Women's EY Hockey League - Day Two Round-Up
Hermes, Ulster Elks and Railway Union all retained their 100% records in the women's EY Hockey League with emphatic victories on Saturday, all making it two wins from two.
For the Elks, their victory was built on a blistering first five minutes in which Irish captain Megan Frazer and Limerick native Rebecca Barry both scored against a shell-shocked Cork Harlequins.
It laid the perfect base for a 3-1 victory at Farmer's Cross for Ricky Lee's side. Orlagh Cotter did pull one back for Harlequins when she finished off a smart pass from Julie Poland midway through the second quarter but the Elks reasserted their superiority when Frazer's shot rebounded off the post to Laura McAlpine and she rocketed home the crucial third goal.
It adds to the Elks' opening day win over Pembroke by the same scoreline to make for a confident start to the campaign for the Irish Senior Cup champions.
Railway Union recorded their second successive win against Cork-based opposition and are yet to concede a goal in two games to date in the league. They beat UCC 4-0 with alumni Julia O'Halloran on the mark twice in the victory.
Hermes, meanwhile, scored an emphatic 5-1 win over Ulster league and cup champions Ards with Anna O'Flanagan boosting her goalscoring tally to five goals in two games.
She opened the scoring only for Chloe Brown - back in the Ards line-up having missed the first round - to equalise in a lively first phase.
Maiden first team goals for teenagers Susie Kelly and Amber Curran, though, built a 3-1 lead for Hermes before O'Flanagan and international team mate Nikki Evans added an extra flourish to the final score.
Pembroke produced comeback of the round when they struck twice in the last 12 minutes to beat Pegasus 2-1 having trailed to Hannah Grieve's third quarter strike.
Sarah Clarke's second goal in successive weeks levelled matters before Eanna Horan nabbed a dramatic winner with less than three minutes to go.
UCD, meanwhile, were comfortable 4-0 victors over Greenfields with Galway native Elaine Carey scoring twice against the side from her home town. She scored the first and third goals, sandwiching Millie O'Donnell's powerful sweep shot. Katie Mullan completed the victory in the third quarter.
Women's EY Hockey League: Cork Harlequins 1 (O Cotter) Ulster Elks 3 (M Frazer, R Barry, L McAlpine); Hermes 5 (A O'Flanagan 2, S Kelly, N Evans, E Curran) Ards 1 (C Brown); Pegasus 1 (H Grieve) Pembroke 2 (S Clarke, E Horan); UCD 4 (E Carey 2, M O'Donnell, K Mullan) Greenfields 0; UCC 0 Railway Union 4 (J O'Halloran 2, Z Delany, E Smyth)
Extended day two match reports
Cork Harlequins 1 (O Cotter) Ulster Elks 3 (M Frazer, R Barry, L McAlpine)
First quarter goals from Megan Frazer and Rebecca Barry laid the perfect base for the Ulster Elks to record their second win of the season as they raided Cork to beat Harlequins 3-1.
The Ulster Elks' superb start saw them net within two minutes of the start as a quickly taken free from Frazer saw her drive into the circle and finish on her reverse.
Limerick native Barry doubled the Elks' advantage in the fifth minute from the first penalty corner of the game, deflecting into the roof of the net for 2-0. It was a big blow for the hosts who were again without defensive lynch-pin Cliodhna Sargent.
Nonetheless, they bounced back in the second quarter and got their reward from Orlagh Cotter when Julie Poland broke up the right flank before squaring neatly. Cotter kept her composure to wrong foot the goalkeeper and score.
It put the game back in the balance but the Elks, under pressure, countered brilliantly to reassert their two-goal advantage. Frazer was again pivotal, intercepting a loose pass and running hard at the circle. Her shot rebounded off the post but only as far as Laura McAlpine who unleashed a rocket of a rebound shot that flew into the net.
They held on to that advantage in a scrappy closing quarter and, indeed, could have made it more comfortable but for some goal-line heroics from Quins.
