Munster quartet bow out

IT was a profitable trip south for UCD on Saturday, as their men and women came away with big wins from Bandon and Cork Harlequins respectively to advance in the Irish Senior Cup. Former Irish international Karen Bateman stepped out of retirement after 15 months out of the game to help Quins in their assignment, but it mattered little as they were routed 4-0 by the classy Belfield students, who finally found their range in the final half-hour after a goal-less first half. Chloe Watkins was their big inspiration, forcing home the first from close range before getting a penalty stroke opportunity that she hit an upright with. However, Nicola Gray made up for that by burying a trademark short corner bullet, a dipping effort that left the Quins postwomen with no chance.

Watkins then produced an outrageous behind-the-back pass to allow Anna O’Flanagan to reverse home the third, before Deirdre Duke put a gloss on the scoreline late on, rounding Vanessa Sargent before finishing with an upright reverse effort. Orlagh Cotter did have the ball in the net late on for Quins but it was chalked off to compound their misery. For their part, UCD must plunder Munster again in round two, as they’ll face Catholic Institute in Limerick on November 12. Munster’s other round one representative, UCC, came a cropper in Armagh as former Irish Examiner Junior Sports Star Amy Stewart scored in the hosts’ 2-0 win. Stewart has endured a miserable 18 months on the sidelines with a chronic ankle problem, but the youngest ever Irish international broke the deadlock against the Cork students on Saturday before Kate Snyder added an insurance goal. Pegasus were the biggest winners of the day, Vanessa Surgeoner hitting four in their 7-0 dismissal of Three Rock Ladies, while the biggest shock came at Queens University as the hosts’ Hannah McMillan rocketed in a hat-trick in their stunning 4-0 dismissal of Randalstown. Meanwhile, Patrick Shanahan returned to his old stomping ground in Bandon and notched the goal of the day as UCD romped to an impressive 5-1 success. Two early drag-flicks from Ireland senior Shane O’Donoghue had them in control before Melvin Beamish got hold of a snapshot reverse effort – first-timing Scott Sullivan’s pass to the backboard after Ali Smith had burned off some would-be tacklers –  to put an out-of-sorts and under-strength Bandon back in it. Bandon were without David Smith and Andrew Kingston – in Portugal for the latter’s brother Philip’s wedding – as well as Graham Kingston and Rob Smith, and were dealt a further blow when Andrew Scannell limped off injured in the opening quarter. The presence of three Cork players in the UCD side – Shanahan and ex-C of I pair Ben Dobson and Nick Burns – added to the niggle of a fiery encounter; Shanahan, Sullivan and Burns were all lucky not to walk for various misdemeanours. It was Philip Burns who eventually did see yellow – a loud burst of dissent saw to that – but the game was already out of Bandon’s reach by that stage. Rob Anderson had got a deft, behind-the-back touch to a crash ball for a 3-1 half-time lead, before Shanahan rounded Ian Hosford and finished impressively from a tight angle. David Watkins put the final touch to a team goal late on. The students will be back on home turf Belfield in round two but will face a far tougher test from Glenanne. Elsewhere, Greg Thompson’s hat-trick helped competition favourites Lisnagarvey see off UCC 4-0, though a stubborn effort from the Cork students will have given them confidence for next weekend’s Munster league showdown with Bandon. ‘Garvey, for their part, are Munster-bound in round two as they travel to Cork Church of Ireland.

