Bandon run Quins close

Bandon gave Cork Harlequins an almighty scare during today’s Peard Cup clash at a foggy Farmer’s Cross, eventually prevailing 3-2 thanks to a David Eakins golden goal. Quins had hit 20 goals in their first two league games but came up against a better-organised Bandon side, who restricted them to one John Sweetnam goal from play in the first half. John Hobbs gave them a greater cushion with a customary switch-left drag-flick move, but Quins took the foot off the pedal thereafter and a defensive error allowed Ali Smith to turnover possession in the hosts’ 25, before finishing past Chris Daunt. That sparked a renewed effort from Quins who forced some more corners, but with less than three minutes to go Bandon broke upfield and won a short corner which Munster U18 full-back Fred McElroy tucked away after the first phase broke down. That left it all square at full-time, but it was Phil Oakley’s men who came firing out of the blocks in extra-time, Eakins careering past a couple of tackles to square for Paul Lombard, who was about to convert into an unguarded goal when he was stick-tackled by Andrew Kingston. Eakins tucked away the resulting penalty stroke to send a relieved Quins side through, although the close nature of the result will have given Bandon confidence with upcoming big clashes with UCD and UCC. Meanwhile, maiden senior level goals for a number of players were the main plus points on another day of lop-sided results in the Munster men’s league. Cork Church of Ireland were the day’s biggest winners, racking up 12 without replay against a ragged Catholic Institute outfit in Limerick. John Jermyn, amazingly, netted seven of those – five drag-flicks and two more from play – but the day belonged to Simon Wolfe. The 15-year-old, who played for the club’s sixth team in Division 4 last season, netted his first and second goals for the Garryduff first team and was the side’s best player. Alec Moffett notched a brace of his own to take his tally to five in two games, with Philip Sweetnam bagging the other. It was a similar story back in Cork for Wolfe’s Munster U16 colleague Julian Dale, who also notched two goals, his first senior efforts for Cork Harlequins as they cruised to a 10-0 win over their own second string. Dan Hobbs collected a hat-trick while captain Mark Black, Paul Lombard, John Sweetnam, Colin Ross and Rob Hobbs racked up the others. Elsewhere, Shrew Power and Cian Kavanagh notched their first goals in Division One as UCC did the damage in the first-half of a 6-1 victory over Cork C of I B at Garryduff. College came flying out of the blocks and were two up inside four minutes, Roger Gray doing the gruntwork for Fionn O’Leary to slam in the first, before Munster U21 captain Gray rattled home a drag-flick. C of I came roaring back and forced a couple of corners but UCC’s cohesion was better and Gray grabbed his second from another drag-flick. James Phillips was nonetheless having an excellent outing between the sticks for C of I, and he deserved better from his defence after making two quickfire saves from Fionn O’Leary, only for the former Bandon man’s persistence to pay off, creating a third chance for Power to force home from close range. And it was five by the 30th minute, with Gray starting and finishing the move. He released David Doherty down the right, who in turn found Kavanagh in behind the C of I cover, and the ex-Ashton man squared for Gray to slam home. Power’s pace created the sixth after the break, burning off a couple of would-be tacklers for Kavanagh to adroitly finish at the back stick. But College’s concentration faded thereafter, allowing C of I back into the game as Phillips’ excellent goal-tending and some poor decision-making in the circle saw the goals dry up for the students. And at the other end, an improvised penalty corner yielded dividends for C of I, Gary Wilkinson picking up a rebound and slickly reversing home past Kieran Healy’s outstretched stick. The game petered out thereafter, with the exception of a bizarre late flashpoint. Mark Holmes – the most experienced player in a very youthful C of I side – was harshly yellow-carded after pushing a College player in the back. The verbals he produced upon seeing the colour of the card saw it upgraded to red, leaving C of I to finish the game out with 10 men. Men’s Div 1 Cork Harlequins 10 (Dan Hobbs 3, Julian Dale 2, Rob Hobbs, Paul Lombard, Colin Ross, Mark Black, John Sweetnam) Cork Harlequins B 0 Catholic Institute 0 Cork C of I 12 (John Jermyn 7, Simon Wolfe 2, Alec Moffett 2, Philip Sweetnam) Cork C of I B 1 (Gary Wilkinson) UCC 6 (Roger Gray 3, Andrew Power, Fionn O’Leary, Cian Kavanagh) Peard Cup Rd 1 Cork Harlequins 3 (John Sweetnam, John Hobbs, David Eakins) Bandon 2 (Ali Smith, Fred McElroy)