Fabulous Fermoy get off the mark

Women’s Division 1 Fermoy 4 (Trish Fitzpatrick 2, Orla Cotter, Jess Ottman) Bandon 3 (Ciara McCarthy, Loraine Copithorne, Vicky Burns) Fermoy have given themselves a fighting chance of avoiding relegation after claiming their first ever win in Munster hockey’s top tier. Mark Egner’s charges had endured a miserable season since earning promotion from Division 2, losing seven straight games and conceding 52 goals in the process. But Saturday’s success over Bandon has now turned the heat up on UL, who have yet to pick up a point this season and have played two games more.

Plenty can happen before the two basement sides meet in their final league clash on April 13, not least next Saturday when Bandon and Fermoy clash again in West Cork. John Dennis’ stunned charges know they’ll need to turn their fortunes around to avoid being dragged into the relegation malaise themselves. Bandon led three times through Ciara McCarthy, Loraine Copithorne and Vicky Burns but those strikes were cancelled out by Orla Cotter and a Trish Fitzpatrick brace. Fermoy won it with five minutes remaining, Jess Ottman converting from the penalty spot after a deliberate backstick behind the keeper had prevented a goal. Cork C of I 0 UCC 2 (Kate Humphreys, Sarah Sullivan) UCC overcame a stern challenge from Cork C of I to grind out a win at Garryduff that keeps their title challenge alive. Jen Barry, Holly Moore and Emma Barber’s adroit defending kept College at bay in a scoreless first half until Kate Humphreys broke the deadlock, before her Munster U21 colleague Sarah Sullivan finished off a sweet corner move to make it safe as C of I rallied late on. Ali O’Connor was a very late arrival for the hosts and she combined well with Ali O’Regan to eke out some late chances, the best of which saw Sarah Wrixon save well off an O’Regan reverse. Limerick 0 Cork Harlequins 6 (Cliodhna Sargent 2, Laurene Buckley, Acacia Taylor, Niamh O’Leary, Jen Murphy) Mount Mercy schoolgirl Laurene Buckley made a big impression after being called up for duty by Cork Harlequins, getting among the goals in a 6-0 win over Limerick which maintains the pace-setters’ 100% record after 11 games. It was a good day overall for Stephen Dale in terms of new faces; Niamh O’Leary was another unusual name on the Quins scoresheet following her recent switch from Belvedere while Jennifer Murphy celebrated her return to first-team action after a long absence with a goal. Catholic Institute 9 (Eimear Cregan 4, Elaine Bromell 2, Stephanie Hall 2, Katie Campbell) Ashton 0 Third-placed Catholic Institute flew out of the blocks to kill off Ashton’s challenge, scoring three times in the first six minutes en route to a 9-0 success — a far cry from their last-gasp 2-1 win in Cork back in October. The light blues felt the full force of Eimear Cregan’s talents as the former Irish skipper blasted four goals, while Steph Halls’ recent scoring streak continued with another brace to add to the pair she got against Fermoy last time out. Irish Junior Cup Rd 2: Ashton w/o Queens University scr., Lurgan 2 Randalstown 1, Portadown 0 Hermes 2, Ballymoney 1 Old Alex 2, Banbridge 1 Railway Union 5, Lisnagarvey 1 Loreto 0. Irish Hockey Challenge quarter-finals Dungarvan and Cashel/New Inn will be hoping to avoid each other in the Irish Challenge semi-finals; the Waterford side needed penalty strokes to see off south east rivals Gorey after a 1-1 draw, but the Tipp girls were comfortable 6-1 winners over Renmore in Galway.

Men’s Irish Junior Cup Rd 2 Cork C of I continue to fly the flag for Munster in the men’s Irish Junior Cup, Davy Herbert scoring twice as they beat Belfast Harlequins 4-0 to go into today’s third round draw. Mark Holmes rocketed home the first from a fifth-minute short then got to the baseline to setup Herbert for the second, the forward sweeping the ball over the visitors’ diving keeper. Peter Daunt and Philip Sweetnam linked up well to assist Herbert’s second for a 3-0 half-time lead, which was eventually augmented late in the game when David Treacy surged along the end-line and flicked over the onrushing keeper to score. UCC took the lead against Annadale in Belfast through Brian Egan but the students’ challenge foundered in the face of a hat-trick by former Irish international Chris Jackson in a 3-1 win for the hosts. Elsewhere, Cookstown ousted holders Corinthians 6-3 in a repeat of last year’s final, while Monkstown won the clash of the big guns 2-1 against Lisnagarvey. Pembroke are another Leinster side still standing after an easy 5-0 win over Bangor. Men’s Irish Hockey Challenge quarter-finals Catholic Institute hammered Parkview 8-1 to make the last four of the Irish Challenge, but across town Limerick came a cropper 5-1 to a powerful PSNI unit, despite Munster U18 David Cardy dragging them level at half-time. Ballymena also advanced to the semi-finals, beating Saintfield 6-1.