Men’s Div 1
Cork C of I 6 (Simon Wolfe 3, John Jermyn, David Hobbs, Stephen Sweetnam) Cork Harlequins 1 (Julian Dale)
Simon Wolfe’s stylish quickfire double eventually put a resilient Cork Harlequins to bed as C of I were forced to work harder than the scoreline suggests for victory.
Quins were widely expected to be cannon fodder having had the heart ripped out of their squad over the summer, but despite a gap in fitness levels, acquitted themselves well by defending compactly in the first half.
They also took a shock lead with a rasper of a drag-flick from Julian Dale, while it just wasn’t doing right for C of I at the other end as Stephen Sweetnam missed an open goal from point-blank range.
But John Jermyn slung home their first corner to level it up at half-time, and the game changed midway through the second period due to Wolfe’s opportunism.
The diminutive Ireland U18 hitman (pictured above) picked off a loose David Egner pass and flipped the ball over Philip Chambers before reversing hard and high for 3-1 just 90 seconds later.
David Hobbs – in an unexpected appearance given his back injury troubles – then combined neatly with Andy Gray for number four to kill the contest.
Philip Sweetnam’s long counter-attack ball found Stephen Sweetnam and he rounded Chambers before arrowing home on his backhand, before Wolfe completed his hat-trick late on, forcing home from close range after Alex Deane’s sumptuous cross-field pass had splintered the Quins defence.
Cork C of I B 1 (Jack O’Mahony) UCC 7 (Andrew Scannell 3, Fionn O’Leary 2, Stuart O’Grady, Peter Catchpole)
A second-half blitz proved enough for UCC to open their account for the season after struggling to put away C of I’s seconds in a tepid opening period.
Stuart O’Grady mopped up a messy corner for the students only for Jack O’Mahony to do likewise for the hosts as it was level at the break.
But Neil Welch’s side found their stride thereafter; Andrew Scannell netted two drag-flicks and fine lobbed effort over James Philips for a hat-trick while the highlight came from a thunderous rising half-volley from Fionn O’Leary.
But John Jermyn slung home their first corner to level it up at half-time, and the game changed midway through the second period due to Wolfe’s opportunism.
The diminutive Ireland U18 hitman (pictured above) picked off a loose David Egner pass and flipped the ball over Philip Chambers before reversing hard and high for 3-1 just 90 seconds later.
David Hobbs – in an unexpected appearance given his back injury troubles – then combined neatly with Andy Gray for number four to kill the contest.
Philip Sweetnam’s long counter-attack ball found Stephen Sweetnam and he rounded Chambers before arrowing home on his backhand, before Wolfe completed his hat-trick late on, forcing home from close range after Alex Deane’s sumptuous cross-field pass had splintered the Quins defence.
Cork C of I B 1 (Jack O’Mahony) UCC 7 (Andrew Scannell 3, Fionn O’Leary 2, Stuart O’Grady, Peter Catchpole)
A second-half blitz proved enough for UCC to open their account for the season after struggling to put away C of I’s seconds in a tepid opening period.
Stuart O’Grady mopped up a messy corner for the students only for Jack O’Mahony to do likewise for the hosts as it was level at the break.
But Neil Welch’s side found their stride thereafter; Andrew Scannell netted two drag-flicks and fine lobbed effort over James Philips for a hat-trick while the highlight came from a thunderous rising half-volley from Fionn O’Leary.