C of I labour to Bandon win as Quins left idle again
Cork Harlequins and Cork C of I both have plenty to worry about ahead of the start of their Irish Hockey League campaigns next month, following a topsy-turvy weekend.
The flooding at Harlequin Park that saw the Quins vs Old Alex women’s ISC tie moved to Garryduff had the knock-on effect of mysteriously causing the Quins vs C of I B men’s league clash to be postponed, which wasn’t good news for a Quins side already seriously lacking in game time.
Former Quins manager Donal Kingston had earlier highlighted the fixture anomalies that have seen the Farmer’s Cross outfit play just once in five weeks, and with just three weekends to go before the IHL, they will feel they are in serious danger of being undercooked after the postponement added to their woes.
As for C of I, they won’t have taken too much pleasure from the 2-1 win over Bandon on Friday night which maintained their 100% league record. The west Cork side led for the majority of the tie, but despite owning the ball for long periods and forcing double-figure short corners, C of I couldn’t break them down.
Ireland U16 international Nick Burns continued his fine goalscoring run for Cork C of I in their 2-1 defeat of Bandon. Picture: Adrian Boehm
Lack of clinical finishing cost Stephen Jackson’s side at times last season and will surely be punished at a higher level as the problem doesn’t seem to have been rectified yet, though the continued advancement of Nick Burns is a major plus in terms of their forward options.
The Midleton College starlet hit a stunning equaliser for his side around the 55 minute mark, taking the ball at waist height before volleying forcefully into the ground, the ball flying up into the top corner to leave Ian Hosford with no chance.
Dave Smith had got the slightest of touches to Ali Smith’s cross to give Bandon an early lead, but it was left to former Bandon man Clinton Sweetnam to decide it, finally finding the backboard with a drag late on after having no luck from set-pieces throughout the match.
It was a better weekend for UCC, who chalked up their first league win of the season by seeing off a stern challenge from Catholic Institute on a 5-2 scoreline.
Stephen Sweetnam fired what could be described as hockey’s perfect hat-trick – a reverse, a drag-flick and a penalty stroke – the first of which was a stunner, the former C of I man beating a couple of players on the 23 before unleashing a reverse over Tristan Murphy’s shoulder.
Graham Catchpole dispatched the second to put College cruising, only for Eric Calendar to halve the deficit on 20 minutes. While neither side dominated, College were more proficient at taking their chances, with Sweetnam re-establishing the two-goal buffer with a fine dragged effort.
He completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Philip Sweetnam was prevented from shooting when given a clear opportunity, before a switch-flick from Andy Gray made it five.
Former UCC man Albert Valls saw yellow – along with College’s Roger Gray and Graham Catchpole – on his return to The Mardyke, but he did have a hand in Institute’s late consolation strike, crashing in an improvised short corner from the left for Gareth Creamer to touch into the top corner.
In the only women’s league game of the day, Bandon managed to quell free-scoring Catholic Institute for long periods, but an Elaine Bromell strike proved the difference and put the Limerick girls three points clear at the top of the table.
Post Author:
alangood
13 Replies to “C of I labour to Bandon win as Quins left idle again”
There is nothing mysterious about the cancellation of the CofI B v Quins A mens league match. On Saturday morning CofI received and agreed to a request from the Cork Harlequins club & in particular Quins Ladies to consider the postponement of the mens league match so that their Ladies Senior Cup game versus Old Alex could be played.It was made quite clear to all that the only option available was to postpone the mens game ,in order to accommodate Quin’s request ,as the Garryduff Water based pitch was fully booked for the day.Both the Farmers Cross pitch & the back up pitch at Mount Mercy were flooded on Saturday.
I think that C of I had a very good look at their younger players. I also think it was a very close and competitive match with Bandon playing so much better than last week against Quins.
According to the Munster Branch fixture list there was only one other fixture due to be played in Garryduff that day. Which was a Div 2 ladies match between CofI and UCC. I find it strange that both matches couldn’t be moved back. As far as I know (I stand to be corrected) CofI don’t rent the waterbase for sports other than hockey so I can’t see why this couldnt’be been the situation. If the pitch was booked for training purposes after the Div 2 match…surely a Div 1 match would take precedence?
