Quins catch students on the double

Cork Harlequins raided the Mardyke twice in 24 hours to end the cup dreams of UCC’s men and women on a memorable weekend for the Farmer’s Cross club. The men had things relatively easy in a 5-1 Peard Cup semi-final win, setting up a St Stephen’s Day decider against Cork Church of Ireland. But it was the women’s 3-2 Munster Senior Cup quarter-final win, coming from two goals down, that was the chief talking point. College, with their tails back up following last weekend’s crushing 6-0 win over C of I, flew out of the blocks at a chilly Mardyke and were two up in jig-time.

Both were beautifully worked short corner moves. First, a dummied stop gave Amy Kate Trevor the space to sweep to Ali O’Regan at the back post, before Olivia Roycroft switched the other way to the injector spot, Steffi Bowe converting. In between, Roycroft had crashed a drag-flick off one post with Aine Curran striking the other upright off the subsequent rebound, and it looked like College could score at will. But the Quins fight-back began before the break when Orlagh Cotter profited from brilliant build-up play by Leanne Mullins and Acacia Taylor. Mullins used her pace to get around the outside of the College centre-backs and found Taylor in the circle, and her slick no-look pass eventually found its way to Cotter to bundle home from close range. Quins were bossing things by now and levelled it early in the second half. One short corner had already found the net but agonisingly for the visitors, Catriona Hassey had already blown for another set-piece. They made it count though, applying their trademark switch left for Rachel McSharry to slap home. Munster U18 Elisa Buckley finished the job, blasting a stunning half-volley into Emma White’s near post top corner from the top of the circle, and with Julie Coyne seeing yellow, any hopes of College forcing extra time were extinguished. Quins were joined in the last four by Catholic Institute. The Limerick side hammered UL (10-1), highlighted by Eimear Cregan’s six-goal haul. UL had frustrated Institute in last week’s league encounter but found former international skipper Cregan too hot to handle, as she blasted one into the top corner and applied finishing touches to five fine team goals. Katie Campbell also notched a brace while Claire Sullivan and Aoife Keny collected the others, Steph Peters replying for UL. Elsewhere, Bandon maintained their hex over Cork C of I, this time adding a 2-0 win at Garryduff to go with two previous victories in west Cork this term, to also make the last four. Amy Roycroft continued her fine form by converting a penalty stroke after Emma Peters’ goal-bound reverse-stick sweep was illegally blocked, before the in-form Ciara McCarthy got the crucial touch at a corner to seal victory in an evenly-matched tie. Meanwhile, a second-half collapse cost UCC’s men in their Peard Cup semi-final against Cork Harlequins, as tired legs from the previous day’s 3-0 league win over Cork C of I B also came into play.

Fionn O’Leary scored a brilliant hat-trick to win that encounter, but College looked relatively out of sorts, and had Davy Herbert made the most of the visitors’ best three chances, things could have been different. That the hosts took the three points came down to O’Leary’s finishing. He slotted home a beautiful low reverse on the half-volley in the first half before touching home Roger Gray’s mid-air cross via a wicked deflection off C of I netminder Andrew Whittaker, then completing victory with a re-direction of a short corner move. Any hopes that College might have saved something for the cup game a day later failed to materialise, as David Egner batted home a shoulder-high rebound for a single-goal half-time lead. Things might have been level had O’Leary not tipped Shrew Power’s goal-bound half-volley over the bar, but tired legs began to play a part in the second period. Mark Black was allowed too much time to place home the second before a disputed short corner was dragged home by David Eakins to kill the game off. Quins, for whom Jason Black was outstanding, escaped a weak UCC press all too easily throughout and Egner notched his fourth with a vicious strike after Kieran Healy had saved his previous attempt. A yellow card for David Lombard did quell some of the Quins momentum, and Malcolm Coombes got College off the mark with his first goal for the club, rebounding well after Chris Daunt had thwarted Shrew Power. But a swift Quins counter-attack killed any faint hopes of a student uprising, Phil McLaughlin doing the donkey work and Paul Lombard applying the deadly finish. Elsewhere, Cork Church of Ireland shook off a number of absentees to nail down a vital 3-1 league win over Bandon. Gary Wilkinson’s poacher’s instinct, which yielded two goals, and a Stephen Sweetnam drag-flick gave them a first-half lead they never relinquished despite being without four key first-teamers. Long-term absentee John Jermyn was joined on the sidelines by Alec Moffett (broken hand), while Shane O’Donnell and Phil Smith were also missing for the hosts, with Clinton Sweetnam not at full fitness and Andrew Daunt missing part of the game due to exam commitments. But Wilkinson touched in crashes from Philip Sweetnam and David Harvey to put C of I in control, with Stephen Sweetnam doing his thing from the top of the D, though Bandon felt aggrieved to see one first-half goal chalked off. That aside, Billy Lynch had to smother an Ali Smith one-on-one but otherwise wasn’t tested often enough,  until David Smith intercepted and finished with aplomb for a consolation strike in the final minutes. Men Peard Cup semi-final: UCC 1 (M Coombes) Cork Harlequins 5 (D Egner 2, M Black, D Eakins, P Lombard); Munster Div 1: Cork C of I 3 (G Wilkinson 2, S Sweetnam) Bandon 1 (D Smith); UCC 3 (F O’Leary 3) Cork C of I B 0; Women Munster Senior Cup quarter-finals: UCC 2 (A O’Regan, S Bowe) Cork Harlequins 3 (O Cotter, R McSharry, E Buckley); Catholic Institute 10 (E Cregan 6, K Campbell 2, C Sullivan, A Kenny) UL 1 (S Peters); Cork C of I 0 Bandon 2 (A Roycroft, C McCarthy);