C of I sparkle in cup triumph

If there was any doubt that Cork Harlequins’ time as top dogs in Munster is over for the time being, Saturday’s Munster Senior Cup final provided it.

A 6-0 mauling at the hands of Cork Church of Ireland is hard enough to take. That it was their fourth loss of the season to C of I was even worse.

A defensive mix-up led to a soft own goal that began a first-half goal-rush for C of I.

Stephen Sweetnam nabbed one from play and another off C of I’s only corner of the half, before a couple of sensational plays from Gary Wilkinson killed the game off.

He turned the Quins defence with a lovely first touch before planting a perfect flat cross on his reverse for Sweetnam to tap in his hat-trick goal at the back post. Then he played a lovely one-two with former Ireland U18 colleague Richard Lynch, the latter finishing smoothly to the far corner, 5-0 at half-time, and game over.

Quins did tighten up in the second half, conceding just once more to Sweetnam, but this performance was a far cry from when the Farmer’s Cross men shocked Irish hockey by winning the Irish Senior Cup just 11 months ago.

Meanwhile, Catholic Institute were deserved women’s Munster Senior Cup winners, defeating a surprisingly flat UCC side 2-0.

College threatened for much of the first half but it was Insta who made the breakthrough as Elaine Bromell buried a short corner.

A neat switch move saw Naomi Carroll tee up Katie Campbell for a lovely deflected goal that made it safe in the second half, making it three wins in a row for the Limerick side.

UL once again brought their best form to knockout hockey as they twice came from behind against Ashton to draw 3-3 before claiming the Munster Senior Plate on penalty strokes.

Elsewhere, it was a mixed weekend for UCC’s men as Greg Chambers and Philip Brennan starred in their seconds’ 4-2 Cork Cup win over C of I, but their third team went down 4-1 to a David Quinn-inspired Waterford side in the McLean Cup final.

Clonakilty claimed the women’s Division 5 Cup as captain Karen Jennings struck twice in their 4-0 win over Blackrock. The cup finals continue today at Garryduff with five women’s trophies up for grabs.