C of I’s joy of six

Men’s Munster Senior Cup final Cork C of I 6 (Stephen Sweetnam 4, Richard Lynch, own goal) Cork Harlequins 0 If there was any doubt that Cork Harlequins’ time as top dogs in Munster is over for the time being, Saturday’s Munster Senior Cup final confirmed it. A 6-0 mauling at the hands of rivals Cork Church of Ireland is hard enough to take. That it was their fourth loss of the season to C of I was even worse, but strangest of all was that a team renowned for their fighting qualities almost seemed resigned to their fate. Quins began well enough, forcing Billy Lynch into a series of saves, but a defensive mix-up led to a soft own goal that began a first-half goal-rush for C of I.

Stephen Sweetnam was allowed too much time to get into the circle and nutmeg rookie Quins keeper Jack Ryan, and he claimed another off C of I’s only corner of the half before a couple of sensational plays from Gary Wilkinson killed the game off. He turned the Quins defence with a lovely first touch before planting a perfect flat cross on his reverse for Sweetnam to tap in his hat-trick goal at the back post. Then he played a lovely one-two with former Ireland U18 colleague Richard Lynch, the latter finishing smoothly to the far corner, 5-0 at half-time, and game over. Quins did tighten up in the second half, conceding just once more to Sweetnam, but this performance was a far cry from when the Farmer’s Cross men shocked Irish hockey by winning the Irish Senior Cup just 11 months ago. Men’s Cork Cup (Division 2) final UCC B 4 (Greg Chambers 2, Phil Brennan, Malcolm Coombes) Cork C of I C 2 (Jack O’Mahony 2) UCC’s seconds claimed the Cork Cup for the first time in the club’s history, ending C of I’s five-year run with a relatively comfortable victory at Garryduff. College got the start they wanted when Andy Colton’s drag-flick was saved by James Phillips and the rebound fell to injector Malcolm Coombes, who coolly flicked to the roof of the net on his reverse. And they went two up when a free on the left was transferred around the back to Nigel Bateman, whose swept crash was redirected to the backboard via a great touch by Philip Brennan. C of I hit back in style when a long through ball found Davy Herbert, and he committed College keeper Kieran Healy before squaring for Jack O’Mahony to score.

The hosts stepped things up in the second half after Bateman’s sin-binning and dominated possession without truly threatening, only for the students to score via Greg Chambers’ penalty stroke, given for a foot on the line. And Chambers lit up an otherwise dull second half with the clincher. On a breakaway, Brennan found him all alone on the left with a lovely cross-field pass, and the former Midleton College man rounded Philips before crashing home off the far post as the angle narrowed. There was still time for O’Mahony to net a consolation for C of I, placing the ball under Healy after a corner was switched to him, but it was the students’ day. McLean Cup (Division 3) final UCC C 1 (Marc Hornibrook) Waterford 4 (David Quinn 2, Barry O’Sullivan, Jonathan Fletcher) Waterford served notice that they could be a force in Munster hockey once more as they were the more clinical side in a wide open McLean Cup final. The Déise men have reformed after seven years, with Kilkenny duo David Quinn and Stuart Greene given special dispensation by the MBIHA to also play in Munster as their sterling work to get the men’s section in Waterford up and running again bears fruit. And it was Quinn who broke the deadlock midway through the first half with an individual strike to remember. The former UCD man beat three players with some dazzling mid-air stickwork at close quarters, before letting the ball drop and flicking an unstoppable shot to the corner of the net. College, the Division 3 champions, had plenty of chances of their own through dangerous forward trio Marc Hornibrook, Rory Coomey and Felix Opola, but Waterford doubled their lead in the second half when Kieran O’Brien saved a drag but it fell kindly for Jonathan Fletcher to score. UCC had their best spell thereafter and Hornibrook finished well at the far post to get them back in it with 20 minutes to go, but otherwise they found the Waterford keeper Paul Murran in inspired form. The game turned when Barry O’Sullivan made it three after a crash ball hit a defensive stick and looped wildly over a stranded O’Brien, allowing  O’Sullivan to tap in on the line, before a slick switched corner move saw Quinn bury an insurance goal to seal Waterford’s first trophy in 25 years. Note: Match reports from Friday and Saturday’s women’s Munster cup finals will be posted tomorrow, following the completion of the remaining five finals