Shoot-out drama abounded in the women’s Irish Senior Cup and Irish Hockey Trophy as Railway Union, Queen’s and Muckross all prevailed via that method on a thrilling day of action with 32 clubs battling it out in the respective competitions.
There was precious little between Railway and Loreto in the EY Hockey League in September and so it proved once again when they met on Saturday in the cup with normal time ending scoreless.
The Park Avenue outfit produced a flawless shoot-out with Sarah Hawkshaw and Orla Fox converting while Riona Norton kept out three efforts, setting the stage for Lily Lloyd to clinch the contest 3-0.
Queen’s, meanwhile, got a pre-Intervarsities pick-me-up as they came from a goal down to draw with UCC and then go through in another shoot-out.
The Cork side looked well set at 2-1 thanks to Nikki Barry and Emma O’Sullivan goals but Jessica McMaster salvaged the draw in normal time. Rebecca Quinn then did the business to send Queen’s through to the last eight.
Ulster Premier side Lisnagarvey came closest to a shock but they were denied in a shoot-out 3-2 by EY Hockey League side Muckross.
They were left to rue Laura Murray hitting the post and Zahra Lowry shooting just wide from another big chance as normal time ended scoreless and the Donnybrook club prevailed 3-2 with Sophie Barnwell, Becky McMullen and Julia Balcerzak scoring their efforts.
Lucy Mackey’s double propelled Banbridge’s women to the quarter-finals for a second successive campaign as they won 3-1 at Glenanne.
UCD won a top quality contest against Old Alex 2-1. After a tight first half, Katherine Egan broke the deadlock in the third quarter and Sophia Cole’s penalty stroke put the students two up. Deirdre Duke got one back in the closing minutes but they could not nick a draw.
Elsewhere, there were relatively comfortable wins for Pegasus, Pembroke and Catholic Institute. Lucy McKee’s double helped Pegs see off a stubborn Ulster Elks 3-0. Róisín Upton set the ball rolling for Insta with her corner followed up by goals from Laura Foley, Naomi Carroll, Leah Clery and Christine O’Shea as they were too strong for Corinthian.
Pembroke, meanwhile, got the best of Cork Harlequins 5-0 at Farmers’ Cross with Sally Campbell scoring twice. They were 2-0 up in the first quarter and never looked back.
In the Irish Hockey Trophy, home comforts were not in full effect with five clubs winning on the road. Raphoe were the biggest winners as the Donegal side scored six in Bray with Arlyne Kilpatrick on the double.
2020 finalists North Kildare are through to the last eight thanks to Isabel Angel’s single goal in their 1-0 victory over North Down.
Munster sides prevailed as Bandon won 2-1 in Galway against Greenfields while Emily O’Leary, Ailse Holland and Kate Harvey all netted in a shoot-out win for Ashton at Three Rock Rovers.
Clontarf were winners against Rathgar; Armagh won 2-1 in Kilkenny; Mossley won by the same scoreline away to Portadown and YMCA edged out Galway 2-1.
Women
Irish Senior Cup – Round 2: Catholic Institute 5 (R Upton, L Foley, N Carroll, L Clery, C O’Shea) Corinthian 0; Cork Harlequins 0 Pembroke 5 (S Campbell 2, R O’Brien, S Loughran, C Foley); Glenanne 1 (A Westlake) Banbridge 3 (L Mackey 2, R Kerr); Lisnagarvey 0 Muckross 0, Muckross win shoot-out 3-2; Pegasus 3 (L McKee 2, A Speers) Ulster Elks 0; Queens University 2 (O Gibson, J McMaster) UCC 2 (N Barry, E O’Sullivan), Queen’s win shoot-out 4-1; Railway Union 0 Loreto 0, Railway win shoot-out 3-0; UCD 2 (K Egan, S Cole) Old Alex 1 (D Duke)
Irish Hockey Trophy – Round 1: Bray 0 Raphoe 6 (A Kilpatrick 2, R Wauchope, A Wauchope, L Patterson, S Barrett); Clontarf 3 (E Kernan, N Taylor, A Bailey) Rathgar 1 (R Harrison); Greenfields 1 (R Hutchinson) Bandon 2 (A Moloney, S Brady); Kilkenny 1 (L Walshe) Armagh 2 (J van Lathem, A Doyle); North Kildare 1 (I Angel) North Down 0; Portadown 1 (A Black) Mossley 2 (A Glassey, E Downey); Three Rock Rovers 0 Ashton 0, Ashton won shoot-out 3-0; YMCA 2 (M Adams, Kennedy) Galway 1
