Mixed Fortunes for UCC Hockey at the Mardyke

The Mardyke played host to two matches this Saturday as the Men’s 1st team took on Limerick HC and the Ladies welcomed Railway Union in their first home game of the inaugural EY League. The ladies were hoping to reenact their opening performance of the competition where they came out 4-0 victors over Greenfields of Galway.     The men opened proceedings on Saturday afternoon looking to make it 8 points out of a possible 9 in round 3 of  Munster Division 1. It didn’t take long for the college to continue their impressive form so far this year. Early on UCC opened the scoring through Shrew Power with an impressive snapshot to beat the keeper. Stuart Miller doubled the lead soon after with a clinical reverse shot.     Sluggish defending from Wesley Brownlow led to Limericks only goal of the game as they narrowed the margin to 2-1. UCC otherwise looking comfortable and controlled at the back. Stuart O’Grady was quick to reply to the Limerick sides opener with an identical strike to Miller’s goal  to see the hosts go in at the break with a 3-1 lead.     The second half did not see UCC let up as Shrew Power scored his second, Quercus Scholar Sam Grace seeing off the game with a goal of his own before Greg Chambers roofed a reverse into the top of the net making it 6-1. In particular Dan Moore put in an impressive performance from between the sticks with Peter Coulter too performing well in his outfield debut. The students struggled with their short corner routines scoring only 1 from the 6. This will definitely be an area that coach Neil Welch will want to improve on before travelling to Limerick next weekend for a tough fixture versus Catholic Institute.     At 3 O’clock it was time for the main event of the day as the ladies took to the pitch. The opening few minutes were a cagey affair with both teams enjoying prolonged periods of possession as they tried to work their way into the game. Emma Barber proving to be a key defensive player for UCC from early on in the game. The first quarter ended scoreless with neither side having many chances.      UCC started the second period the stronger and created several chances. The best of which saw Alex O’Grady finding herself some space on the right flank before crashing the ball into the circle with Niamh O’Leary’s deflection glancing across the face of the goal. O’Grady was in the spotlight again shortly after at the other end of the pitch as she fouled a Railway forward to concede the first Short corner of the game. The Dublin side unable to convert their chance on this occasion.    The best goal scoring opportunity fell to the visitors, Aisling O’Leary was well place on the line to do just enough to clear the ball to safety. It was not until long after this that the Dublin side found the net to opening goal the scoring with Emma Smyth finishing from close range. They had a chance to double their lead soon after but goalkeeper Sarah Wrixon was at hand to defuse the situation. The score remained 1-0 until half time.     Poor second half defence from UCC saw the Dubliners make it 2-0 through Captain Julia O’Halloran. Nicola Kerr rallied her teammates and they very nearly got one back as Kate Harvey found herself One-on-One with the keeper. Sadly it was not to be as the Leinster side countered for their third of the afternoon before a very unfortunate deflected Own goal made it 4-0.  There were strong performances from freshers Saoirse O’Leary and substitute goal Kate Murphy. Coach Phil Oakley will want to work on a few things this week before the Ladies travel to play Ulster Elks on Saturday 10th.  Men 1st XI  6-1     Limerick (Power 2,  Miller, O’Grady, Grace, Chambers)Ladies 1st XI   0-4    Railway Union