Women’s hockey: UCD fightback keeps title race in the melting pot

An already intriguing battle for the EY Hockey League title got just a little more interesting on Saturday when UCD fought back from 2-0 down to earn a draw away to leaders Pembroke Wanderers.

That result brought to an end Pembroke’s seven-game winning streak and saw their lead over Catholic Institute at the top of the table narrowed to three points.

It’s been a mixed bag of a campaign for UCD so far, just one win in their last six outings leaving them well off the pace, but for all their inconsistency they’ve yet to be beaten away from Belfield, now having drawn with the top four sides in the table on their home turf.

A point from this game, though, looked unlikely after they found themselves 2-0 down at half-time, Ellen Curran and Sally Campbell putting Pembroke in control, but Katherine Egan seized on a defensive error to pull a goal back in the third quarter before Emma Paul tied the game in the last period.

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By then, Institute had already eased to the points with a 4-0 win away to Muckross, Róisín Upton's expertise from short corners yielding her a double to bring her season's tally to 10 – all of them coming in the Limerick side's last six games. That puts her one goal ahead of her international team-mate Naomi Carroll who opened the scoring against Muckross.

Pegasus, two points behind Institute but with a game in hand, were given a fright by Railway Union in Belfast when Niamh Shaw gave the Dublin side the lead shortly before half-time. But Katie McKee and Taite Doherty had them 2-1 up by the 50th minute, a lead they never relinquished.

There are plenty of points to be played for yet, but Institute’s last two home games of the season, scheduled for March 5th and 19th, will, most likely, have a major bearing on that title race – the visitors will be Pembroke and Pegasus.

Old Alexandra, meanwhile, moved above Railway into fourth with a 3-1 win away to Loreto, Nikki Evans helping herself to two goals. And at the bottom of the table, Cork Harlequins moved closer to the drop after an Emma Uprichard score gave Belfast Harlequins the points in their meeting at Farmers Cross.

Results

Hockey League Division One: Cork Harlequins 0, Belfast Harlequins 1 (E Uprichard); Loreto 1 (H Matthews), Old Alexandra 3 (N Evans 2, M Power); Muckross 0, Catholic Institute 4 (N Carroll, H Kelly, R Upton 2); Pegasus 2 (K McKee, T Doherty), Railway Union 1 (N Shaw); Pembroke Wanderers 2 (E Curran, S Campbell), UCD 2 (K Egan, E Paul).