HOCKEY: ST Andrews, who have never won the Leinster Senior Cup, and the King's Hospital, who last won the competition in 1975, will meet in this year's final after impressive victories over the High School and Loreto Beaufort, respectively, in the semi-finals at Grange Road yesterday.
King's Hospital got off to a storming start against Beaufort, conquerors of cup holders Mount Anville in the quarter-finals, taking a two goal lead after 22 minutes - a lead they defended, superbly, until the end despite Beaufort's courageous comeback.
The opening score came from Natasha Hill on 10 minutes when the right winger deflected Rebecca Greene's long ball from midfield past Beaufort goalkeeper Lizzie Reeves following the breakdown of King's Hospital's third short corner.
Audrey Murphy made it 2-0, from another corner, firing the ball low to Reeves' right, capping what was a dominant spell for her school.
Beaufort rallied, though, winning four corners in quick succession before the break but were denied by Pamela Smithwick, King's Hospital's Leinster under-18 goalkeeper, and a brilliant block from Joyce Leydon on a goalbound Marie Hynes' shot.
King's Hospital started the second half much as they had begun the first, with Heather Hastings almost extending their lead, but from then Beaufort dominated, winning six corners, hitting the post and seeing two shots go mere centimetres wide.
In the day's second semi-final St Andrew's, fielding precisely the same team that won the school their first ever Leinster Schools Junior Cup two years ago, won through to the senior final with a Roisin Flinn goal scored five minutes from time.
Before then the teams proved inseparable, with both defences excelling. St Andrew's' Heather Irvine came closest to breaking the deadlock, on four occasions, while High School's wonderfully talented forward Roz Campbell looked menacing every time she got on the ball.
In the end, though, the game was decided by Flinn's goal, just as extra time loomed.
KING'S HOSPITAL: P Smithwick, A Murphy, H Jones, J Leyden, A Bennett, L Johnston, E Bradshaw, R Greene, F Treacy (capt), N Hill, H Hastings. Subs: A Johnston, E Cooke, F Macauley, B Moran, L Sothern.
LORETO BEAUFORT: L Reeves, K Judge, E Naughton (capt), E Hughes, A Holden, M Hynes, S Lovett, E Smith, L O'Dwyer, D Kelly, A Kealy. Subs: C Hopkins, I Horan, N O'Byrne, A O'Connell, AM Byrne.
Umpires: P Hale and J Beamish.
ST ANDREW'S: B Luke, K Horner, K O'Grady, K Neligan, N Doyle, R Griffith, R Coll (capt), F Flinn, S Murray, R Flinn, H Irvine. Subs: A Black, A Morris, K Stewart, S Mawhinney.
HIGH SCHOOL: G McMurray, C Nugent, S Walsh, M Willoughby, S O'Hare, O Walsh, S Cairns, L Watson, R McSharry (capt), R Campbell, J McRann. Subs: D Lui, R Nicholson, A Lett, S Johnson, C Boyle.
Umpires: E Coyle and F Couse.
