Irish Hockey Trophy quarter-final
Cork C of I 2 (Jen Barry, Ali O’Regan) UL 3 (Steph Peters 2, Jean Devoy)
UL continue to save their best for knockout hockey after they advanced to the Irish Trophy semi-finals with a stunning surprise win away to C of I.
C of I seemed to be headed for good things when Jen Barry’s corner strike found the net via a UL stick on five minutes, while Amy Roberts caused problems everywhere she went.
But the students found their groove and equalised 22 minutes in, Steph Peters winning the ball in the press and raiding the endline before pulling the ball back for Jean Devoy to finish high to the net.
Munster U21 Peters continued her fine form when persistence from her sister Laura and Ciara O’Sullivan saw the ball worked into the circle for Peters to reverse under Holly Moore five minutes later.
Emma Sherlock and Rachelle Nyhan had to concentrate throughout to keep a determined C of I at bay for much of the third quarter, while Laura O’Kane took one off the line.
The warning signs had been coming and the hosts – who mustered 10 corners in total and also dinged both post and crossbar – equalised with eight minutes to go, Ali O’Regan deflecting home a cross-cum-shot from the top of the circle.
But UL were not to be denied, and fittingly it was their star woman Peters who won it for them in the 66th minute, finding the space for a clear run into the circle before burying the chance.
Munster Senior Cup semi-final
Cork Harlequins 0 Catholic Institute 5 (Naomi Carroll, Christine O’Shea, Kym Daly, Nikki Sterritt, Katie Campbell)
“Embarrassing” was how one Quins player described the comprehensive nature of this defeat, which keeps Insta trucking on for a third consecutive double.
As has been their wont recently, the Limerick side spread the goals around the time as they exerted their superiority at every opportunity, laying down a big marker for next weekend’s league meeting in the process.
Munster Senior Plate semi-final
Ashton 5 (Emma Harrington 4, Sarah Clune) Fermoy 0
Alan Dobson’s Ashton took a while to get going but eventually blew away the Fermoy challenge to earn some revenge for last week’s 1-1 draw.
The light blues scored through an Emma Harrington corner strike on the cusp of half-time, and the skipper added three more – one from the penalty spot – with Sarah Clune finishing the rout in the second half.
Ashton will be back in action sooner than anticipated, with their league clash with C of I having been fixed for 8pm in Garryduff on Tuesday night. Men’s Division 1 Cork Harlequins 0 Cork C of I 1 (Andrew Daunt) The Munster men’s title is Cork C of I’s to lose after Andrew Daunt’s crisp backhand shot from a tight angle settled a tetchy game against rivals Cork Harlequins. C of I can make mathematically sure when the sides meet next weekend but they also have two games in hand against struggling Bandon to seal the deal. Once more the sides contrived to cancel each other out for the most part but Daunt’s shot nutmegged Nigel Bryan to take the spoils for C of I. Cork C of I B 0 UCC 6 (Andrew Scannell 2, Fionn O’Leary 2, Andrew Gray, Adam O’Callaghan) UCC finally found their groove against a C of I B side they have struggled to put away at times this year with an emphatic rout at Garryduff. Andrew Gray’s drag started the goal-rush before Fionn O’Leary bagged two, the first a rasping reverse, to put the game to bed. It became the Andrew Scannell show thereafter, his neat stickwork at close quarters helping him net two memorable goals, before Adam O’Callaghan popped up with a rare goal against his old club to finish things off. Irish Hockey Trophy quarter-final: Campbellians 5 Bandon 1.
What has happened to Munster hockey? I’ve been out of the country for a number of years & when I heard of the “league decider” on in Harlequin Park I said it would be a good way to spend the afternoon. I arrived in the car park at 12.30 & it was at least half empty – a few years ago you would have had to park on the road outside so close to hit off – there were only a couple of dozen supporters at the pitch itself & there was absolutely no atmosphere. You could feel the tension on the side line at these games in the past. As for the game itself the pace was slow, the skills were poor & the whole game was played like a pre-season friendly. In comparison to games between these two sides in 80’s, 90’s & 2000’s this game was sub standard. I won’t be watching again anytime soon & I can understand why there were so few people at the game.
I don’t think you should judge on watching one game.
I was also at the game. It was a poor match, however this has not been the case with these teams over the past couple of seasons, there have been some cracking matches. Even in the 90s you had the odd poor game.
When you go back to the 90s, there were plenty of Irish internationals in those squads, now with most of those internationals playing in Europe professionally, the game is going to be different. C. of I. lost John Jermyn this year and Quins, while were missing ex-international Mark Black. the Harte twins also would more than likely be playing for Quins if they were in Cork (which of course, they may not be if they weren’t playing in Europe). There is nearly a full Irish squad playing abroad now between the UK, Belgium, Germany and Holland. It is natural that the standard might drop.
I spoke to one of the coaches afterward and he said he felt the game was poor. This was untypical of recent games.
Congratulations to C. of I. on their league win.