals in 5 games – was the highlight of the final of the tournament, which was this year reduced from a two-day to one-day format.

Gray’s third a couple of minutes from time put CIT’s noses in front for a third time before Ireland A hitman Alistair Smith embarked on a 50-metre solo run and reversed high to the top corner – despite UCC’s excellent goalkeeper Sarah Wrixon getting a touch – for the winner. CIT’s strong female contingent – in a competition that required an even split of the sexes among the outfield players – proved pivotal to their cause with Yvonne O’Byrne, Deirdre Cronin and Cliona Barrett in particular showing up well. O’Leary’s pair of reverse-stick strikes had done the job for UCC in a 2-1 semi-final win over an accomplished IT Tallaght side, for whom Glenanne and Leinster star Jonathan Kane was again the main man. CIT had it all too easy against UL, winning 5-1 against a side who were fielding for the first time in this competition but had notable Division 1 senior players in Steph Peters, Trevor Gray, Elaine Breen and Cathal Duggan in their ranks. Peters claimed the goal of the tournament in a 2-0 win over Carlow IT in the pool stages, the former Munster U18 and Junior interpro representative finishing from a near-impossible angle. UL also gave as good as they got in a ding-dong battle with UCC, winning 4-3 as O’Leary plundered a hat-trick than proved the difference. Both sides advanced to the semis at the expense of Carlow IT and NUI Maynooth, though the latter had one of the tournament’s best performers in Leinster Junior Ben Epstein. A player who might yet emulate him is David O’Farrell, a fresher who is less than six months into his hockey career but has starred for UCC in Munster Division 2 and the Irish Junior Cup; he hit two in a 4-0 win over Carlow IT. Group B was a relatively straightforward affair with CIT and IT Tallaght comfortable winners over UCC’s second string side. Simon O’Leary and Yvonne O’Byrne hit all-important strikes in CIT’s 3-2 win over Tallaght that saw them claim the honours in the group. Maynooth finished in fifth courtesy of an excellent 2-0 win over UCC B, for whom Ross McNulty, Rebecca Trevor and Fiona Lee all had good tournaments. The fruits of a competition which encourages beginners to partake in college hockey are particularly being seen in UL and Carlow, who have agreed a friendly date for next week. Attempts are underway to re-establish a men’s club in UL next season – more information can be found on their Facebook page. ICHA Mixed Varsities, Cork Final CIT 4 (Roger Gray 3, Ali Smith) UCC 2 (Fionn O’Leary 2) Semi-finals UCC 2 (Fionn O’Leary 2) IT Tallaght 1 (Jonathan Kane) CIT 5 (Roger Gray 2, Ali Smith, Yvonne O’Byrne, Andrew Daunt) UL 1 (Cathal Duggan) 5th/6th NUIM 2 UCC B 0  Friendly UCC B 2 (Adam O’Callaghan, Ross McNulty) Carlow IT 0 Group A UCC 4 (Fionn O’Leary 3, Shrew Power) UL 3 (Steph Peters) UCC 4 (David O’Farrell 2, David Doherty, Shrew Power) Carlow IT 0 UL 1 (Cathal Duggan) NUIM 1 UL 2 (Steph Peters, Cathal Duggan) Carlow IT 0 UCC 5 (Fionn O’Leary 3, David Doherty, Shrew Power) NUIM 1 Group B CIT 5 (Andrew Daunt 2, Roger Gray, Gillian Kearns, Yvonne O’Byrne) UCC B 1 IT Tallaght 4 UCC B 1 CIT 3 (Ali Smith, Simon O’Leary, Yvonne O’Byrne) IT Tallaght 2 (Jonathan Kane 2)