Holmes and Chambers make the difference

Men’s Irish Junior Cup Rd 1 Cork C of I 1 (Mark Holmes) Mossley 0 Having won this tie 6-1 last season, C of I were somewhat grateful to progress after they were pushed much harder by Mossley this time around.

Drawn away to C of I for the second time in as many years, the Belfast men had clearly learned some lessons as they stung Andy Whitaker’s pads from a pair of short corners in the opening 20 minutes. The hosts, spurred on by Ireland U16 pair Simon Wolfe and Alex Burns, found their stride and Mark Holmes saw his corner effort saved onto the post. Holmes, a star of C of I’s 2009 IJC victory, was the hero again here as he won and converted a short midway through the second half, dragging the ball home. NICS 1 (Matty McCord) UCC 2 (own goal, Greg Chambers) A day to remember in Belfast for Munster Division 2 leaders UCC, who claimed their first Irish Junior Cup win since 1995 in an incredibly open game at Stormont. Things should have been a lot more comfortable than the scoreline suggested, with Service almost making the students pay for incredible wastefulness. They were cruising at half-time as Greg Chambers’ shot was diverted in by a NICS stick for an own goal, before the former Midleton College man re-directed Andy Colton’s high corner bash downward and into the corner. Perhaps too mindful of their second-half collapse in Kilkeel last season, Peter Catchpole and Stuart O’Grady’s charges allowed NICS back into it and had to rely on Kieran Healy to make some vital stops. They still got into the NICS circle at will, with Colin Manning, David O’Farrell and Chambers all spurning good chances created by the excellent Colton, Jack Cherry and Wesley Brownlow. Sullivan Upper schoolboy Matty McCord found the bottom corner with four minutes to go to setup a tense finale, but the students held out for a famous win.

Annadale 5 Cork Harlequins 2 (Shane Ross, Mark Lombard)  Annadale had too much in the tank for Cork Harlequins as they surged inti round two with a powerful performance at Lough Moss. Having seen the hosts go one up inside ten minutes, Quins equalised in style as Rob Hobbs took off up the centre of the pitch and worked the ball to Shane Ross to finish high with a flicked effort. Finding themselves 3-1 down at half-time, Quins went high with their press but were twice caught on the break, eventually grabbing a consolation when Mark Lombard deflected home a well-worked short corner. Other Irish Junior Cup Rd 1 results: UCD 3 Avoca 5; Three Rock Rovers 3 Pembroke Wanderers 5; South Antrim 1 Bangor 4;  Lisnagarvey 4 Suttonians 3 Instonians 0 Belfast Harlequins 1; Railway Union 2 YMCA 4; Dublin University 1 Corinthian 3; Fingal 7 Raphoe 1; Banbridge 3 Kilkeel 2; Cookstown 4 Clontarf 0. Byes to Rd 2: Glenanne, Monkstown and North Down. Peard Cup semi-final Cork C of I 10 (Gary Wilkinson 5, Ali Smith 3, Stephen Sweetnam 2) Bandon 0 Cork Church of Ireland had a productive weekend as they advanced to the next round of two cups in less than 24 hours. Their firsts gave Bandon a lesson in finishing and movement as they crushed the west Cork side 10-0 in Friday night’s Peard Cup semi-final at Garryduff. Gary Wilkinson helped himself to five goals with Ali Smith claiming three against his old club, while Stephen Sweetnam netted twice, C of I scoring seven in a rampant first half. They’ll play the winners of UCC’s clash with Cork Harlequins, which is down for decision on Tuesday night at Farmer’s Cross at 7pm.