Women's Hockey : The Ulster, Leinster and Munster champions proved their pedigrees over the weekend by winning through to the All-Ireland club finals, where they will be joined by Old Alexandra, this season's Leinster runners-up.
Pegasus, Hermes and Cork Harlequins went into their second legs with the slimmest of leads but home advantage saw them all prevail with comfortable victories on aggregate.
Alexandra, defensively solid once again, had a fine 2-0 win away to Ards to add to their 4-2 first-leg triumph. Trish Conway opened the scoring after 26 minutes from a short corner to all but seal her team's place in the finals, before Hazel Agar confirmed it with another goal midway through the second half.
After 15 minutes of their first leg Cork Harlequins were 2-0 down to Loreto, to whom they had lost in the Irish Cup final, but went on to win that game 3-2, before clinching qualification for their fifth club finals in six years by beating the Dublin team 2-0 at Farmers Cross on Saturday.
Loreto, desperately in need of a bright start to the second leg, conceded a goal after just four minutes when Rachael Kohler was first to the rebound after a corner strike had hit the post and Karen Bateman made it 2-0 three minutes from time, her third goal over the two games.
It will be the first time since the 1998-99 season that Loreto, weary after their exploits in Vienna last week, haven't made it into the club finals' line-up.
Belfast Harlequins, for whom goalkeeper Jenny Gibson had another fine game, put up a good show at Belfield but were finally subdued by Shirine Young's goal two minutes before the break, one that doubled Hermes' aggregate lead.
Caitriona Carey turned home Daphne Sixsmith's shot from a corner in the 53rd minute before Jenny Burke, who came on as a substitute after 20 minutes, capped her first appearance for Hermes since last May's club finals with a goal six minutes from time.
Hermes and Alexandra, then, will attempt to become the first Leinster side to win the All-Ireland title since Muckross in 1997 but Cork Harlequins will travel to Dublin next weekend with, perhaps, their highest ever hopes of laying a Munster claim to the trophy, such has been their recent form.
Pegasus, though, remain the team to beat, even if their form this season has been less fearsome than in previous years. They proved too strong, however, for Bandon in Belfast yesterday, leading 3-0 by half-time, with two goals from Heather Mullan, adding a fourth in the second half to win 7-2 on aggregate. Next weekend, then, they will attempt to win their sixth club finals in a row.
ALL-IRELAND CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS - Quarter-finals, second legs: Saturday: Cork Harlequins 2 (R Kohler, K Bateman) Loreto 0. Cork Harlequins won 5-2 on aggregate. Hermes 3 (S Young, C Carey, J Burke) Belfast Harlequins 0. Hermes won 4-0 on aggregate. Ards 0 Old Alexandra 2 (T Conway, H Agar). Old Alexandra won 6-2 on aggregate.
Sunday: Pegasus 4 (H Mullan 2, A Boyles, J Campbell) Bandon 0. Pegasus won 7-2 on aggregate.
