Bandon and Ashton advance in style

Ciara McCarthy and Hilary Chapple provided the crucial interventions as Bandon advanced to the last eight of the women’s ESB Irish Trophy with a 2-0 win at Suttonians. McCarthy finished off a breakout from a defensive short corner for a 20th-minute lead at Sutton Park, but Bandon waited until the last five minutes to make it safe through Chapple. Ashton can join them in the last eight if they see off Clontarf next week, after Caroline McCarthy’s excellent hat-trick helped them see off Wexford 5-2 in a re-fixed round one tie. Emma Harrington and Mary Claire Cummins also found the net, with Zoe Codd and Ciara O’Leary replying for the south east girls. Back in Munster, Catholic Institute put their league title fate firmly in their own hands as Eimear Cregan’s touch of class gave them a 1-0 win over nearest rivals UCC as they continued their 100% league record. Cregan darted into the D from the 25 on 15 minutes and lashed the ball past Zoe Cremin, and was unlucky not to double that lead soon after, as a similar move saw her smack one against the upright. Claire O’Sullivan deflected a Rebecca Barry free hit just wide from behind her back, while UCC’s best chance came in the second half when Kate Murphy was unable to scramble the ball home. Cregan almost finished off a solo run from her own half only to be denied by a neat Cremin stop, while Ciara Ronan saved smartly from Ali O’Connor’s corner bash at the other end. Institute’s Elaine Bromell was extremely fortunate not see yellow late on when she prevented a quick free by picking up the ball to remonstrate with an umpire, but it mattered little as College were unable to threaten further. Institute are now almost over the horizon, possessing a five-point lead with as many games remaining. College — who have yet to travel to Institute — must now hope for two unlikely slip-ups from the Limerick girls. College did recover to win 2-0 at third-placed Cork Harlequins — who have a game in hand — 24 hours later to give them six points of breathing space in second as they bid for one of two automatic Irish Hockey League qualification spots.

Olivia Roycroft’s reverse-stick strike broke after the Quins front line had been wasteful of a couple of chances, with Ali O’Regan sealing matters in the second period. An ever-improving UL side gave C of I a fright on the new sand pitch at Garryduff, but skipper Amy Roberts calmed the nerves with a goal after the break before Elisa Buckley knocked in a second for a 2-0 success. Elsewhere, Armagh are the women’s champions after former Irish outdoor international Emma Stewart grabbed the winner (2-1) with the last play of the game against Railway Union. Meanwhile, Munster will supply three of the four semi-finalists for the Irish Challenge after another fruitful weekend in national competition. Tipperary sadly fell by the wayside, losing 4-0 at home to holders YMCA, who are obvious favourites for the trophy they’ve kept at Milltown for the past two seasons. Standing in their way are Limerick ladies, who produced one of the results of the weekend in raiding Havelock Park and stunning Banbridge 2-1. Fenagh Smith and Aoife Williams were the goalscoring heroes for the Villiers-based club, who will have home advantage as they bid to cause the biggest upset in the tournament’s recent history. The other semi-final will be an all-Munster affair, guaranteeing the province a representative in the final. Two extra-time goals did the business for Dungarvan against Monkstown, and they’ll be on home turf again when they meet Clonmel, for whom Maeve Murphy was once again the match-winner in their 1-0 defeat of Enniscrothy.

Irish Hockey Trophy Rd 2 Suttonians 0 Bandon 2 (C McCarthy, H Chapple); Rd 1 Ashton 5 (C McCarthy 3, E Harrington, MC Cummins) Wexford 2 (Z Codd, C O’Leary); Quarter-finals: Clontarf/Ashton vs North Kildare; Dromore vs Portadown; Three Rock Ladies/Greenisland/Galway vs Bandon; Lisnagarvey vs Victorians. ESB Women’s Irish Hockey Challenge quarter-finals Banbridge 1 (S Anderson) Limerick 2 (F Smith, A Williams); Dungarvan 3 Monkstown 1 (aet); Tipperary 0 YMCA 4 (L Fitzpatrick 2, E McDonald H Keane); Clonmel 1 (M Murphy) Enniscorthy 0; Semi-finals (March 5): Limerick v YMCA; Dungarvan v Clonmel. Munster Div 1 UCC 0 Catholic Institute 1 (E Cregan); Cork Harlequins 0 UCC 2 (O Roycroft, A O’Regan); Cork C of I 2 (A Roberts, E Buckley) UL 0; National Indoor Trophy finals, National Basketball Arena, Tallaght Semi-finals Railway Union 4 (K Dillon 2, C Joyce, L McCarthy) Galway 2 (E Glanville 2); Armagh 4 (L McKee 2, S Holdsworth, A Stewart) Trinity 2 (E Horan, R Scott); Final Railway Union 1 (K McKenna) Armagh 2 (L McKee, E Stewart);