Bandon’s heart-wrenching loss to Three Rock Ladies was the only bit of bad news on a brilliantly productive day for Munster women’s hockey in Irish competition.
Ashton will keep the flag flying for the province after dispatching North Kildare to reach the semi-finals of the Irish Trophy, while there’ll be an all-Munster final of the Irish Challenge between Limerick and Dungarvan.
Three unanswered second-half goals did the trick for Ashton on home turf against a game North Kildare outfit, who pushed the hosts all the way before eventually succumbing 4-1.
The Leinster side hit the front inside 10 minutes as Michelle Spillane put the finishing touch to a counter-attack, and when Ashton skipper Caroline McCarthy saw a penalty stroke saved, it seems as if it may not be the hosts’ day.
But they hauled themselves level just before the break, Mary Claire Cummins blasting home a switched short corner for a real confidence-booster for George Treacy’s side.
It had been nip and tuck until then but Ashton, with Kate Harvey putting in a mature shift at sweeper while Yvonne Mangan was another stand-out performer at the back, began to turn the screw after the break.
Much of that was down to player of the match Emma Harrington, who terrorised the visitors’ defence with her ability to beat players and find space.
When a long ball was left by the Kildare keeper but surprised everyone by coming back into play off the post, Harrington was first to react and rescue the situation. She squared for the onrushing McCarthy, who dispatched the ball to the backboard.
Ashton continued to look the more dangerous outfit and eventually put the game to bed with two goals in as many minutes around the hour mark.
Harrington was again the catalyst, beating her marker for pace and again squaring the ball, this time to Karen Stokes, whose finish to the corner was just as comprehensive as McCarthy’s had been.
And the result was put beyond doubt from Ashton’s second short corner of the half. McCarthy’s straight strike was taken off the line, and clearly struck a Kildare foot as McCarthy attempted to follow up.
But umpire Julie Beamish played an excellent advantage, and as the ball squeezed under the keeper, Ciara O’Herlihy stretched to jab the ball over the line.
Harrington came close to notching the goal her performance merited when she cut in from the left this time in the dying minutes, but the visitors’ goalie was out fast to smother her shot.
Ashton will learn the identity of their opponents on Monday. Lisnagarvey – with ace sharpshooter Laura Johnston in tow – are probably the ones to avoid, little is known about Portadown while Three Rock Ladies have taken two Munster scalps already.
Bandon became the latest of those in gut-wrenching fashion at Grange Road, going down 3-2.
John Dennis’ side, who had themselves seen off Ballymena and Suttonians away from home to reach the last eight flew out of the traps to force five corners in the opening quarter.
However, it was Three Rock who nudged themselves in front from their second set-piece, converted by Claire Fitzpatrick. Vicky Burns equalised for Bandon when she ghosted in at the back post to blindside the hosts’ goalkeeper and swivel to score.
The stalemate remained until the final ten minutes, when another corner goal, a straight strike from Grace O’Malley, found the Bandon backboard before Bridget Charmant exposed some hesitancy in the Cork side’s defence to tap home.
Forced to go for the jugular, Bandon withdrew their goalkeeper Claire Hayes in favour of an 11th outfielder in the final three minutes, and they won a corner which Amy Hosford converted following an initial breakdown, but time ran out before an equaliser could be found.
Meanwhile, Limerick stunned holders YMCA 3-0 at Villiers yesterday to advance to the Irish Challenge decider, where they’ll meet Dungarvan – 2-1 winners over Clonmel – in an all-Munster final.
Jenni Lyttle’s hat-trick grabbed her the headlines but it was a fine team performance that helped the Treaty city girls hand three-in-a-row-chasing YM their first defeat in this tournament since 2008.
In a gripping encounter, goalkeeper Anne Marie Byrne, Claire Casey and Aoife Williams all put in superlative performances, while it was former Munster U18 skipper Lyttle’s stunning finishing ability which won the day.
Her first was a reverse-stick strike which found the bottom right-hand corner on 18 minutes, and that lead was doubled three minutes later when she played a 1-2 with Fenagh Smith to take out YM’s short corner runners before slotting home.
YM upped the ante as they chased the game but found Byrne immovable in the Limerick goal, before Lyttle finally allowed them to celebrate four minutes from time when she roofed a reverse to the far top corner to seal the result.
They’ll meet Dungarvan in the final, as they shocked Clonmel on the grit pitch at St Augustine’s, thanks to Aoife McGovern’s golden goal, coming after the visitors; Therese Brennan had cancelled out Ellen Flahavan’s effort.
Limerick, who have a 100% record in Division Three this term, including a 2-1 away win at Dungarvan, will go into the game as favourites and determined to avenge the defeat of their men’s side in the final of this competition last term.
ESB Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Junior Cup, quarter-finals: Lisnagarvey 2 (Janet Follis, Nicola Teford) Pegasus 1 (Amy Cooke); Dublin University 5 (Olwen Smith 2, Holly Jones 2, Roseanne Regan) Belfast Harlequins 0; Bray 0 UCD 0, UCD win 3-2 on penalty strokes; Railway Union 2 (Sinead Dooley, Kate Lloyd) Loreto 1
ESB Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Hockey Trophy, quarter-finals: Ashton 4 (Mary Claire Cummins, Caroline McCarthy, Karen Stokes, Ciara O Herlihy) North Kildare 1 (Michelle Spillane); Dromore 3 (Veronica Cummins 2, Robyn McKee) Portadown 3 (Leanne Cassells 2, Esther Dickson) Portadown win 3-2 on penalty strokes; Three Rock Ladies 3 (Claire Fitzpatrick, Grave O’Malley, Brigid Charmant) Bandon 2 (Vicky Burns, Amy Hosford); Lisnagarvey 3 (Laura Johnston 2, Selena Brown) Victorians 2 (Kirby O’Donnell, Kate Caithness)
ESB Electric Ireland Women’s Irish Hockey Challenge, semi-finals: Limerick 3 (Jenni Lyttle 3) YMCA 0; Dungarvan 2 (Ellen Flahavan, Aoife McGovern) Clonmel 1 (Therese Brennan), aet golden goal
Final: Dungarvan vs Limerick, April 2