I really think that the MBIHA need to stand up & be counted in relation to mens hockey in Munster. The mens game is on a very steady decline & I think that the mens sides will fail to make an impression at Irish level this season. It is interesting to note that John Jermyn is the only Munster based player on the 18 for the World Cup qualifying tournament in Argentina (David Hobbs was selected as well but is unfortunately injured). The senior league appears to be played intermittently with no regular series of games and matches regularly being postponed or deferred. In the league to date all teams bar CofI have only played 2/3 games and this contrasts very poorly with Leinster & Ulster where senior league teams have played on average 6 league games + cup competitions as well. How do we expect our teams to compete at Irish level with this type of preparation?
Re: Comments from Mervyn Kerr
This is not a valid reason to cancel a match under the Branch constitution.
Dave (surname not known) should really get his facts right before making comments that are way off the mark.The request from Harlequins came in at noon approx.Garryduff pich was booked from 10.00am with Div 3 Ladies match at 12.30,the original Div 1 mens match at 2.00/2.30 & Ladies division 2 match @ 4.00 .
why is there drama about this? Quins were the victim of weather and left to make arrangements so that Old Alex’s trip from Dublin wouldn’t have been wasted. A Cork team in a similar situation in Dublin wouldn’t be happy..
Garryduff were good enough to help them out, good on them, and put back the men’s fixture to a future date, without having to get a third club involved. Hopefully the game will be played mid-week and I’ll get to see it, which I wouldn’t have done if it was on Saturday.
Theres only 12 matches in Div 1 per club anyway so whats the rush and it was between one team with 16 goals for, none against versus another team with 3 goals for, 11 against. Hardly the stuff that international call-ups are made from..
I would like to thank Garryduff sports centre and their president Mervin Kerr for organising their facilities so the ISC ladies match could be played.Only for this co operation from Garryduff and Mervin , Old Alex, who had flown down would have to make a return journey some other week end,would a CORK TEAM LIKE TO HAVE TO DO THAT IF THE SHOE WAS ON THE OTHER FOOT?. THOSE nameless people who think there was a conspiracy should let their small minds smell the roses,I would hope and I know that CI and Quins will always help one another when a situation like this arises as far as I am concerned.You SEE I ONLY THINK OF THE FUTURE AND NOT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST.
YOURS IN SPORT!!!
PAT DAWSON
SPONSOR AND SUPPORTER QUINS ladies 1 st Team
c o i seconds only had the bare eleven i heard and i would love to know what harlequins committee member authorised the request to postpone the mens game
Ok all, Pat and Mervyn between them have explained and clarified the circumstances surrounding the postponement of C of I b vs Quins, so I won’t be accepting any more comments about this particular matter, though (reasonable) debate about the structure of the league season is fine.
I should also add that I took a call from Quins at around noon inquiring about the availability of The Mardyke to stage the ISC fixture – the pitch had soccer bookings all afternoon so unfortunately UCC couldn’t accommodate them, but C of I thankfully stepped into the breach.
I’m surprised no-one has said it yet but:
If the pitch in Farmers Cross UP THE HILL flooded on Saturday and our pitch in the Duff remained in tip top international standard condition….. surely massive credit and congratulations should be given to all those involved who on behalf of CI oversaw the engineers involved in the pitch-building process and ensured everything was done to the T!! Well done guys, fantastic job!!
And i’m sure Quins ISC side aren’t complaining about their win either, congratulations ladies.
The pitch cant be that great Bob flooded last night i heard.
Hi, can people in Munster/Cork not squabble like children. The weather has been appalling, who knows if Quins was playable, but I am sure the officials looked into playing the match at that venue.
Garryduff was playable after 21.00 on Friday but that is to late to start a match.
Both clubs have worked together over the last weeks to help each other. This bickering is a pain and completely unnecessary.
More importantly why is Simon Mc Allister without an IHL appointment, is he unavailable that weekend? As he is the best umpire in Munster
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There is nothing mysterious about the cancellation of the CofI B v Quins A mens league match. On Saturday morning CofI received and agreed to a request from the Cork Harlequins club & in particular Quins Ladies to consider the postponement of the mens league match so that their Ladies Senior Cup game versus Old Alex could be played.It was made quite clear to all that the only option available was to postpone the mens game ,in order to accommodate Quin’s request ,as the Garryduff Water based pitch was fully booked for the day.Both the Farmers Cross pitch & the back up pitch at Mount Mercy were flooded on Saturday.
I think that C of I had a very good look at their younger players. I also think it was a very close and competitive match with Bandon playing so much better than last week against Quins.
