IHL’s final four confirmed

John Aherne made a dramatic scoring return to the Cork Harlequins side but a late collapse cost his side their first win of the Irish Hockey League campaign following a 2-2 draw with Instonians. Quins, playing to avoid the Pool A wooden spoon, went ahead through Mark Black’s short corner deflection before Aherne – who has not played for the club since 2008, prior to the introduction of the autopass rule – tapped in after Colin Ross’ superb solo run with 10 minutes to go. But Quins, for whom 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Ryan was in inspired form, couldn’t hold out and John Watson finished tidily from the penalty spot before Jonny Madill scored with the last shot of the game. Despite Pembroke and YMCA’s best efforts, Cookstown and Lisnagarvey scraped through to the semi-finals of the Irish Hockey League despite losing 3-2 respectively on Saturday in the last round of group matches.

In both cases, the losing bonus point garnered by the Ulster sides was enough to edge out their Leinster rivals who needed to run up big wins to have any hope of advancing. It meant they joined Banbridge as the side to progress from Pool B and they go on to meet Monkstown in the semi-finals. Banbridge eased to top spot in the Pool with a fifth straight win, seeing off Glenanne 2-1 in a low-key affair while Railway Union landed a 4-2 win in Cork against C of I, setting themselves up nicely for Tuesday’s Neville Cup final against Pembroke. In Pool A, Monkstown dropped points for the first time in the competition when William Edgar and Andy Williamson struck in the second half for Annadale to earn a 2-2 draw. UCD confirmed first place in the women’s Pool B with a strong 3-0 win over Ballymoney, a result that eliminated the Co Antrim side while allowing Ards to sneak through, too, to the semi-finals. Ards picked off a 2-0 win over Lurgan with Sara Alexander setting them on their way before Becky Weir clinched the four points. It left Old Alex unable to breach the top two but they did close out their IHL campaign with a 1-0 win, Hannah McDermott netting with just a couple of minutes to go to see of Cork Harlequins. Loreto and Railway Union eased into the semi-final berths of the Irish Hockey League, rendering Pegasus’ efforts in Limerick to grind out a 3-2 win over Catholic Institute not enough. Both Dublin sides produced breathtaking performances to run up four-goal wins – Loreto against Ulster Elks and Railway over Hermes – that put them very much in the contenders bracket in Grange Road next weekend. Men’s Irish Hockey League Pool A: Monkstown 2 (N Dee, S Cole) Annadale 2 (W Edgar, A Williamson); Pembroke 3 (A Sothern 3) Cookstown 2 (S Todd, J Ames); Cork Harlequins 2 (M Black, J Aherne) Instonians 2 (J Watson, J Madill) Standings: 1. Monkstown 18pts (+12) 2. Cookstown 14pts (+8) 3. Pembroke 13pts (+1) 4. Annadale 12pts (+1) 5. Instonians 6pts (-10) 6. Cork Harlequins 2pts (-12) Pool B: Lisngarvey 2 (S McNeice, S Arbuthnot) YMCA 3 (J Bruton, S Parker, J Tobin); Banbridge 2 (B McCandless, D Ward) Glenanne 1 (R Shaw); Cork C of I 2 (D Hobbs, A Daunt) Railway 4 (R Abbott, P English, D McCarthy, R Devlin) Standings: 1. Banbridge 20pts (+13) 2. Lisnagarvey 14pts (+4) 3. YMCA 13pts (+1) 4. Railway Union 8pts (-2) 5. Cork C of I 5pts (-8) 6. Glenanne 5pts (-8) Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Hockey League Pool A: Railway Union 4 (E Smyth 2, Z Delany, J McDonnell) Hermes 0; Loreto 5 (N Daly, J McGirr, N Small, R Keegan, A Meeke) Ulster Elks 1 (L Brown); Pegasus 3 Catholic Institute 2 Standings: 1. Loreto 18pts (+10) 2. Railway Union 16pts (+8) 3. Pegasus 15pts (+4) 4. Hermes 9pts (+2) 5. Catholic Institute 5pts (-9) 6. Ulster Elks 1pt (-15) Pool B: Ards 2 (S Alexander, B Weir) Lurgan 0; Ballymoney 0 UCD 3 (A O’Flanagan 2, C Watkins); Cork Harlequins 0 Old Alex 1 (H McDermott) Standings: 1. UCD 17pts (+12) 2. Ards 13pts (+1) 3. Ballymoney 12pts (+5) 4. Old Alex 12pts (-1) 5. Cork Harlequins 6pts (-9) 6. Lurgan 5pts (-8)