Draws leave C of I and Quins with mixed feelings

They may have restored some Munster pride on the national stage, but Cork Church of Ireland and Cork Harlequins will nonetheless be wondering how they left two-goal leads slip in their 2-2 Irish Hockey League draws with Pembroke Wanderers and Glenanne respectively. With four sides from the southern province losing heavily in the Irish Senior Cup last weekend, a further Saturday of misery was feared, but Munster’s big two were both unlucky not to take maximum points. A John Jermyn drag-flick and a fine lobbed finish from 16-year-old Gary Wilkinson had C of I two to the good at Serpentine Avenue, only for Gordon Elliott to pull one back before Alan Sothern – who had twice hit the woodwork – to reverse home an equaliser.

It was a similar story at Harlequins Park as Hobbs brothers Dan and John both rattled home drag-flicks for a shock 2-0 lead over Glenanne, despite seeing David Lombard yellow-carded. But quickfire replies from Gary Shaw and Jonathan Kane – the former rifled home a corner, before Kane pounced on a bouncing ball with a vicious volley – saw the Tallaght side leave Cork with a share of the spoils. Elsewhere in Quins’ Pool A, Monkstown made light work of Instonians, winning 4-0 to claim a bonus point and top spot, while Ian Sloan’s hat-trick saw the battle of Ireland’s EuroHockey League representatives go Cookstown’s way, as they saw off Banbridge 4-2. The clubs will travel together to Antwerp in Belgium next next weekened for their first taste of EHL action, before resuming hostilities in the Irish Senior Cup’s second round when they return. In Pool B, an under-strength Lisnagarvey edged out YMCA 1-0 – another chastening loss in Ulster for the ambitious Dubliners – while Annadale beat Three Rock Rovers 2-1 in a dour affair at Lough Moss. The closeness of the men’s ties wasn’t repeated in the women’s games, with all but one of the six games ending in comfortable bonus-point wins. That tight encounter came at Rosbrien, where a go-ahead goal from Eimear Cregan wasn’t enough to prevent Catholic Institute going down 2-1 to Pegasus. Cregan put the finishing touch on a move created down the right and spurred by the pace of Kym Daly, while Elaine Bromell and Christine O’Shea held the fort at the back. But Pegs’ experienced forward line has got them out of jail plenty of times before, and it was no different here, with Claire McMahon twice linking with Suzanne Beaney for the latter’s brace to turn the tables by half-time. Pegs chose to sit on their lead in the third quarter before Institute ratcheted things up, with Cregan and Katie Campbell both unlucky not to nick an equaliser. UCD and Hermes routed Armagh and Old Alex respectively on 3-0 scorelines, with former UCC girl Miriam Crowley netting a maiden goal for Hermes. That was also the margin of victory in Pool B for Loreto and Railway Union – who vanquished Cork Harlequins and Lurgan respectively – while Ballymoney saw off UCC 4-1. Quins rattled Louisa Healy’s cage via a trademark Cliodhna Sargent thunderbolt early on, but Niamh Small nutmegged Vanessa Sargent in the 17th minute to grab the lead, before turning provider to locate Nikki Keegan on the penalty spot for 2-0 10 minutes into the second half. That spurred Quins – and specifically Rachel McSharry, Jane Chapple and Acacia Taylor – into action, but their efforts went unrewarded and Cathy McKean dealt a sucker blow with two minutes to go, polishing off a one-on-one with Sargent to secure Loreto’s bonus point. Domestically, UCC men failed to lift their Bandon curse, drawing 1-1 at the Mardyke as Aaron Beamish cancelled out Peter Catchpole’s opener. Former Ireland U18 Catchpole had got a touch to Adam O’Callaghan’s crash ball, but that was as good as it got for the students as they failed to overcome a weakened Bandon outfit minus Ali Smith – who suffered a hip flexor injury against UCD – and Andrew Scannell. O’Callaghan and David Smith both walked for bad tackles that infiltrated both sides’ efforts, before Beamish equalised when his looping dragged effort appeared to catch Kieran Healy and the College corner defence off guard. A slew of corners came UCC’s way but with none of their injectors on the pitch, Bandon were able to shut down the drag-flicking threat of Roger Gray to claim a vital share of the spoils. In the women’s Examiner Cup, NUIG were the surprise big winners, routing Ashton 7-2 on neutral territory at Rosbrien as Síle Johnson, Aimee O’Connor and Aoife Smyth all claimed doubles. Cork C of I exacted some revenge for UL’s late equaliser in league action last weekend by plundering a golden goal to claim a 4-3 win at the Limerick university – having earlier been three goals up. Bandon edged Greenfields 2-1 to further boost their morale and Galway easily dispatched Belvedere 7-1. Men Irish Hockey League Rd 1, Pool A Cookstown 4 (I Sloan 3, M Crooks) Banbridge 2 (D Ward, B McCandless); Cork Harlequins 2 (D Hobbs, J Hobbs) Glenanne 2 (Gary Shaw, J Kane); Monkstown 4 (F Ryan 2, J Kirwan, R Sykes) Instonians 0; Pool B Pembroke Wanderers 2 (G Elliott, A Sothern) Cork C of I 2 (J Jermyn, G Wilkinson); Lisnagarvey 1 (A Forrest) YMCA 0; Annadale 2 (P Purcell, T Peukert) Three Rock Rovers 1 (R Canning) Munster Div 1 UCC 1 (P Catchpole) Bandon 1 (A Beamish); Women Irish Hockey League Rd 1 Pool A Catholic Institute 1 (E Cregan) Pegasus 2 (S Beaney 2); Old Alex 0 Hermes 3 (S Connery, M Crowley, K McComish); UCD 3 (D Duke, L Ewart, H de Burgh Whyte) Armagh 0; Pool B Loreto 3 (N Small, N Keegan, C McKean) Cork Harlequins 0; Ballymoney 4 (N Parke, J Kennedy, E Lynch, S Martin) UCC 1 (AN Other); Lurgan 0 Railway Union 3 (N Evans, J McDonnell, K McKenna); Examiner Cup: NUIG 7 Ashton 2; Greenfields 1 Bandon 2; Belvedere 1 Galway 7; UL 3 Cork C of I 4 (aet, golden goal).