According to the Munster Branch fixture list there was only one other fixture due to be played in Garryduff that day. Which was a Div 2 ladies match between CofI and UCC. I find it strange that both matches couldn’t be moved back. As far as I know (I stand to be corrected) CofI don’t rent the waterbase for sports other than hockey so I can’t see why this couldnt’be been the situation. If the pitch was booked for training purposes after the Div 2 match…surely a Div 1 match would take precedence?
I really think that the MBIHA need to stand up & be counted in relation to mens hockey in Munster. The mens game is on a very steady decline & I think that the mens sides will fail to make an impression at Irish level this season. It is interesting to note that John Jermyn is the only Munster based player on the 18 for the World Cup qualifying tournament in Argentina (David Hobbs was selected as well but is unfortunately injured). The senior league appears to be played intermittently with no regular series of games and matches regularly being postponed or deferred. In the league to date all teams bar CofI have only played 2/3 games and this contrasts very poorly with Leinster & Ulster where senior league teams have played on average 6 league games + cup competitions as well. How do we expect our teams to compete at Irish level with this type of preparation?
Re: Comments from Mervyn Kerr
This is not a valid reason to cancel a match under the Branch constitution.
Dave (surname not known) should really get his facts right before making comments that are way off the mark.The request from Harlequins came in at noon approx.Garryduff pich was booked from 10.00am with Div 3 Ladies match at 12.30,the original Div 1 mens match at 2.00/2.30 & Ladies division 2 match @ 4.00 .
why is there drama about this? Quins were the victim of weather and left to make arrangements so that Old Alex’s trip from Dublin wouldn’t have been wasted. A Cork team in a similar situation in Dublin wouldn’t be happy..
Garryduff were good enough to help them out, good on them, and put back the men’s fixture to a future date, without having to get a third club involved. Hopefully the game will be played mid-week and I’ll get to see it, which I wouldn’t have done if it was on Saturday.
Theres only 12 matches in Div 1 per club anyway so whats the rush and it was between one team with 16 goals for, none against versus another team with 3 goals for, 11 against. Hardly the stuff that international call-ups are made from..
I would like to thank Garryduff sports centre and their president Mervin Kerr for organising their facilities so the ISC ladies match could be played.Only for this co operation from Garryduff and Mervin , Old Alex, who had flown down would have to make a return journey some other week end,would a CORK TEAM LIKE TO HAVE TO DO THAT IF THE SHOE WAS ON THE OTHER FOOT?. THOSE nameless people who think there was a conspiracy should let their small minds smell the roses,I would hope and I know that CI and Quins will always help one another when a situation like this arises as far as I am concerned.You SEE I ONLY THINK OF THE FUTURE AND NOT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST.
YOURS IN SPORT!!!
PAT DAWSON
SPONSOR AND SUPPORTER QUINS ladies 1 st Team
c o i seconds only had the bare eleven i heard and i would love to know what harlequins committee member authorised the request to postpone the mens game
Ok all, Pat and Mervyn between them have explained and clarified the circumstances surrounding the postponement of C of I b vs Quins, so I won’t be accepting any more comments about this particular matter, though (reasonable) debate about the structure of the league season is fine.
I should also add that I took a call from Quins at around noon inquiring about the availability of The Mardyke to stage the ISC fixture – the pitch had soccer bookings all afternoon so unfortunately UCC couldn’t accommodate them, but C of I thankfully stepped into the breach.
I’m surprised no-one has said it yet but:
If the pitch in Farmers Cross UP THE HILL flooded on Saturday and our pitch in the Duff remained in tip top international standard condition….. surely massive credit and congratulations should be given to all those involved who on behalf of CI oversaw the engineers involved in the pitch-building process and ensured everything was done to the T!! Well done guys, fantastic job!!
And i’m sure Quins ISC side aren’t complaining about their win either, congratulations ladies.
The pitch cant be that great Bob flooded last night i heard.
Hi, can people in Munster/Cork not squabble like children. The weather has been appalling, who knows if Quins was playable, but I am sure the officials looked into playing the match at that venue.
Garryduff was playable after 21.00 on Friday but that is to late to start a match.
Both clubs have worked together over the last weeks to help each other. This bickering is a pain and completely unnecessary.
More importantly why is Simon Mc Allister without an IHL appointment, is he unavailable that weekend? As he is the best umpire in Munster