Quins and UCC off to perfect starts

Neither played to anything like their potential, but Cork Harlequins and UCC have plenty to smile about following the opening weekend’s action of the Irish Hockey League, as they recorded bonus-point wins and saw other results go their way. UCC suffered something of an off-day but still got their IHL campaign off to the perfect start with a 4-0, bonus-point defeat of Randalstown at The Mardyke. The students’ set-piece yielded three of their goals, all coming from the stick of drag-flicking captain Audrey O’Flynn. Fiona O’Connell added a late fourth from play, after Karen Olden had saved a Vanessa Surgeoner penalty stroke which could have robbed College of their bonus.

Tougher tests inevitably lie in wait for the students, who were quite clearly not as comfortable with the autopass as their Antrim opponents, who had experienced playing with it last year. Randalstown often played the slicker hockey in what was an error-strewn encounter, with Katherine Elkin predictably at the hub of everything good about them, and had her forwards been more successful in reading her superb passes into space, it might have been a different story on the scoreboard. College nonetheless have a one-point lead at the top of Pool B, after Hermes fell 1-0 at home to Pegasus and defending champions Loreto were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Old Alex. Claire McMahon’s 19th-minute strike against the run of play ruined Aine Connery’s Hermes debut, though the Dubliners do have a bonus point to show for their efforts and won’t feat the visit of UCC next month. Nicola Gray’s strike gave Alex a shock final-quarter lead at Loreto Beaufort, only for Cathy McKean to rescue the champions by finishing off a slick corner move. Cork Harlequins also secured the maxmimum four points via a 4-1 win over C of I. Karen Bateman, Leslie Ann Daunt and Jane Bourke had them cruising at 3-0, though their momentum was halted somewhat by the bizarre sin-binning of Cliodhna Sargent. The Quins skipper was forced to take the fall for her coach Eddie Gash after he lobbed some verbals from the sideline in the direction of the umpires, and Sargent saw her punishment upgraded to a 10-minute cooling-off period after she got involved as well.

Cathy Kenefick got a lovely touch to Claire Hickey’s hammered shot from the top on 56 minutes to pull one back for C of I, and take Quins out of bonus point territory. That prompted a late surge from the hosts, who drew a series of brilliant saves from Orla McCarthy before Bateman made sure of that four minutes from time after a slick short corner switch move. News of Pembroke coming from two down to draw 2-2 at Ballymoney will have also have suited Gash’s side. They are joint top of the pool after Railway Union also left it late to secure their bonus point against Ards before also winning 4-1. To view the full set of Ondine Roche’s pictures from the UCC vs Randalstown game, please click here. Examiner Cup: Elaine Bromell once again starred for Catholic Institute as they opened their Examiner Cup campaign with a 2-0 win at Galway. The former Pembroke and Bray star scored along with recent signing Claire Mulcahy to maintain Insta’s unbeaten start to the season. Caroline McCarthy cancelled out a Jane O’Higgins strike to leave Ashton’s tie with Bandon in the balance, only for O’Higgins and Ali Kingston to find the net again as the west Cork side took their chances to emerge with a 3-1 away win. Sinead Kelly’s goal gave UL a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Greenfields. Women’s Div 2: Jennifer O’Flynn was UCC’s hero for the most unusual of reasons, as she stepped into the goalie’s pads at the last minute and survived an onslaught from Catholic Institute to claim a goalless draw for her side at Rosbrien. With regular netminder Caroline Levis ruled out due to injury at short notice, O’Flynn – younger sister of Ireland A international Audrey – stepped into the breach to earn a point for the students.

Elsewhere, Caroline McCarthy scored her second goal of the weekend but it wasn’t enough to prevent Ashton slipping to a 2-1 home loss to C of I. Marie O’Mahony scored the winner for the visitors after Rachel O’Hanlon – who had made her IHL debut the day before – grabbed their first. Women’s Div 3: Fermoy and C of I both maintained their 100% records over the past week to stay in first and second at the summit. The north Cork side saw off Dungarvan 3-2 in midweek, with Trish Fitzpatrick claiming the winner, while Natalie Keniry’s double did the majority of the damage in a 3-1 win at Quins at the weekend that made it four wins from four. Emily Brownlow claimed the only goal of the game in C of I’s victory at Belvedere, while Linsey Kean’e hat-trick helped Dungarvan bounce back from their midweek loss to record a 3-2 win in the Déise derby with Waterford. There was less luck for UL, who crashed to a 3-0 reverse at Clonmel, with Dawn Grace, Jacqui Stokes and Marie Mulcahy all on target for the Tipperary girls. Women’s Div 4: Ashton moved to the top of the division with a workmanlike 4-2 win at home to Bandon, with Jane Mackey’s brace the vital interventions. They are a point clear of Tipperary – who had the weekend off – and C of I, who were held to a draw by UCC, as Lauren Neville’s effort was cancelled out by Aisling Hennessy. Fermoy’s scoreless draw with Waterford does few favours for either side, with both stuck at the wrong end of the table. Women’s Div 5: It is hard to see even at this early stage who can stop Limerick’s march towards success in Division Five. They are yet to concede a goal in four games and strikes from Ciara Hayes, Grainne Leonard and Marie Garrett in a 3-0 defeat of Belvedere made it four wins from four with 14 goals to their name. C of I stay second after Aoibheann O’Donovan’s brace helped set them on their way to an easy 4-0 win over UCC, while Ashton and Clonmel played out a 0-0 draw. Women’s Div 6: Cobh and Bruff are beginning to emerge as the powerhouses of this division, which is surely good news for hockey outside the province’s main cities. The east Cork girls have nine points from nine after Claire Ahern, Lisa Harris and Aoife Richardson all hit the target in their 3-0 success away to Belvedere. Elaine Hall, Louisa Carroll, Claire Hayes and Jennifer O’Brien shared the goals as Bruff went one better by winning 4-0 at Quins, while Dungarvan dented C of I’s hopes as Triona Wall and Emma Dalton gave them a 2-0 win.