Honours for Munster stars

Munster swept the boards at the Irish Hockey Awards but it was again Ulster who tasted interpro glory over a breathless weekend in Dublin.

There was plenty for the South to shout about as schools, clubs, players and volunteers came out on top at Saturday’s awards at the Alexander Hotel, with Munster taking seven of the 15 awards.

That included both the senior club players of the year prizes, with Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute) taking the gong after a stellar year saw her break into the senior Irish panel and win European gold at U21 level, while Cork Church of Ireland’s marauding full-back David Harvey took the men’s prize.

Phil Oakley was named coach of the year guiding Cork Harlequins to a remarkable treble that included a dream Irish Senior Cup victory and a Munster men’s league and senior cup.

Catholic Institute women’s coach Ger O’Carroll was a popular winner of the volunteer of the year gong, while Ursulines Thurles and Fermoy HC were rewarded for recent successes with the school and developing club of the year awards respectively.

Audrey O’Flynn won the Ireland women’s players’ player of the year prize, no great surprise in a year that saw the drag-flicking expert finish top scorer at March’s Olympic qualifiers. Ulster’s teak-tough defender John Jackson claimed the men’s equivalent.

The on-pitch drama was all played out at Grange Road, where Ulster completed a girls’ interpro double.

The U18 title was their sixth in a row and came thanks to hard-fought 1-0 wins over Leinster and Munster, while they hit 11 goals in victories over Connacht and South East.

For Munster, it was a case of what might have been. Twenty-five circle entries couldn’t yield a goal in a 0-0 draw with South East, while they went down to Leinster and Ulster by the minimum before their luck finally turned against Connacht, Eimear Ryan scoring in the game’s final act to give them a 2-1 win and a share of third place.

The U16 competition followed a similar script; Ulster edged Leinster 1-0 and snuck past Munster 2-1, Jessica McMaster scoring all the goals as took the title with four wins from four. Munster finished third, Ciara Leahy scoring in wins over Connacht (2-0) and South East (2-1).

In the sole Division One club game of the weekend in Munster, club captain Nigel Bateman celebrated a call-up to UCC’s first team by netting a hat-trick in his side’s 6-2 victory over Cork Harlequins B.