Three and easy for Insta

Munster Senior Cup final Catholic Institute 2 (Elaine Bromell, Katie Campbell) UCC 0 Institute were deserved three-in-a-row Munster Senior Cup winners as they won pulling up against a surprisingly flat UCC. Ger O’Carroll’s troops showed all their experience to weather an early storm from the students before Elaine Bromell gave them the upper hand with a typically emphatic short corner strike.

College had their chances, not least when Christine O’Shea was somewhat fortunate to escape a card for felling Miriam Crowley after the Irish international had surged 60 metres with some fine 3D skills. But that corner and every other chance went begging for College, who attacked somewhat centrally and played right into Insta’s hands. The Limerick girls then made it safe around 10 minutes from time when a neat switch move saw Naomi Carroll tee up Katie Campbell for a lovely deflected goal. With their title destiny now out of their hands, Insta celebrated this victory with gusto and will look to bring that form into their Irish Hockey League campaign, as well as an upcoming league clash with UCC in a fortnight’s time. Munster Senior Plate final Ashton 3 (Emma Harrington, own goal, Cliodhna Murphy) UL 3 (Sorcha Carey 2, Emma Sherlock) (aet, UL win on penalty strokes) Garryduff is proving to be a very lucky venue for UL as they once again saved their best form for knockout hockey, stunning Ashton in a penalty shootout. The light blues held the ball for long periods and created most of the chances, but as in their 3-2 IHT quarter-final win over C of I, UL rode their luck and took their own opportunities with aplomb. Emma Harrington’s magnificent diving finish put Ashton in front before Sorcha Carey pulled one back through a deflection for the Limerick students. A switched short corner strike from Cliodhna Murphy put Ashton back in the ascendancy before Harrington got to the endline and drew an own goal to seemingly put them in control at 3-1. But Emma Sherlock made the most of a botched short corner pull-out to score a direct hit and Carey again found a way through Niamh Stockil’s defences to close a breathless first half at 3-3.

The helter-skelter stuff died down as fatigue began to creep in and the tie went the distance, with UL prevailing on strokes to complete a memorable day for them. Women’s Division 2 Cup final Cork C of I 1 (Dymphna Hill) Bandon 0 Irish Masters star Dymphna Hill put the disappointment of the Division 3 Cup final defeat behind her to smash home the winner in a tight clash on the Garryduff sand. Hill’s strike came at short corner time, when a rebound fell her way 10 minutes from time she blasted past the Bandon defence for the winner. Women’s Division 3 Cup final Cork C of I 1 (Judy Judge) Clonmel 1 (Marie Mulcahy) (aet, Clonmel win on penalty strokes) Clonmel proved themselves to be the penalty queens again in a dramatic denouement to the women’s Division 3 decider. The Tipperary girls have won on strokes in every round of the cup this season, but with Dawn Grace starring, they might have thought it was their day when centre forward Marie Mulcahy picked up a pass, strode into the circle and finished well in the second half. C of I rallied with a short corner strike from Judy Judge to send it to extra time, but Clonmel keeper Jennifer O’Brien saved two flicks to one by C of I netminder Kate Murphy in a high-quality shootout to take the spoils. Women’s Division 4 Cup final Clonakilty 2 (Freda Buttimer 2) Limerick 1 (Lorraine McGowan) The west is truly awake this weekend as Clonakilty won both the Division 4 and 5 Cups, highlighting how far the club has come in a relatively short space of time. The damage here was all done in the second period following a scoreless first half, with Freda Buttimer’s experience telling as she made crucial interventions either side of a Lorraine McGowan goal for Limerick. Women’s Division 5 Cup final Clonakilty 4 (Karen Jennings 2, Freda Buttimer, Laura Maloney) Blackrock 0 Clonakilty completed a league and cup double as they had too much quality in the spine of their side for a game Blackrock outfit. These sides have had some serious ding-dongs in the league this year, both winning away from home against each other. But on cup final day, Hilary Chapple’s quality proved the main difference.

The former Quins and Bandon midfield star brings a wealth of Division 1 experience to this level, and she had a hand in all four goals. Freda Buttimer opened the scoring seven minutes in from a short corner, but it took until the 45th minute before they doubled that advantage, again from a set-piece, through Laura Maloney. And they put some gloss on the scoreline in the final 10 minutes as captain Karen Jennings bagged quickfire goals from play, to send a sizeable travelling support into raptures. It was a tough defeat for Blackrock, who have made huge strides in their first season of existence under coach Conor O’Kelly and had stars of their own in Laura Hogan, Helen O’Connell, Valerie Banks and Máire Ní Mhathúna among others. Women’s Division 6 Cup final Limerick 3 (Ellen Carey 2, Sydney Eacrett) Cobh 2 (Claire Stack, Sarah Crone) John Meyler was a delighted coach after this final, as Limerick made up for their earlier Division 4 disappointment with the goals raining down in an entertaining decider. The Treaty girls punished Cobh at short corner time in particular, Ellen Carey and Sydney Eacrett’s  alertness to rebounds helping them come take the spoils after two equalisers from the east Cork ladies.

Women’s Division 6 Plate final UCC 3 (Meghan Wafer 2, Aoife Freyne) Fermoy 0 A chorus of ‘Oh Canada’ broke out in UCC’s post-match celebrations as their Toronto import Meghan Wafer struck twice to win the club’s first silverware of the season. A strong College selection were largely dominant against a very young but well drilled Fermoy side, with Wafer setting the tone when she finished with aplomb from a tight angle on the left early in the first half. A quick two-goal salvo in the second period settled it, Wafer notching her second while Dubliner Aoife Freyne, a constant menace to the Fermoy defence, also hit the target. UCC could even afford to miss a penalty stroke while Niamh O’Neill had a fine goal chalked off for a foot in the build-up, before Ciara Manley’s goal-line clearance denied Fermoy a goal their efforts surely deserved. **Note: SFH did our best to see as many finals as possible but there were 11 in total this weekend, and work, playing and umpiring sometimes gets in the way! If you can fill in any of the info for us on the match reports that are light on detail, please leave a comment below. Thanks to all who helped us get this far!