Quins are kings again

Cork Harlequins are Munster men’s league champions for the first time since 2006, after completing a double over Cork Church of Ireland with a 3-2 win at Garryduff on Saturday. It’s a sweet win for Quins coach Phil Oakley in his first season in charge, but even moreso for the side’s veterans such as the Black and Lombard brothers, who have seen C of I — who were looking for a fifth title in succession — dominate the domestic landscape recently. All the goals came in the second-half, with the game hinging on two yellow cards for C of I’s David Hobbs and Adam O’Callaghan. David Eakins dispatched a penalty stroke in Hobbs’ absence but Nigel Buttimer equalised from an acute angle, the ball eventually going in off Jason Black’s stick. Dan Hobbs’ drag-flick restored the Quins lead on 55 minutes, only for Stephen Sweetnam’s persistence to pay off as he bullied his way into the circle to net a second leveller. But with O’Callaghan in the bin – carded for an ill-advised tackle on Mark Black on the 25 – C of I were left exposed at the back and David Lombard finished off a swift counter-attack on his reverse to win it in the dying minutes. Having failed to put away any of their nine corners against Quins, one could have forgiven C of I for approaching their clash with UCC 24 hours later with minor trepidation – given the absence of Irish skipper for the day John Jermyn and the students’ dire need for victory. To their credit, C of I recovered well to defeat a resolute UCC 5-2 at the Mardyke, killing off the students’ hopes of an Irish Hockey League wildcard playoff berth in the process, but not without controversy. Stephen Sweetnam dragged them in front on seven minutes but Roger Gray’s drag hit David Harvey’s foot on the line, via Lynch’s stick, and Andy Gray dispatched the stroke with aplomb for 1-1. But a similar instance at the other end left David Hobbs a chance to do likewise, which he did for a deserved 2-1 half-time lead. Alec Moffett’s powerful reverse gave C of I more breathing space but with Phil Smith yellow-carded for taking down an aerial above shoulder height with Fionn O’Leary through on goal behind him, College put the squeeze on. O’Leary did brilliantly to turn Nigel Buttimer with one touch with his back to goal, and he squared to leave Mark Welch one-on-one with Lynch, only for Welch to plant his flicked effort wide of the far upright. However, C of I failed to fully clear the next UCC attack after Roger Gray’s trickery had got him into the danger zone, and Graham Catchpole surged into circle and found the net with a reverse blast to put College back in it at 3-2, before the controversy reigned. Hobbs lashed in a strike which College vehemently protested had been hit from outside the scoring circle, leading to skipper Andy Gray’s sin-binning for repeated dissent. The goal stood, and there was more tension to follow when Roger Gray clashed with Philip Sweetnam, an altercation the UCC man insisted was accidental but which saw tempers snap in the C of I camp. Stephen Sweetnam and UCC’s Nathan Gokul were both shown yellow for their part in an ensuing ugly fracas involving multiple players. C of I took advantage of the numerical supremacy to kill the game off late on through Stuart O’Grady, who rolled into an empty net after Philip Sweetnam had initially been thwarted by Kieran Healy. The result means Bandon will represent Munster in the wildcard play-off for the fourth year in-a-row irrespective of the outcome of their final league clash with Quins. College finish their campaign at C of I B on Friday night, having beaten them 4-1 at home on Saturday. Peter Catchpole dinged a reverse to the top corner before Colin Manning beat a couple of defenders and took goalkeeper Andrew Whitaker out of the equation before squaring for O’Leary to tap in. O’Leary mugged the C of I backs on the press and reversed in a third, before Gray did likewise after a fine passing move down the right. In-form Bandon Grammar schoolboy Stuart Miller nabbed C of I’s consolation. Meanwhile, Ashton finally cured their cup nerves to annex the women’s Division One Plate, coming from behind to beat Bandon 2-1 and end their season on a high at Harlequin Park. Having lost to Galway in the Examiner Cup decider and to Portadown in the semis of the Irish Trophy, few would have forgiven George Treacy’s side for feeling like it wasn’t to be their year in terms of silverware. And despite losing Ireland U16’s Shauna Fagan at half-time, their defence held out the advances of Hilary Chapple and Amy Hosford, until Sarah Sullivan’s 1-2 with Ciara Harte at corner time finally yielded a goal for the Munster U18 skipper. But Ashton, inspired by Deirdre Keohane, responded in style. Almost immediately, the heretofore unsung hero battered a corner past Claire Hayes, before Caroline McCarthy aimed for the back post on a breakaway. Bandon netminder Hayes and Karen Stokes both plunged for the ball, but Stokes got a vital touch through the goalie’s legs and reacted quickest to prod the trickling ball home for the winner. Main image and slideshow with thanks to Peter Swanton Munster Div 1 Cork C of I 2 (N Buttimer, S Sweetnam) Cork Harlequins 3 (D Eakins, D Hobbs, D Lombard); UCC 4 (F O’Leary 2, P Catchpole, R Gray) Cork C of I B 1 (S Miller); UCC 2 (A Gray, G Catchpole) Cork C of I 5 (D Hobbs 2, A Moffett, S Sweetnam, S O’Grady);