Harlequins and Church of Ireland share the spoils at Farmers’ Cross

Brian Hayes Curtain put Quins ahead. Rob Sweetnam levelled for C of I soon after.

 

Harlequins and Church of Ireland played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in men’s Munster Division 1 on Saturday.

Brian Hayes Curtain put Quins ahead from a short corner that was initially well saved by Sean Bateman.

Rob Sweetnam levelled for C of I soon after with a well-executed drag flick.

After that there were chances at either end with the best of them falling Harlequins' way but they couldn’t find a way past Sean Bateman in the C of I goal.

Both sides remain unbeaten in the league and will face each other again at the end of January. In the other game, Bandon closed the gap in third with a comprehensive 5-2 win over Catholic Institute.

The three horse race at the top of men’s EYHL 1 continued this weekend as all three sides won.

Table toppers Three Rock Rovers beat Avoca 4-1, Banbridge had a comfortable 5-1 win over Pembroke, while Lisnagarvey had a 3-2 win away to fourth place YMCA.

At the bottom of the table Annadale and UCD played out a 1-1 draw with the former grabbing the bonus point.

In women’s EYHL 1 Catholic Institute beat Old Alex 2-1 to leapfrog them into second place in the table.

Old Alex took an early lead in what was an end to end game. In the third quarter Institute took full advantage of a yellow card for Old Alex and equalised from the second phase of a short corner through Aoife Hickey.

Old Alex went close to going ahead again only for Emilie Ryan Doyle to deny them with a goal line clearance, before Eimear Ryan took all three points for Institute with a dramatic last minute winner after good work from Naomi Carroll and Jenny Clein.

Table toppers Loreto were held by Pembroke who also managed to grab the bonus point.

UCC’s struggle for points continued as they went down 2-1 to Railway Union. Jane Murphy’s third goal of the season had put them ahead but Railway came back strong to win 2-1.

Harlequins women were pushed all the way by Bandon in Munster women’s Division 1 but held out to win 2-1 and keep their perfect record.

They went ahead five minutes into the second quarter through a straight strike from Cliodhna Sargent.

Whilst they continued to create numerous goal scoring opportunities Bandon keeper Rachel Barry was on hand to prevent them extending their lead.

However eight minutes into the third quarter, a nice receive and turn in the circle from Aoibhinn Martin left her with nothing left to do but slot the ball in the goal and she duly obliged.

Quins pushed forward again in the fourth quarter but missed the final connection in the circle.

Bandon earned a corner in the last minute of the game and were able to score the consolation goal, to leave the score 2-1 to Quins.

Surprise package Waterford continued winning ways as Kristen Lyons scored a dramatic late winner to beat Ashton 2-1. C of I and Crescent played out a 2-2 draw at Garryduff.