Barry and Allen in fine form as Ashton edge out Bandon

Hockey

Ashton had Michelle Barry and Rebecca Allen to thank for a dramatic first Munster U21 Club Championships victory at Garryduff yesterday. In a tight final against Bandon, the duo produced vital interventions to secure a 1-0 victory.

Barry scored a cracker of a solo goal en route to a deserved award as tournament MVP, while Allen made a miraculous goal-line clearance with the game’s last play, the final whistle sounding as she scrambled the ball to safety.

Bandon looked the most impressive side in the group stages, an impressive 2-0 victory over a strong Cork C of I outfit before dispatching the SFH All-Stars invitational side by the same scoreline.

But Ashton scraped past a game Limerick outfit 2-1 before winning 3-0 against Fermoy to secure their place in the decider, with Barry, Allen and their ever-excellent goalkeeper Hannah Humphreys doing the rest.

It was similarly dramatic stuff on the men’s side with Cork C of I retaining their title but only on penalty strokes after twice coming from behind in the final against Limerick. The ever-improving Limerick men had knocked a fancied Bandon side out in the pool stages with a smash-and-grab 2-0 raid and twice led through drag-flicks from Andrew Tutty, having soaked up plenty of pressure at the other end.

But Simon Wolfe’s sweet reverse deflection and Richard Sweetnam’s persistence at short corner time levelled it for C of I, who won the shootout handily after Robert Locke saved Limerick’s first two efforts.

Elsewhere, a remarkable penalty shoot-out settled third place on the men’s side. UCC and Ashton had drawn 1-1 before College won a high-quality shoot-out 10-9. Eighteen consecutive penalties were scored before Steven Scanlan, guesting for UCC, made the crucial save against his parent club. Ashton goalkeeper Peter Coulter was named MVP.

Cork C of I and Limerick’s women opted to share third place after a 1-1 draw in their classification match while the SFH All-Stars won the 5th/6th place playoff, Julie Poland’s rocket and two fine back post finishes from Hillary O’Donovan setting them on their way to a 4-1 win over Fermoy.

The informal Christmas tournament is the brainchild of Andrew Gray, a shortened 9-a-side games played on a full-size pitch.