C of I send students to finishing school

Men’s Division 1 UCC 1 (Fionn O’Leary) Cork Church of Ireland 3 (Nigel Buttimer, Gary Wilkinson, Stephen Sweetnam) Cork Church of Ireland gave UCC a lesson in clinical finishing as their win at the Mardyke all but extinguished the students’ flickering title hopes. College were left to rue a malfunctioning short-corner unit as they eked out more chances than the visitors but let five set-piece chances slip away. C of I showed excellent economy up front and were 2-0 to the good at half time after Nigel Buttimer profited from David Hobbs’ good baseline work to bash home through a crowded circle before Gary Wilkinson’s backhand snapshot found the net.

UCC finally got some reward for their endeavours in the second half when Fionn O’Leary touched in Andrew Scannell’s crash, but a Stephen Sweetnam drag-flick — which looked to be heading wide before it went in off Adam O’Callaghan — sealed a deserved three points for C of I. Cork Harlequins 3 (Rob Hobbs 2, Dan Hobbs) Bandon 0 Quins kept it in the family as brothers Rob and Dan Hobbs did the damage for them in a relatively straightforward victory over Bandon. Phil Oakley’s men lead C of I by six points but the Garryduff men have two games in hand, starting with Wednesday’s ‘Duff Bowl Derby’ against C of I seconds. Cork C of I B 2 (Simon Wolfe 2) Cork Harlequins B 0 A couple of classy touches from Munster U18 hitman Simon Wolfe did for Quins seconds on Friday night at Garryduff. Wolfe put the blues in front midway through the first half when he rode a few tackles and saw his reverse from the top saved, but the rebound fell to him and he worked it to his openside to smash home. Quins dominated the early exchanges of the second half but the final pass went astray too often and Wolfe’s accurate short corner strike with 15 minutes to go settled it for the hosts. Women’s Munster Senior Cup quarter-finals Catholic Institute 10 (Eimear Cregan 3, Stephanie Hall 2, Katie Campbell 2, Eimear Ryan 2, Naomi Carroll) Ashton 2 (Emma Harrington 2) Ashton ran into a Catholic Institute juggernaut , the Cork girls sent packing from Rosbrien after being hit for seven in the first half. Institute have endured a frustrating few weeks amid two postponed games and a shock defeat to UCC, and took their anger out on Alan Dobson’s side as Steph Hall netted her first goals since returning from Loreto and Eimear Cregan bagged a hat-trick. Ashton regouped somewhat in the second half after going in 7-0 down at the break, with captain Emma Harrington scoring twice to stem the tide. UCC 2 (Emily O’Leary, Miriam Crowley) Bandon 0 UCC learned the lessons from their league slip-up against Bandon as they dispatched John Dennis’s side 2-0 at the Mardyke. Bandon were missing defensive lynchpin Ciara Harte this time around and Paidi Hartnett’s side took full advantage. Emily O’Leary kept up her recent prolific form with the first before Irish international Miriam Crowley doubled their lead as they never looked back. Limerick 0 Cork Harlequins 2 (Orlagh Cotter, Cliodhna Sargent) Cork Harlequins were far from their best but still had enough in the tank to see off Limerick at Villiers. Orlagh Cotter’s strike and a trademark Cliodhna Sargent short-corner blast did the necessary for Stephen Dale’s charges. The draw for March’s semi-finals will take place after the outstanding quarter-final tie, between Cork C of I and UL, is played on January 20.