Cork Harlequins gave a stark reminder that they are still the team to beat in Munster women’s hockey by recording victories over two of their biggest rivals inside 24 hours.
Veterans Rachael Kohler and Karen Bateman rolled back the years to teach UCC a hockey lesson in Saturday’s Munster Senior Cup semi-final clash, dispatching the students 4-1.
Quins had lost three of their last four clashes with College, puncturing the air of invincibility they’d held for more than a decade.
And with College starting the brighter – forcing two shorts, while Amy O’Neill was forced into a smart save by Ali O’Regan – it seemed like more of the same could be on the cards.
Karen Bateman's four goals in two games were the catalyst for two vital wins for Quins this weekend. Picture: Adrian Boehm
But once Quins settled down, they dominated, with the old heads of Bateman and Kohler well complimented by the younger brigade of Acacia Taylor – who has yet to reach her 15th birthday but showed glimpses of her raw talent – and Yvonne O’Byrne, who played despite having torn ligaments in her hand.
They subsequently exploited a College defensive shuffle forced by Orla Crowley’s loss to injury for much of the game. Bateman opened the scoring on 17 minutes, taking Rachel McSharry’s cross in her stride before drilling past Karen Olden.
She then teamed up with Kohler to give Cliona O’Connor a tap-in on 31 minutes, and they put the result practically beyond doubt from their second short corner on 45 minutes, Bateman lashing home her second after the ball had found its way back to her after a goalmouth scramble.
Julia O’Halloran gave UCC something to shout about on 57 minutes, cutting in from the right and weaving past a couple of Quins defenders before firing past O’Neill from a tight angle for a fine individual goal.
But an out-of-sorts College never looked like mounting an unlikely comeback, and Jane Chapple claimed Quins’ fourth with five minutes to go, again from a melee in the circle at short corner time.
Quins will face Catholic Institute in the decider — the latter saw off Ashton 6-0, with Irish skipper Eimear Cregan marking her debut for the club with a hat-trick, despite only playing for 20 minutes — but Quins have already struck a psychological blow, thanks to a 3-2 league win at Rosbrien yesterday.
The Cork club had tried in vain to get a postponement due to a shortage of available players, but they will be all the more satisfied with the win, given they travelled light.
Bateman’s early double had them two to the good after 15 minutes, but Elaine Bromell dispatched a disputed penalty stroke, before Caroline Hutchinson buried a short corner rebound to equalise for Institute.
However, a Rachel McSharry strike from a switched corner gave Quins the spoils, tightening things up among the top four in the process.
Cork C of I leapfrogged institute into second place after a routine 6-0 victory over UL, with Grace Young racking home a hat-trick for the Rochestown outfit.
Post Author:
alangood
9 Replies to “Resurgent Quins serve notice with double delight”
It was Grace Young not “Taylor”. Other scorers were Sinead Connery, Jenifer Barry & Claire Hickey
Quins had a stunner of a weekend – even with all the drama off the pitch they kept their heads in the game and showed everyone that they’re still a force to be reckoned with. As a spectator to the Cath Inst v Quins match I was appalled by some of the supporters as to their comments, people play hockey to enjoy it and yes it is competitive but leave that for on the pitch and for the teams to decide the fate of the match let’s not turn hockey into an unpleasent game. Well done to all this truly is a great season.
I was at the match on sunday between Catholic Institute and Quins. After all the havoc during the week which Quins started i was amazed to see them arrive with their full panel except Sargent and O’Byrne. The game was super to watch and Quins were lucky to come away with the win as i thought Cath Inst were the better team over the 70 mins. They had more short corners and penetrated Quins circle more. Quins took their chances well. Well done to both teams
Quins were also missing Hillary Chappel, Lesly Ann Daunt, so that is 4 key players. So no Quins didn’t have their usual starting squad. However quins and institue played well. Well done both teams
I’m amazed at Hockey Fan’s mistakes – for a fan!!!! A little more thorough research would have served him or her well as Quins did travel light and were missing more players than mentioned. However defeat is always a bitter pill to swallow
Quins had a stunner of a weekend – even with all the drama off the pitch!!!!!! DRAMA THEY CREATED THEMSELVES, THEY WERE ONLY SHORT O’BYRNE, Sargent would have been in England with the senior team anyway, silly tactics by Quins to unsettle other teams paid off this time, plenty more game time yet!