Annadale rocked YMCA’s promising start to the season with a thumping 4-1 victory to record the stand-out first round win in the Irish Senior Cup at Lough Moss on Saturday to make it look already like Ulster sides will dominate the competition. Dale, a side in transitional mode, were too hot to handle for YM in the first half, Fraser Mills continuing his fine early season form to spin free and unleash a reverse-stick shot past Iain Walker. Neil Hamilton added a drag-flick before YM finally got going in the second half, making a game of it when Marcus Richardson pulled one back. And they piled forward in search of a leveller but came unstuck, conceding twice more in the closing two minutes to bow out of the competition. They were followed back down the M1 with their tail between their legs by Corinthian who lost out 2-1 to NICS in Stormont, seething after seeing three efforts ruled out. It left Railway Union as the only Leinster winner against northern opposition as they eased past Senior One wildcard entrant South Antrim – included by virtue of their Irish Hockey Trophy final win over UCC last April. Rob Abbott was the day’s top scorer, notching up a quartet of goals. Monkstown left it late to kill off Fingal as Simon McKeever’s effort 17 minutes from time set up a tight finish but the sky-blues prevailed 4-1 to stay in the hunt for a fourth final appearance in five seasons. The second round draw, meanwhile, produced some cracking match-ups. Most notable among them is the pairing of Ireland’s two EuroHockey League-bound clubs, Cookstown and Banbridge. Monkstown’s hosting of Pembroke is a repeat of the 2008 final, while Annadale may not be relishing the prospect of a trip to play Cork Harlequins on the Farmers Cross sand in round two. In Europe, Irish international David Ames scored a vital goal in a 3-1 win over Polo de Barcelona to help his Nottingham-based club side Beeston win Pool C of the EHL. Ulster man Mark Gleghorne, meanwhile, made his comeback after over a year out with a heel injury for East Grinstead and scored in a 3-2 win over Grunwald Poznan to see his side advance to the last 16 stage, too. Domestically, UL’s excellent start to the Munster women’s season continued, as goalkeeper Elaine O’Flynn pulled off a string of superb saves before Rachelle Nyhan crashed home a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw away to Cork C of I. Amy Roberts had shone for C of I earlier on, and the hosts had gone ahead through an excellent Rachel O’Hanlon short corner strike but O’Flynn thwarted the chances of an insurance goal to give UL another valuable couple of points. Thanks to Stephen Findlater for words from majority of the games not involving Munster sides! Irish Senior Cup Rd 1 Men Bandon 1 (M Beamish) UCD 5 (S O’Donoghue 2, R Anderson, P Shanahan, D Watkins); Lisnagarvey 4 (G Thompson 3, S Arbuthnot) UCC 0; NICS 2 Corinthian 1; Railway Union 11 (R Abbott 4, M English 2, P English 2, E MacArthur, P Yates, J Duncan) South Antrim 2 (C Redpath, P Beattie); Belfast Harlequins 5 (J Caren,  L McClelland, N Anderson, G Riddell, C Lemon) Kilkeel 4 (W Annett 2, G Niblock, R Cunningham); Instonians 9 North Down 1; Annadale 4 (F Mills, N Hamilton, P Caruth, J Edgar) YMCA 1 (M Richardson); Monkstown 4 (A Ward 2, G Watkins, E O’Connor) Fingal 1 (S McKeever); Pembroke Wanderers 7 (M Brown, G Elliott 2, M Elliott, A Sothern, M O’Connor) Clontarf 0; Rd 2 draw (November 12): UCD v Glenanne; Cork C of I v Lisnagarvey; Cookstown v Banbridge; Cork Harlequins v Annadale; Monkstown v Pembroke Wanderers; Railway Union v Three Rock Rovers; Instonians v Mossley; Belfast Harlequins v NICS. Women Cork Harlequins 0 UCD 4 (C Watkins, N Gray, A O’Flanagan, D Duke); Armagh 2 (A Stewart, K Snyder) UCC 0; Lurgan 2 (C Hull, J Wilson) Ulster Elks 1 (S Galbraith); Three Rock Ladies 0 Pegasus 7 (V Surgeoner 4, S Beaney 2, S Quinn); Ards 0 Trinity 0 (aet, Trinity win 5-4 on sudden death penalties); Lisnagarvey 0 Loreto 5 (N Symmons 2, N Daly, S Clarke, N Small); Queens University 4 (H McMillan 3, A Mulholland) Randalstown 0; Pembroke Wanderers 0 Old Alex 2 (R Flinn, J King Hall). Rd 2 (November 12): Corinthian v Ards/Trinity; Belfast Harlequins v Loreto; Railway Union v Lurgan; Old Alex v Hermes; Catholic Institute v UCD; Armagh v Glenanne; Queens University v Portadown; Ballymoney v Pegasus. Munster Women’s Div 1 Cork C of I 1 (R O’Hanlon) UL 1 (R Nyhan).