Roberts is C of I’s deadly assassin

Women’s Division 1

Limerick 1 (Gillian Quigley) Cork C of I 3 (Amy Roberts 3) Amy Roberts gave a virtuoso captain’s performance as her hat-trick helped get Cork C of I off the mark with a 3-1 win away to a dogged Limerick side. She mopped up a corner rebound to put the Garryduff girls into the lead, but her second was the pick of the bunch, beating a couple of defenders before lobbing Limerick keeper Anne-Marie Byrne. New signing Ali O’Regan also starred, going on a solo run of her own before pulling the ball back for Roberts’ third. Limerick eked out a late consolation as Gillian Quigley reversed home after collecting a quick pass into the circle for her second in as many games. Ashton 2 (Kate Harvey, Mary-Claire Cummins) UL 0 Points on the board and a productive performance to boot for Alan Dobson’s Ashton, as Kate Harvey and Mary Claire Cummins reacted quickest to mop up two rebounds. Harvey’s came as she picked up the second phase of her own drag-flick, while Cummins collected one off Elaine O’Flynn’s pads after Karen Stokes’ initial shot was saved, one of numerous good stops by the UL netminder. Her opposite number Nicole Stockil was in similarly good form, forcing Steph Peters to shoot wide and smothering a second UL one-on-one which came about via the students’ pacy forwards. But with only the bare 11 travelling, UL spent much of the game camped in their own half and the margin could have been greater had Jen O’Flynn had more luck with a handful of corner bullets that whistled wide. Bandon 0 Cork Harlequins 9 (Yvonne O’Byrne 3, Rachel McSharry 2, Orlagh Cotter, Cliodhna Sargent, Acacia Taylor, own goal) The first own goal in Munster hockey since the new ruling allowing them came into force for this season was the main headline from a game that was all too easy for Cork Harlequins. The fixtures haven’t been kind to a Bandon outfit coming to terms with the departures of nine first-teamers, with no goals scored and 20 conceded in two games following their rout at Institute last weekend. For Quins, Yvonne O’Byrne continued her fine goalscoring form with a second successive hat-trick to give the Ireland A defender the unusual title of the province’s top scorer so far, while Rachel McSharry picked off a rare reverse-stick strike too.

Fermoy 0 UCC 4 (Aine Curran, Nicola Kerr, Amy Kate Trevor and Emily O’Leary) UCC’s scholarship students flexed their muscles  as they moved joint top with a straightforward win in north Cork. Skipper Aine Curran, Nicola Kerr, Amy Kate Trevor and Emily O’Leary all found the net as Paidi Hartnett’s ever-improving side continued to spread the goals around – six different players have notched their seven strikes so far this term. Trevor rattled in a reverse before Kerr converted a short corner rebound. A switch left to Curran found the bottom corner before O’Leary struck from open play. Like Bandon, Fermoy have had a tough start to the campaign but they now have two weeks to pick themselves up before heading to west Cork where they’ll be targeting their first points of the new campaign. Men’s Division 1 UCC 0 Cork Harlequins 3 (David Eakins 2, Paul Lombard) This was a tale of two penalty strokes as Cork Harlequins moved top of the men’s Division One with a slightly flattering victory at the Mardyke, where members of C of I and Bandon’s firsts were both on the sideline scoping out their competition for the new season. Both sides carved out some half-chances in a surprisingly open first quarter, with Quins’ superior ability to find their forwards on the baseline creating the better opportunities. One of those led to a goal-bound shot hitting a UCC foot, with Alastair Shute pointing to the penalty spot despite UCC protests that goalkeeper Brian Corcoran was behind it. David Eakins tucked away the stroke while at the other end, a neat double deflection saw Chris Daunt get an instinctive hand to Fionn O’Leary’s touch that was bound for the top corner. In the second half, Paul Lombard capitalised on a defensive error before rounding Brian Corcoran for Quins’ second, only for College to get a lifeline when a body on the line stopped Colin Manning scoring. But Andy Gray saw his stroke saved by Daunt and Eakins rifled home a late drag-flick to seal it. Quins had Kilkenny man Eddie Dore back in the fray while Jason Black played despite having stitches in a nasty hand injury. For College, Andy Colton had a decent debut outing in midfield while Corcoran impressed between the sticks with some brave interventions to deny John Sweetnam and David Egner. Cork Harlequins B 0 Cork Church of Ireland B 2 (Simon Wolfe, Mark Holmes) The battle of the B teams was won without too much fuss by Cork Church of Ireland, who continue to blood a raft of new youngsters in this side. Simon Wolfe still falls into that category but has seen plenty of Division One action in the past 12 months, and the Ireland U16 hitman opened the scoring before Mark Holmes, a relative veteran in this team, finished the job off in the second period.