In light of her recent goalscoring form in the Leinster Senior League, Loreto will be mightily relieved that Mary Barnwell shelved any plans she had during the summer to retire. On Saturday she simply added to her reputation as one of Leinster hockey's truly great goal scorers by collecting a hat-trick, her second in seven days, against Old Alexandra at Whitechurch Park, putting her team joint top of Senior A with Hermes on 14 points.

The victory adds some weight to Loreto's title-winning credentials, coming, as it did, against one of the form teams of the season so far.

Meanwhile, at Serpentine Avenue, defending champions Muckross were being held to a scoreless draw by Pembroke Wanderers, who are making impressive progress under new coach Rudi Wortmann.

Goals from new recruits Zanya Dahl and Aoife Byrne helped the increasingly formidable Hermes to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Glenanne in Tallaght, while another Hermes summer recruit, Linda Caulfield, who recently switched to Trinity, scored for the students against Genesis in their 2-0 win at Loughlinstown.

Cathy McKean maintained her superb start to the season with a hat-trick against Clontarf in Railway Union's 4-2 victory at Park Avenue. Irish under-18 international Ciara O'Brien completed the Railway scoring.

Meanwhile, in Munster, defending champions UCC had their first outing of the league season at Harlequin Park, where an Aoife McCarthy goal secured maximum points against Harlequins II. In Ulster, Pegasus rattled 14 past Grosvenor in the second round of the Ulster Shield, with recently-retired Irish captain Jeanette Turner and Nadine Long scoring four apiece. Ulster League champions Randalstown had a tougher time of it against Ards, relying on two Jackie McWilliams goals to secure their place in the third round.