Men’s Division 1
Cork C of I 2 (Stephen Sweetnam, Simon Wolfe) Cork Harlequins 1 (Philip McLaughlin)
Cork Church of Ireland’s young guns showed maturity beyond their years to combine for a late winner as they stole a march on title rivals Cork Harlequins at Garryduff.
These clashes used to be goal-fests watched by large crowds but the current vintage are often now more cautious affairs, sadly watched by comparatively few.
C of I started brightly and Stephen Sweetnam dragged them in front inside 90 seconds, but Phil McLaughlin tapped in Colin Ross’s pinpoint cross for a second-half equaliser.
Quins keeper Nigel Bryan turned a Sweetnam tracer onto the bar for the save of the game while David Harvey’s crucial block prevented David Egner scoring into an empty net after he’d rounded Billy Lynch.
Otherwise, the sides largely cancelled each other out until a crucial late twist. Quins were remonstrating with umpire Peter Murphy over the non-award of a short corner when David Hobbs quickly moved the ball to Sweetnam on the counter.
He found Gary Wilkinson in the circle but despite a decent shooting angle, the Munster U18 captain had the composure to square for his underage interpro counterpart Simon Wolfe, who slid in to deflect home on his reverse.
It was a beautiful team goal and the three points will be worth their weight in gold to C of I as they bid to wrest back the title.
Cork Harlequins B 2 (John Sweetnam 2) UCC 9 (Andrew Scannell 3, Greg Chambers 3, Fionn O’Leary 2, Shrew Power)
UCC began a sequence of four games in eight days – a fifth against Bandon on Thursday night was shelved – with their biggest win of the campaign.
Without influential sweeper Andy Gray for the majority of the contest, some of the side’s newer players, particularly Andrew Scannell and Greg Chambers, stepped up in his absence.
Shrew Power scrambled home the opener before Scannell’s rebound off his own drag-flick made it two. John Sweetnam halved the deficit with a peach of a drag at the other end but Chambers finished off a six-pass move for a 3-1 half-team lead.
College ran riot in the second half with Fionn O’Leary collecting a pair while Scannell completed his hat-trick from corners and Chambers doing likewise from play, Sweetnam replying late on with a slighty miscued drag that deceived Kieran Healy.
Bandon 0 Cork C of I B 1 (David Herbert)
A tough loss for Bandon to take as a tidy finish from Davy Herbert was all that separated these sides in west Cork.
C of I bossed the first half and forced a handful of corners without converting, while the hosts came back into it after the break despite being without a keeper for a time.
Ian Hosford was yellow-carded for dissent and with no spare on the bench, Bandon were forced to defend with just 10 outfielders, although C of I were a man down at the time. The blues held out against a late Bandon surge to take all three points.