Students prevail in rain-soaked Peard Cup final

Peard Cup final: UCC 4 - Cork C of I ‘B’ 3

UCC eventually pulled clear of Cork C of I B to land their second Peard Cup title in three seasons as Glenn Healy’s 56th-minute deflection finally put them out of range.

They did so at a sleet-addled Garryduff, with the wet and sleety conditions requiring a hasty change of pitch from the water-logged main pitch to the upper sand-based.

The slower surface, perhaps, acted as something of a levelling agent and UCC found the tie far tougher than their league meeting which they won at a canter 5-1 earlier in the campaign.

This time, with the ballast of Richie Dorman and Ken Twomey in midfield, C of I got off to a flyer with Mark Gallagher breaking the deadlock in the eighth minute from a penalty corner.

Stephen Jermyn equalised quickly with some sharp reactions to clean up off Peter Coulter’s pads following Shrew Power’s slap at goal.

Sam Grace – UCC’s key player – put the students in front from a corner but Gallagher responded in kind for 2-2 at half-time.

Eoin Finnegan restored UCC’s lead early in the second half with a shot to the bottom corner. Plenty of sin-binnings followed with Cork C of I bearing the brunt of them for the most part as they spent much of the half on the back foot.

And there was no chance of a recovery when Power produced some brilliant work on the right wing to pump into the circle. Healy’s out-stretched stick put daylight between the sides for the first time with 14 minutes to go.

From there, UCC were reasonably in control barring Shane Webster’s last-ditch consolation goal. It continued the students’ productive campaign to date, adding to their intervarsities Mauritius Plate success.

In Leinster, Three Rock Rovers won their first Neville Cup title in a decade when goalkeeper Shane O’Brien was the unlikely hero, saving three times in the shoot-out.

Pembroke looked certain to land the title when Keith O’Hare’s goal put them 2-1 ahead but a Ross Canning stroke sent the game to the shoot-out. O’Brien had been Three Rock’s fifth string goalkeeper just a couple of seasons ago but had been given the number one smock for this competition.

He duly had an immaculate game in normal time and then kept out Olympian Kirk Shimmins as well as Irish internationals Keith O’Hare and Harry Spain in the shoot-out for the victory.