Bright Young thing gives C of I the points

Cork Church of Ireland put a huge dent in UCC’s title ambitions with a fully-deserved 1-0 win at Garryduff this morning.

C of I’s profligacy in front of goal looked like it would cost them once more as the game seemed headed for a stalemate, but Grace Young popped up to grab a winner with three minutes to go.

Young was presented with one of the few clear-cut opportunities of the game after Deirdre Casey had taken advantage of a misdirected Emily Kenefick clearance, and she cracked the ball into Karen Olden’s bottom corner to seal all three points.

Sister act: UCC's Aine Connery checks on injured elder sibling Sinead (Cork C of I). Picture: Eoin Tyrrell

It was no more than the hosts deserved, having stifled the students in midfield via some superb disruption work from skipper Sandra Hackett and Michaela Mihailou, while they also annihilated College 8-1 on the short corner count.

A combination of circumstances had led to the match hitting off at 10.30am – delayed half an hour due to a partially frozen pitch – which did little to draw the crowds to what should have been the biggest game of the weekend. Which was just as well, given this clash never hit the heights it promised on paper.

The first half was a sluggish affair, as College in particular seemed to be having trouble wiping the sleep from their eyes. The expected backlash from their mid-week intervarsities final defeat never materialised, with Irish international midfield duo Hollie Moffett and Julia O’Halloran both unusually subdued.

This was all the stranger given College owned the ball for the opening five minutes, with Áine Connery beating four players with a trademark run and Ali O’Regan forcing a smart save from the returning C of I netminder Orla McCarthy.

But it was one-way traffic thereafter, with Hackett and Mihailou – backed up by some smart distribution from Casey and Rebecca Murphy – cutting out most College attacks at the source.

Once again, however, C of I’s finishing and set-piece work let them down, troubling Olden just once with six first-half penalty corners, two of which were blocked down by Audrey O’Flynn, who picked up a nasty knock to the knee for her troubles.

Cork C of I's Sandra Hackett shields the ball from UCC's Audrey O'Flynn. Picture: Eoin Tyrrell

Julie O’Sullivan should have given C of I the lead in the 30th minute, when she pick-pocketed Moffett and found herself one-on-one with Olden.

But she could only fire straight at the College keeper, much to the frustration of team-mate Suzy Herbert, who was standing unmarked for a tap-in a couple of yards away.

O’Halloran’s frustration boiled over in the 34th minute, as she hammered the ball into the fence after conceding a free, and gave up a short corner in the process.

The red mist also descended on College skipper Moffett, who was sin-binned in the 45th minute for crassly felling Casey from behind, but the students found some form in her absence.

First, O’Flynn’s 60-yard aerial found O’Regan, who played a neat one-two with Connery but couldn’t get a clean strike in. Minutes later, Aine Donegan did well to pick out Connery, but her powerful reverse flew across goal.

Both sides were guilty of flashing balls across the circle when there was no-one on the far post to take advantage, and it looked to be heading for a draw when College finally won a short on 63 minutes.

There was a sense of inevitability as College lined up for the set-piece, as if they were about to steal the win from under the noses of the hosts, but O’Flynn’s drag-flick – a weapon which has caused plenty of damage this term – was straight at McCarthy.

UCC's Audrey O'Flynn takes a tumble over Cork C of I's Michaela Mihailou. Picture: Eoin Tyrrell

O’Flynn was still proving to be College’s best creative outlet as they pressed for a win, but C of I had other plans, and Young finally broke the deadlock with a neat finish past Olden on 67 minutes.

Miriam Crowley almost rescued a draw for College in the dying seconds, but McCarthy was equal to the task, and Hackett finished the clearance job to ensure the points stayed in Rochestown.

CORK C OF I: O McCarthy (GK); M Ryan, R Murphy, R Sweetnam, S Connery; S Hackett (capt), M Mihailou, D Casey; J O’Sullivan, A Roberts, S Herbert.

Rolling subs: G Young, S Delaney, L O’Neill.

UCC: K Olden (GK); A O’Connor, O Crowley, A O’Flynn, J Long; E O’Donoghue, H Moffett, J O’Halloran; A Connery, A O’Regan, M Crowley.

Rolling subs: E Kenefick, A Donegan, F O’Connell.

Umpires: J Beamish & Z Howe.