Hockey: Cork C of I halt UCC's Division One dominance

Holly Lehane snatched the winner in a 4-3 epic that moves C of I level on points with UCC after seven rounds

Cork C of I’s women ended UCC’s unbeaten record in Munster Division One just as the competition enters its winter break.

Holly Lehane snatched the winner in a 4-3 epic that moves C of I level on points with UCC after seven rounds with both on 18 points for Christmas.

The students went in front when Emma O’Sullivan set up Nikki Barry for the opener but the lead was swapped either side of half-time with Cara Sexton getting a vital touch to Hollie Moffett’s reverse into the circle before Lehane got her first of the day for 2-1.

UCC got the next two, Emma Cripps’ sweep into the danger zone setting up Christina Dring before an excellent reverse-stick effort from Roisin O’Dea made it 3-2.

Such a result would probably have been a deal-breaker in the title chase and C of I knew it, throwing everything into the closing quarter. And they duly affected a six-point swing. Emma Barber smashed the post from a great effort before the defender again played a key attacking role when she smacked the ball straight up the pitch for Sexton to tie the game for a third time.

And Lehane won it in the final minutes from a penalty corner to set up a thrilling second half of the campaign.

For UCC, they were without the influential Caoimhe Perdue who scored an equaliser for the Irish Under-21s in their 2-2 draw against England in Valencia in their Four Nations Tournament.

It was a hastily arranged affair put in place once the Junior World Cup in South Africa was cancelled. Ireland lost their closing game against Spain 4-0.

In the women’s EY Hockey League, Cork Harlequins’ stay in the top tier looks to be very fragile after a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Muckross. The result was Eddie Gash’s young side’s ninth successive loss and leaves them five points from safety.

On the men’s side, UCC produced their best performance of the season as they came back from 3-1 down to draw with high-flying Bandon 3-3.

Bandon looked good when goals from Fionn O’Leary, Ian Perrott and Clinton Sweetnam put them well clear.

But a double from Ronan Kingsbury helped the students storm back for a score draw. It sees Bandon lose a little bit of ground on leaders C of I who were pushed all the way by Catholic Institute but won out 2-0 in the end with Johnny Spillane and Rob Sweetnam getting the goals.

They lead the table by two points ahead of their key showdown next Saturday at Garryduff. Waterford, meanwhile, powered to a 7-2 win over Wicklow in the Irish Hockey Challenge to showcase their status as major contenders for that title.