England complete Easter double

England ensured all the eggs were in their basket this Easter as they produced their second win over Ireland in three days, running out 3-1 winners at Belfield yesterday. Nikki Symmons gave the hosts a second-minute lead from a short corner, but Alex Danson and Kate Walsh had Britain ahead inside 20 minutes, before Katie Long hit the insurance score just after the break to add a second victory to Friday’s 1-0 win. Elsewhere, Pegasus and Pembroke Wanderers both had positive results in Europe on days two and three of their respective competitions.

Pegs drew 1-1 with Victorya Smolevich to give Ireland a shot at promotion to the top tier of European women’s club hockey at the EuroHockey Cup Winners Trophy in Lille; they meet Kommunalschik Barnaul in one of the playoffs today. Pembroke Wanderers made it three wins from three in the men’s EuroHockey Club Trophy, seeing off Dinamo Olimpik VSM 7-2 to progress to the final today against Dinamo Elektrostal. A second Irish name on the trophy in as many seasons — Glenanne were victorious in Paris last year — could, along with Three Rock’s exploits, help Ireland secure a second EuroHockey League slot next term. Domestically, Cork Church of Ireland of I B will hope to continue their hoodoo over Cork Harlequins B when the sides clash in today’s Munster Junior Cup final at Harlequin Park (2pm). C of I have yet to lose to their derby rivals this season, and go into this game off the back of a hard-fought 1-0 win over UCC on Saturday, with Malcolm Coombes’ 51st-minute deflection proving the winner. They will field three brothers in their team today; schoolboy Trevor Gray has been called up by coach Dermot Judge, and will line out alongside elder siblings and team regulars Andrew and Roger. Quins have perked up in recent months after a poor pre-Christmas period, and will be keen to avenge their Irish Junior Cup exit at the hands of C of I, who face Pembroke in the final of that competition on April 25. Elsewhere, C of I’s women continued their warm-up for the  Irish Hockey League wildcard play-offs with a 5-3 league win in their dead rubber at Catholic Institute, with Suzy Herbert claiming a double.

Clinton Sweetnam did likewise for Bandon’s men at the same venue in a 5-0 win over Institute’s men. They are chasing outright third place, which they can mathematically take from C of I B – but only if they see off Quins in the sides’ final league encounter on April 25. Meanwhile, strikes from Tracy Kingston and Lisa Wilson gave C of I the women’s Division Three Cup with a 2-0 win over Waterford. Bandon pulled off a 3-1 win over Institute in Division Two with Pam Forde, Kate O’Sullivan and Grainne Cronin on the scoresheet, while UL hit four past Tipperary in Division Four.