Munster Cup glory at last for Institute
Elaine Bromell lashed home a corner on 20 minutes and a diving Kym Daly connected with Rosie Pratt’s cross 90 seconds later to seemingly put Institute in control, but Quins rallied after the break.
Johanna Hyland beat Ciara Ronan down her left-hand side with an improvised short corner strike of real quality, before Rachel McSharry did likewise with a swept effort two minutes later to suddenly haul Quins level.
But Institute regained their composure when it mattered, and again the goals came in a spurt; two from Eimear Cregan in the final five minutes put the result to bed, before Caroline Hutchinson collected a corner rebound and planted home a rocket with the game’s final act.
For Quins, there was a semblance of injustice with their skipper and star performer Cliodhna Sargent ruled out due to the Irish women’s squad’s central preparation programme rest requirements. Similarly, Railway Union and UCD also had to do without their Irish internationals for their Jacqui Potter Cup final showdown earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Cork Church of Ireland easily retained their men’s Munster Senior Cup crown with a 6-1 dismissal of Bandon.
John Jermyn’s 60-yard overhead pass was controlled on the run by David Hobbs, who cut inside and flashed an unstoppable reverse-stick strike past Ian Hosford in the Bandon goal after just 90 seconds.
Jermyn put the result beyond doubt with two trademark drag-flicks, before a neat no-look pass from Richard Lynch played in Stephen Sweetnam to chip home the fourth before the break. Hobbs nabbed his second from the injector’s spot before Bandon finally got some joy when Andrew Scannell’s drag-flick found the bottom corner. But Hobbs notched another to complete his hat-trick.
Elsewhere, there was Irish Trophy semi-final heartbreak for Ashton, as goals from Karen Stokes and Caroline McCarthy weren’t enough to prevent them going down 3-2 at Portadown.
UL have amazingly pulled themselves off the bottom of the women’s league table after a goal from former Munster U18 Steph Peters gave them a 1-1 draw with Cork C of I.
The Limerick students’ defeat by fellow strugglers Belvedere last month had left them facing an uphill struggle to avoid relegation. However, they have now leapfrogged Belvedere by a point, meaning the Ballincollig side now have the unenviable task of trying to take points off Catholic Institute and Bandon in their final games.
UCC gave their Irish Hockey League qualification hopes a shot in the arm with a 3-1 win at Bandon.
In the sole men’s league game, Cork Harlequins B defeated UCC 3-2, a shock which the students will be hoping serves as a necessary reminder against complacency ahead of their Irish Trophy final assignment against South Antrim on Sunday.
