Women's Hockey/ Irish Senior Cup: Ten of the last 13 ESB Irish Senior Cup finals have featured either Hermes or Pegasus, with another two featuring both, and having drawn each other in this year's semi-finals that remarkable record is set to be maintained.
The second semi-final is another Ulster v Leinster pairing, with Ballymoney, whose only cup success came in 2001, paired with Pembroke Wanderers, many of whose players weren't even born when the club last got their name on the trophy (1975).
Like Ballymoney and Pegasus, Pembroke cruised in to the semi-finals on Saturday with a five-goal winning margin, Sarah Clarke getting four in a 7-2 drubbing of Lurgan. Zoe McNally and Charlene Hull had given the Ulster side some hope when their goals reduced the deficit to 2-3 at one stage, but Pembroke were rampant, with Emily McNicholas (two) and Natalie Fulton completing their scoring.
Pegasus simply emphasised the gap between themselves and the best of the rest in Ulster when they hammered Randalstown 5-0. Clare McMahon and Alex Speers scored two apiece, the same scoreline by which Ballymoney beat Church of Ireland when the Munster side collapsed in the second half, having trailed by a single goal at the break.
The day's only competitive quarter-final, as it proved, was at Booterstown, where Cork Harlequins took the lead, through Eimear Cregan, but Kristin Farrell equalised within a minute for Hermes to leave the teams level at half-time. With just nine minutes of normal time remaining Farrell got the winner, struck as sweetly as her first effort, and, so, Hermes are still on course for a three-in-a-row in the Cup.
Hermes were back in action yesterday, drawing 0-0 with Old Alexandra in the league. The result, ideal for leaders Loreto, leaves the top three unchanged, with Hermes trailing Loreto by four points and two ahead of Alexandra, who have a game in hand.
IRISH SENIOR CUP- Quarter-finals: Hermes 2 (K Farrell 2) Cork Harlequins 1 (E Cregan); Pembroke Wanderers 7 (S Clarke 4, E McNicholas 2, N Fulton) Lurgan 2 (Z McNally, C Hull); Randalstown 0 Pegasus 5 (A Boyles, C McMahon 2, A Speers 2); Ballymoney 5 (A Kearney, D McNeill 2, N McCaughran, S Martin) Church of Ireland 0. Semi-final draw: Ballymoney v Pembroke, Hermes v Pegasus, (March 3rd).
LEINSTER JACQUI POTTER CUP- Quarter-final: Railway Union 1 (E Lucey) Loreto 3 (W Byrne, R Keegan, S Scott).
LEINSTER LEAGUE - Yesterday- Division One: Old Alexandra 0 Hermes 0. Saturday- Division Two: UCD II 1 (S Jenkins) Corinthian II 5 (B Curtis 2, A Williams, E Richardson, H Cummiskey); Hermes II 0 Glenanne 1 (M Goulding); Pembroke Wanderers II 2 (H Maguire, R McKeown) Genesis 2 (L Barrie, A McArdle); Loreto II 0 Old Alexandra II 1 (H Agar); Railway Union 1 (K Clarke) Diocesan 1 (J Stewart).
MUNSTER LEAGUE- Division One: Belvedere 1 (P Burke) Catholic Institute 5 (K Daly 2, A Kenny, R Pratt, A McNamara); Bandon 7 (E Peters 4, L Peters 2, J O'Higgins) Ashton 4 (K Stokes 2, S Martin 2).
