C of I rally to see off students

Cork Church of Ireland were given plenty of food for thought ahead of next weekend’s IHL opener against Lisnagarvey, as the champions again needed a second-half rally to prevent a shock result. Having eventually seen off Bandon seven days previously, Andy Chambers’ side found themselves 3-2 down to UCC after a whirlwind 20 minutes, but ultimately they had the class and patience to eventually prevail on a 7-3 scoreline. John Jermyn’s early drag-flick seemed to have got C of I off to a perfect start, only for College to equalise with their first attack when Roger Gray took down brother Andy’s overhead and fed Peter Catchpole, who eliminated Billy Lynch from the equation before finding Fionn O’Leary at the back post to score. But C of I’s response was instant, with Nick Burns dinking into the path of Stephen Sweetnam, who deftly eluded two UCC tacklers before rifling one into the far corner. But College then rounded off a bizarre opening quarter with two strikes, both coming from O’Leary, who completed his hat-trick, to take a shock lead. The first came from the students’ sole corner of the game, Andy Gray fake dragging before O’Leary got a deft touch to roof the ball off Roger Gray’s secondary drag. And the risks of playing with three at the back were ruthlessly exposed on 18 minutes, when Andy Gray fed Nathan Gokul and he put O’Leary one-on-one with Lynch. The former Bandon man’s reverse-stick finish was high and true. Crucially though, C of I – a little shell shocked after going behind despite enjoying around 70% possession, and seeing a couple of chances repelled by Brian Corcoran – drew level three minutes before the break, David Hobbs pouncing on a loose ball and feeding Andrew Daunt, whose low reverse found the bottom corner. And when Jermyn found his rage again from the top of the D – dragging home a beautiful whipped effort a minute into the second half – you sensed C of I would not relinquish their lead again. Nick Burns made it 5-3 on 43 minutes when Jermyn’s faked effort has taken out the UCC runners, and despite seeing player-coach Chambers yellow-carded, C of I began to monopolise possession again. The hosts fluffed a number of chances as College never looked like repeating their break-out strikes of the first half, before adding a gloss to the scoreboard with two efforts in the last 60 seconds. Daunt claimed his second when successfully rounding Brian Corcoran before reversing to the top corner, and Burns did likewise when sliding in to finish off Hobbs’ well-directed push from the left, after he dovetailed well with Jermyn. Adding this victory to a 7-0 defeat of Quins B in midweek – notably mostly for Stephen Sweetnam’s hat-trick, and a first Division One goal in blue from Philip Sweetnam, leaves C of I well clear at the summit with four wins from four. Bandon put their first points on the board as David Smith’s double, plus efforts from Graham Kingston and captain Ali Smith, saw them avoid a potential banana skin with a 4-0 win at C of I B on Friday night. Cork Harlequins’ visit to Catholic Institute had similar potential to be a sticky encounter for the favourites, but they had no such worries in a facile 11-1 victory. Former forward hero David Eakins made a goalscoring return to the club after a couple of seasons in England, as one of four players who struck twice alongside Paul Lombard, Mark Black and Rob Hobbs. Lee d’Alton, John Hobbs and David Egner were also on target, with Brian Downes netting Institute’s consolation. Meanwhile, Catholic Institute put clear daylight between themselvesd and the chasing pack in the women’s top tier, collecting six points from two games this weekend. Eimear Cregan took her tally to 12 in four games, largely thanks to a five-goal haul in Institute’s 9-2 win over nearest challengers Ashton at Rosbrien on Satruday. Karen Stokes and Emma Harrington grabbed the visitors’ efforts, but Elaine Bromell, Keely Cantrell, Aoife Kenny and Rosie Pratt rounded off a comfortable victory for Institute. Ger O’Carroll and Dave Passmore’s side repeated the trick of a seven-goal win 24 hours later, winning 7-0 at bottom side UL, with Naomi Carroll the goalscorer-in-chief this time, the Ireland U18 star netting a treble. Cregan, Christine O’Shea, Ali English and Clare Sullivan hit the others. Cork Harlequins were the weekend’s other big winners, as skipper Cliodhna Sargent hit four in their 10-0 defeat of Belvedere. Leanne Mullins and Orlagh Cotter nabbed two each with Acacia Taylor and Leslie-Ann Daunt also on target. Having achieved some notable draws away to UCC and Quins, Bandon racked up their first maximum of the season with a 4-0 defeat of UL on home turf. Sarah Sullivan rebounded for the opener, before Hilary Chapple grabbed her first goal since moving back to west Cork, the ball worked back to the push-out position for her to score. Lorna Kingston blasted the third home from the left of the circle, before Ruth Kingston marked her return to the side by cracking one home from the top of the D. In the morning game, UCC saw off C of I 2-0 at Garryduff in a scrappy encounter. Olivia Roycroft dragged home the opener from a switched corner, before Miriam Crowley’s upright reverse touch made it safe. The win moves College into second, with Quins in third while Bandon and Ashton are locked on six points in fourth. UL, Belvedere and C of I have yet to register a point. Men’s Div 1 Cork C of I 7 (J Jermyn 2, N Burns 2, A Daunt 2, S Sweetnam) UCC 3 (F O’Leary 3) Cork C of I B 0 Bandon 4 (D Smith 2, A Smith, G Kingston) Cork C of I 7 (S Sweetnam 3, J Jermyn, N Buttimer, P Sweetnam, D Hobbs) Cork Harlequins B 0 Catholic Institute 1 (B Downes) Cork Harlequins 11 (P Lombard 2, M Black 2, R Hobbs 2, D Eakins 2, L d’Alton, J Hobbs, D Egner) Women’s Div 1 Catholic Institute 9 (E Cregan 5, E Bromell, K Cantrell, A Kenny, R Pratt) Ashton 2 (K Stokes, E Harrington) Catholic Institute 7 (N Carroll 3, E Cregan, C O’Shea, A English, C Sullivan) UL 0 Bandon 4 (S Sullivan, H Chapple, L Kingston, R Kingston) UL 0 Cork C of I 0 UCC 2 (O Roycroft, M Crowley) Cork Harlequins 10 (C Sargent 4, L Mullins 2 O Cotter 2, L-A Daunt, A Taylor) Belvedere 0