Hermes 5 (A O'Flanagan 2, N Evans, S Kelly E Curran) Ards 1 (C Brown)
Hermes produced a devastating performance to get the better of Ulster champions Ards 5-1 at St Andrew's with Anna O'Flanagan making it five goals in two games.
She broke the deadlock in the 11th minute after some good build-up work but Ards were quick to reply with Chloe Brown - who missed the opening game of the season - pouncing on an error in the Hermes defence to slip the ball past Emma Gray.
First senior goals from teenagers Susie Kelly and Ellen Curran, however, stretched Hermes' lead out to 3-1 with the latter scoring from the move of the game. Chloe Watkins did well to win the ball on her own 23m line. She fed a lovely pass to Curran who drifted into the middle channel from the right and covered 40m before firing home a beautiful strike.
Four consecutive Hermes penalty corners went unconverted but they closed out the win in comfortable fashion as O'Flanagan snatched her second with a cracking strike in the 49th minute.
And Nikki Evans got her first goal since returning to the club off the back of an excellent team move, deflecting in from Watkins' final pass.
Pegasus 1 (H Grieve) Pembroke 2 (S Clarke, E Horan)
Eanna Horan's 57th minute corner goal saw Pembroke produce a stunning late show to beat Pegasus at Queen's, coming back from a goal down with 12 minutes to go to record their first win of the campaign.
The tie was locked at 0-0 for a long time as a couple of early corners at each end were kept out, Sammy Jo Greer making some good stops between the Pegasus posts. Ruth Maguire went closest when she hit the post just before the half-time interval as neither side made many in-roads before the big break.
The metalwork once again came to Pembroke's rescue when Suzanne Beaney hit the post while Stella Davis kept out another set piece but, in the 42nd minute, the Ulster side eventually hit the front.
It came form a set piece that found its way to Hannah Grieve and she fired home for a precious lead going into the final quarter. But the advantage was short-lived as Sarah Clarke found the net for the second week running with a powerful corner hit.
That upped the ante as both sides saw players sin-binned during a fractious closing phase and it was Pembroke who capitalised. With three minutes left, they won another corner and Horan was on hand to finish for a smash and grab victory.
UCC 0 Railway Union 4 (J O'Halloran 2, Z Delany, E Smyth)
Julia O'Halloran struck twice against her former club to see Railway Union continue their confident start to the EY Hockey League, making it two wins from two over Cork opposition and retaining their seasonal clean sheet.
The early phases swung from end to end with Emma Barbour defending well for UCC who went close a couple of times on the counter. Railway, though, looked the sharper in front of goal and they got their lead with a clever redirection from Emma Smyth to break the deadlock in the second quarter.
Railway went on to boss the second half and had a bigger wedge between the sides when O'Halloran kept her eye on the ball when an initial reverse-stick shot ricocheted a couple of different ways before falling her way.
She and Zara Delany added further goals in the closing quarter to run up an impressive 4-0 success to add to their opening day 2-0 win over Cork Harlequins.
UCD 4 (E Carey 2, M O'Donnell, K Mullan) Greenfields 0
Galway girl Elaine Carey proved the centre-piece in undoing the club from her home town, Greenfields, as UCD got their first win of the EY Hockey League campaign.
The tone was set inside the first 60 seconds when Emma Duncan burst forward to win a penalty corner. Carey broke the deadlock soon after with a rebound after a smart initial save from Greenfields goalkeeper Sinead Collins.
The advantage stretched out to 3-0 by the half-time hooter as Millie O'Donnell's powerful sweep shot finding a way through a thicket of defenders while Carey grabbed her second of the game. She nipped in at the back post to nick the third goal.
Katie Mullan closed out the scoring with the fourth goal with a reverse-stick bullet after a good run from midfield. The closing quarter was played mainly between the 23s with UCD building up the passes and looking for gaps but unable to find their way through the Greenfields' defence for whom Collins was superb throughout.