UCD’s hopes undone by Daly

They didn’t make the Irish Hockey League semi-finals, but Catholic Institute took plenty of personal satisfaction in a 3-2 defeat of UCD which also ruined the students’ title hopes at Rosbrien on Saturday. Having been ousted from the Irish Senior Cup by the Belfielders, Insta had revenge on their minds but they also carried a burning desire to show they belong at Irish hockey’s top table after a chastening 3-0 defeat by Hermes. To that end, a bullish post on their club Facebook page in midweek claimed a win over Leinster’s double-winners would prove they were one of the country’s top teams.

And despite going behind twice in a drama-filled encounter, an instinctive finish from birthday girl Kym Daly helped them prevail by the odd goal in five. It wasn’t enough for the Limerick girls to progress, but it meant UCD crashed out of the competition. The students had the lead despite early Insta pressure when Deirdre Duke won a corner which Nicola Gray swept home. But the lead did not last to quarter-time as Cregan rounded Stella Davis and slotted home an equaliser in the 17th minute. UCD were on top but were frustrated once again as Caroline Hill saw Christine O’Shea take her effort off the line but they had a lead once more when Leah Ewart finished off Anna O’Flanagan’s cross. Cregan created the second equaliser for Carroll in the third period to set up a frenetic closing quarter. And UCD were stung at the death when Carroll’s speed created room down the left and she crossed it to Cregan. Davis turned that effort onto the post and Daly – initially believing Cregan has scored – reacted to push the ball in despite having her back to goal to score. Belfast kingpins Pegasus were the side to benefit despite losing 3-1 at home to Pool A pace-setters Hermes, as they edged out the students by a point. The margins were similarly fine in Pool B, where Loreto leapfrogged Railway Union into top spot despite blowing a 3-1 lead away to Ballymoney, for whom Jessica Lynch’s hat-trick earned the Antrim side a 3-3 draw. With Railway drawing a blank on Leeside in a 0-0 draw at Cork Harlequins, they go through in second and will now play competition favourites Hermes in the last four, though Loreto won’t have it easy against recent European title winners Pegasus. The remaining clashes were dead rubbers, with UCC going down 2-1 at home to Lurgan while Old Alex won 2-0 at Armagh. In the men’s competition, Glenanne proved that for all hockey’s advancements in recent years, the simple tactic of a crash ball can still yield powerful dividends. The hosts saw very little of the ball against semi-final hopefuls Banbridge in Tallaght, but Jonathan Kane’s hat-trick of deflections and an own goal helped them romp home 4-0. That torpedoed Bann’s chance of progression although with Monkstown comfortable 4-1 winners over Cork Harlequins, the Down men would have had a mountain to climb anyway in Pool A. ‘Town progress in second place with Cookstown topping the pool by a point by virtue of their 3-3 draw with Instonians. In Pool B, Lisnagarvey will be cursing themselves for taking their eye off the ball and allowing Pembroke Wanderers take a 3-3 draw from Hillsborough. With YMCA romping to a 5-1 victory over Three Rock Rovers, the bonus point and boost to their goal difference proved enough for them to leapfrog ‘Garvey and take top spot. Given Garvey went unbeaten through the pool stages while YM lost twice but still went through as top seeds, it’s little wonder there has been a recommendation to alter the points collation system for next season. That now pits Garvey against Cookstown — who came from a long way behind to overhaul them for Ulster league honours this term — in the last four while it’s an all-Dublin clash between YM and Monkstown. Cork C of I finished their campaign on a high by snatching third place in Pool B with a 5-3 victory away to Annadale, Stephen Sweetnam’s quick-fire second-half double turning the clash decisively in their favour. Peter Caruth had twice cancelled out go-ahead goals for the Duff men – an own goal and one from David Hobbs – but Gary Wilkinson put them in front again before Sweetnam’s double stretched them out to 5-2. With C of I having just one substitute, ‘Dale were banking on a final quarter resurgence but they could only manage one late consolation strike from Chris Campbell. Irish Hockey League Round 5 Men’s Pool A: Cookstown 3 (D Best, I Sloan, A Barbour) Instonians 3 (M Irwin, W Robinson, J Corry); Glenanne 4 (J Kane 3, own goal) Banbridge 0; Monkstown 4 (R Sykes, R O’Moore, A Ward) Cork Harlequins 1 (D Eakins); Final standings (goal difference): 1 Cookstown 15pts (10); 2 Monkstown 14pts (7); 3 Banbridge 10pts (0); 4 Glenanne 8pts (-1); 5 Instonians 5 pts (-5); 6 Cork Harlequins 5pts (-11). Men’s Pool B: YMCA 5 (J Bruton 2, M Richardson 2, own goal) Three Rock Rovers 1 (P Blakeney); Annadale 3 (P Caruth 2, C Campbell) Cork C of I 5 (S Sweetnam 2, D Hobbs, G Wilkinson, own goal); Lisnagarvey 3 (D Buser, S Arbuthnot, T Cockram) Pembroke Wanderers 3 (M Elliott 2, T Lewis); Final standings (goal difference): 1 YMCA 14pts (9); 2 Lisnagarvey 14pts (6); 3 Cork C of I 9pts (0); 4 Pembroke Wanderers 7pts (-4); 5 Annadale 6pts (-4); 6 Three Rock Rovers 4pts (-7). Women’s Pool A: Pegasus 1 (S Beaney) Hermes 3 (L Jacob 2, A Connery); Catholic Institute 3 (E Cregan, N Carroll, K Daly) UCD 2 (N Gray, L Ewart); Armagh 0 Old Alex 2 (H McDermott, E Russell); Final standings (goal difference): 1 Hermes 18pts (12); 2 Pegasus 11pts (3); 3 UCD 10pts (2); 4 Catholic Institute 10pts (-1); 5 Old Alex 6pts (-4); 6 Armagh 1pt (-12). Women’s Pool B: UCC 1 (S Bowe) Lurgan 2 (S Hull, Z McNally); Ballymoney 3 (J Lynch 3) Loreto 3 (C McKean, H Matthews, S McGirr); Cork Harlequins 0 Railway Union 0; Final standings (goal difference): 1 Loreto 16pts (13); 2 Railway Union 15pts (13); Ballymoney 14pts (8); 4 Cork Harlequins 9pts (-1); 5 Lurgan 5pts (-13); 6 UCC 1pt (-20). Finals weekend (Lisnagarvey HC, May 5-6): Men’s semi-finals: Lisnagarvey v Cookstown; Monkstown v YMCA; Women’s semi-finals: Loreto v Pegasus; Hermes v Railway Union. Qualified for IHL 2012/13 Men: Cookstown, Lisnagarvey, Annadale, Banbridge (Ulster); Glenanne, Monkstown, Pembroke Wanderers, Railway Union (Leinster); Cork Harlequins, Cork Church of Ireland (Munster). Women: Pegasus, Ballymoney, Lurgan, Ulster Elks (Ulster); UCD, Railway Union, Loreto, Old Alex (Leinster); Catholic Institute, Cork Harlequins (Munster). Wildcard playoffs (UCD, May 18-20) Men: YMCA (Leinster), Instonians (Ulster), UCC (Munster); Women: Hermes (Leinster), Ards (Ulster), UCC (Munster), Galway or Greenfields (Connacht).