Portadown & Crescent College lead Schoolgirls Championships

The highlight of the Schoolgirls Hockey calendar commenced today as the top five schools' teams from across Ireland descended on Three Rock Rovers for the first of two days of the Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships. An exceptionally tightly contested opening day of the Kate-Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championships saw all five teams compete in two matches, with no more than a single goal separating the sides in each encounter.

This year’s hosts Loreto Beaufort kicked things off with a matchup against Crescent College. Beaufort started brightly, taking an early lead thanks to Laura Kelly. But a spirited Crescent College fought their way back into the game, drawing level through Aisling Kelly from a penalty corner. Kelly put the icing on the cake for the Munster side, scoring the winner in the final quarter to give Crescent College their first win of the competition.

Portadown and Loreto Kilkenny followed immediately after. Portadown enjoyed the majority of the possession and provided most of the attacking threat, but the stoic defence and superb goalkeeping of Loreto Kilkenny kept them at bay. The Ulster side eventually grabbed the winner thanks to Rebecca Owen’s finish in quarter 3.

Coláiste Iognáid (The Jes) played their first game of the competition in game 3, facing hosts Loreto Beaufort. A well-structured defensive performance from The Jes denied Loreto mainly clear-cut opportunities and provided a good platform for the Connacht school to counter-attack from, but the game ended 0-0 and the points were shared.

The two sides with winning records faced off in the fourth game of Day 1, as Portadown and Crescent College went head-to-head. Two very well-drilled sides cancelled each other out for large parts of the game, with clear cut opportunities few and far between meaning the sides settled for the second 0 – 0 draw of the day.

The fifth and final game pitted Loreto Kilkenny and Coláiste Iognáid against each other, with the latter able to join Portadown and Crescent College at the top of the table should they secure a win. The Jes opened the scoring in Q3, Ellen Holland finding the back of the net. But Loreto Kilkenny found a response, latching onto a well-saved deflection from a penalty corner to find the backboard and level the scoring.

After Day 1, Crescent College sit top of the table, level on points with Portadown with a total of four but ahead having scored more goals. Coláiste Iognáid sit in third on two points thanks to their two draws on day 1. Loreto Beaufort and Loreto Kilkenny take fourth and fifth spot with one point each.

All of the action on tomorrow's second and final day of the Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championship can be enjoyed from the sidelines in Three Rock Rovers or watched live on Hockey Ireland TV thanks to our Broadcast Partner AIG.