Tactics or not whats done is done – it was a thrilling game and both teams could leave the pitch with their heads held high, I’m certainly looking forward to the Munster Senior Cup Final!!
Also to anon make sure your facts are right they were not only missing O’Byrne it was fairly obvious this wasn’t the case, and yes Quins did have an impressive weekend you can not deny them that.
Heres to a great end of season battle – best of luck to all!
At the start of the week Quins were short 9 players for Sunday, which is why a postponement was requested, and many had to call in favours/swap shifts/work miracles to allow them to play. Its testament to the Quins spirit that they were able to remain focused and pull off two stunning results. Well done to Institute as well, they probably did have the better of the chances and showed why they are such a force this season. A great match – well done to both teams
Congrats to Quins on a great weekend…. 2 big wins against their major rivals..
Was at the Inst/Quins game – good crowd out to watch…. as mentioned, Inst dominated possession but didn’t create enough clear cut chances & their shorts were poor. The older heads on the Quins side showed their experience against an up & coming Inst side… Quins defended very well…. will be interesting to see how the Inst side develops over the next couple of seasons… Looking forward to the MSC final for the re-match to see what Inst learned from this encounter..
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It was Grace Young not “Taylor”. Other scorers were Sinead Connery, Jenifer Barry & Claire Hickey
Quins had a stunner of a weekend – even with all the drama off the pitch they kept their heads in the game and showed everyone that they’re still a force to be reckoned with. As a spectator to the Cath Inst v Quins match I was appalled by some of the supporters as to their comments, people play hockey to enjoy it and yes it is competitive but leave that for on the pitch and for the teams to decide the fate of the match let’s not turn hockey into an unpleasent game. Well done to all this truly is a great season.
I was at the match on sunday between Catholic Institute and Quins. After all the havoc during the week which Quins started i was amazed to see them arrive with their full panel except Sargent and O’Byrne. The game was super to watch and Quins were lucky to come away with the win as i thought Cath Inst were the better team over the 70 mins. They had more short corners and penetrated Quins circle more. Quins took their chances well. Well done to both teams
Quins were also missing Hillary Chappel, Lesly Ann Daunt, so that is 4 key players. So no Quins didn’t have their usual starting squad. However quins and institue played well. Well done both teams
I’m amazed at Hockey Fan’s mistakes – for a fan!!!! A little more thorough research would have served him or her well as Quins did travel light and were missing more players than mentioned. However defeat is always a bitter pill to swallow
Quins had a stunner of a weekend – even with all the drama off the pitch!!!!!! DRAMA THEY CREATED THEMSELVES, THEY WERE ONLY SHORT O’BYRNE, Sargent would have been in England with the senior team anyway, silly tactics by Quins to unsettle other teams paid off this time, plenty more game time yet!
Tactics or not whats done is done – it was a thrilling game and both teams could leave the pitch with their heads held high, I’m certainly looking forward to the Munster Senior Cup Final!!
Also to anon make sure your facts are right they were not only missing O’Byrne it was fairly obvious this wasn’t the case, and yes Quins did have an impressive weekend you can not deny them that.
Heres to a great end of season battle – best of luck to all!
At the start of the week Quins were short 9 players for Sunday, which is why a postponement was requested, and many had to call in favours/swap shifts/work miracles to allow them to play. Its testament to the Quins spirit that they were able to remain focused and pull off two stunning results. Well done to Institute as well, they probably did have the better of the chances and showed why they are such a force this season. A great match – well done to both teams
Congrats to Quins on a great weekend…. 2 big wins against their major rivals..
Was at the Inst/Quins game – good crowd out to watch…. as mentioned, Inst dominated possession but didn’t create enough clear cut chances & their shorts were poor. The older heads on the Quins side showed their experience against an up & coming Inst side… Quins defended very well…. will be interesting to see how the Inst side develops over the next couple of seasons… Looking forward to the MSC final for the re-match to see what Inst learned from this encounter..