Cork Harlequins and Loreto will meet in May’s Irish Senior Cup final after coming through the tightest of semi-finals on Sunday. Harlequins produced a big upset in Belfast when they beat Pegasus 1-0, while Loreto prevailed in a shoot-out against Railway after their game had ended scoreless.
Only a week ago Pegasus extended their winning streak to seven games when they comfortably beat Harlequins 3-0 in the Hockey League at Queens, but this time around, at the same venue, they could find no way past goalkeeper Becky Maye and her defence.
With Irish internationals unavailable for the semi-finals and final of this season’s competition, Harlequins were without Yvonne O’Byrne while Pegasus were unable to call upon Shirley McCay, her expertise from penalty corners badly missed as the home side failed to convert any they won.
Emma Barber, though, was clinical from a corner 12 minutes from time, her direct shot proving to be the only goal of the game; Harlequins withstanding intense late pressure from the hosts to go through to their second final in three years.
On that occasion in 2017 they lost to a Dublin side, UCD scoring the winner two minutes from the end, and it’s from the same neck of the woods their 2019 opponents will come. Loreto won 3-1 in one-on-ones at Grange Road having lost in the same manner to Railway in the semi-finals of the Jacqui Potter Cup back in February.
Goalkeeper Liz Murphy saved three of Railway’s efforts, while Mia Jennings, Christina Hamill and Sara Twomey converted theirs to put Loreto through, a fine result in light of the absence of internationals Ali Meeke, Hannah Matthews, Sarah Torrans and Nicci Daly.
On Saturday, meanwhile, bottom club Muckross picked up their first Hockey League win of the season by beating Ards 2-1 to keep alive their hopes of avoiding automatic relegation. They’re now just a point behind Ards, with a game in hand, although they’re still up against it, their remaining fixtures against leaders Pegasus and UCD (twice).
Irish Senior Cup – Saturday – Semi-finals: Pegasus 0, Cork Harlequins 1 (E Barber); Loreto 0, Railway Union 0. Loreto won 3-1 in a shoot-out.
Hockey League – Saturday: Ards 1 (B McEwen), Muckross 2 (S Barnwell, J Holland).
