Final heartbreak for Fermoy and Institute

Fermoy and Catholic Institute left Dublin empty-handed this weekend as both went agonisingly close to claiming silverware on the national stage in the Irish Challenge and Irish Trophy finals at Belfield. The National Hockey Stadium didn’t prove to be a happy hunting ground for either side, and Fermoy will be exceptionally gutted after losing out on penalty strokes to YMCA in the Challenge final following a 1-1 stalemate. The north Cork outfit were hoping to reclaim the title they won in 2004 – when it went under the moniker of the May Costley Cup – and came flying out of the blocks as they laid siege to the YM goal. Maria Daly had gone close as Fermoy successfully turned pressure into corners early on, before Trish Fitzpatrick gave them an 11th-minute lead, sweeping in from the top of the circle. Ann Galvin and Liz Sweetnam were dominant in midfield early on, while Natalie Guile forced a neat stop from the YM netminder. But inspired by Susie Hayes, the Dubliners got a greater foothold as the half wore on and levelled in the 31st minute when Joanne Kirby reached a through-ball just ahead of 17-year-old Fermoy keeper Elaine O’Flynn, and Helen Keane tucked away the resultant penalty stroke. The stalemate continued in the second half, though YM finished the stronger, keeping O’Brien sisters Ciara and Aine busy at the back. Tara Cronin went closest to breaking the deadlock in extra time, but Liz Barry saved brilliantly off the line to send it to strokes, with Aimee Powderly netting the winner as YM won the shootout 2-1. Meanwhile, there was further heartbreak for Munster hockey 24 hours later, as Catholic Institute went down 2-1 to Ulster Elks.

The Jordanstown students had endured some pain of their own the day before, losing their Irish Senior Cup semi-final to UCD by the same scoreline. While Kym Daly and Naomi Carroll were to the fore for Institute – who donned the shirts of Limerick nursery Laurel Hill Coláiste to avoid a colour clash – Jenny McVeigh gave the Elks a 16th-minute lead from a penalty corner. Aoife Kenny hit back in similar fashion for Institute eight minutes after the break, but Irish international Emma Clarke hit a stunning winner with 12 minutes to go, helping the Elks erase the memory of Saturday’s defeat. Institute will now switch their focus to the Examiner Cup final with UCC, on a date TBC. The students are chasing a treble but Institute will be determined to spoil the party, having fallen 1-0 to the eventual winners in the MSC semi-final. Meanwhile, Campbellians took the men’s Irish Challenge with a 2-0 defeat of Mulingar, while North Down claimed the men’s Trophy with a thrilling 6-5 win over Ulster rivals Antrim. Thanks to Paddy Byrne and Stephen Findlater for information. Adrian Boehm’s pictures from the Institute/Elks clash can be seen here, while Stephen Findlater’s pictures from the Fermoy/YMCA game can be viewed here.