Quins cut loose in second-half as C of I flatter to deceive

AFTER a first half which promised so much, Cork Church of Ireland were overwhelmed 5-1 by Cork Harlequins in the Munster Senior League at Harlequins Park on Saturday.

With the score at 1-1 at the break, C of I had high hopes of breaking their Quins hoodoo, but the hosts re-emerged a transformed side.

C of I coach Neil Welch was disappointed afterwards. “With so many internationals out there for us, you might have expected a 50:50 game and it was in the first half,” he said. “But in the second we offered too little up front and Mark Black controlled things for them in midfield. We’ve no complaints, we were beaten by the better team.”

His opposite number Stephen Dale praised his team for their second half performance

“Church of Ireland were well on top for periods of the first half and we were glad to come out of that with the scores level.

“But in the second half we decided to move the ball early and keep it moving and we got the scores as a result. To win by four goals after having another disallowed is obviously very pleasing,” he said.

The threat posed by C of I from set pieces was evident when goalkeeper Wes Bateman made an excellent save from John Jermyn’s shot on five minutes. But it was the home side who took the lead five minutes later when Richard Gash stole unnoticed into the C of I circle to fire home.

Midway through the half C of I were level when Jermyn scored from David Hobbs’ short corner delivery. They nearly went ahead minutes later when uncharacteristic indecision by Quins from a short corner saw Jermyn force another fine save from Bateman.

C of I were well on top and playing some lovely hockey, with Jermyn, Hobbs, Karl Burns and Jason Lynch all to the fore, but they could not score and were fortunate that Mark Ruddle made a good save from Dave Egner.

The second half was a completely different story as Quins took control. Their first goal arrived when David Lombard fed John Aherne in the C of I circle and his turn and shot left Ruddle with no chance.

On 13 minutes they were 3-1 up, when Dave Ekins pounced, and from there on the home side were in cruise control.

C of I pushed forward in an attempt to claw something back, but they were caught out on a counter-attack when Dave Egner tucked the ball away after a lightning move involving Mark Black and Paul Lombard.

Lee D’Alton finished the rout and while C of I did create chances, Neil Welch and his side were left to rue too many missed set piece moves.

“We will have to regroup now and see what we can do before our next league encounter with Quins in the new year,” said the coach. “But we can have no complaints about today and we will have to see can we do some damage in the Senior Cup maybe.”

Dale and his men can look to a job well done and confidence is high now that they can produce a fourth consecutive Munster League and Cup double, as well as defending their Irish Senior Cup title.

CORK HARLEQUINS: W. Bateman, J. Hobbs, S. Nicholson, P. O’Driscoll, J. Black, M. Black, J. Aherne, D. Lombard, P. Lombard, R. Gash, D. Egner.

Rolling subs: D. Ekins, E. Gash, M. Lombard, L. D’Alton, S. White.

CORK CHURCH OF IRELAND: M. Ruddle, A. Chambers, K. Burns, D. Hales, A. Pritchard, N. Buttimer, J. Jermyn, S. Parker, J. Bruton, D. Hobbs, J. Lynch.

Rolling Subs: B Lynch, T. Dunne, R. Dorman, P. Smith, A. Moffett.