Women's Hockey All-Ireland Club Championship: Munster's two representatives in the all-Ireland Club Championships produced the performances of the quarter-finals on Saturday, with Cork Harlequins beating Loreto 3-2 in the first leg at Beaufort, having trailed 2-0, and Bandon losing just 3-2 to defending champions Pegasus in Cork.
Hermes and Old Alexandra won their respective legs, getting the better of Ulster sides Belfast Harlequins and Ards.
Just three weeks after losing to Loreto in the Irish Senior Cup final, Cork Harlequins got a measure of revenge on Saturday. But the job is only half done: the second leg is in a fortnight, just five days after the conclusion of Loreto's European Cup Winners' Cup campaign in Vienna.
As they had done in the cup final, Harlequins fought back to level the game after going 2-0 down in the opening 15 minutes, but this time they went on to get the winner, through Karen Bateman, with just three minutes to go.
Cathy McKean had given Loreto a sixth-minute lead, and Sarah Scott doubled the advantage in the 15th minute. But Harlequins produced a memorable fightback to win the leg and score three valuable away goals. Elaine Brommel halved the deficit from a corner before Bateman turned the tie around with two second-half goals, the winner coming from another corner at the death.
A year ago Pegasus beat the Munster League runners-up UCC 11-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final in Cork; on Saturday they found this year's Munster opponents, Bandon, a different proposition. Karen Barry gave the home team a shock lead early in the first half, and even after Heather Mullan and Joanne Campbell had made it 2-1 for the champions the Cork side fought back to level through Liz Buttimer. Arlene Boyles got what proved to be the winner before the break. Bandon might not expect to win the second leg in Belfast, but their display was a credit to both the club and the Munster league.
Hermes, back to near full-strength, reversed their Irish Cup defeat to Belfast Harlequins by winning the first leg between the teams at Deramore by a single goal. Tara Browne saved a Lynsey Feeney penalty stroke 10 minutes before half-time and Caitriona Carey got the crucial score 14 minutes from time.
Old Alexandra, like Hermes, look well placed to make it through to the club finals after their 4-2 win over Ards at Milltown. Ards, though, kept themselves in the tie, never letting Alexandra stretch their lead beyond two goals. Evanne O'Reilly, Anya Bowers and Hazel Agar gave Alexandra a 3-1 half-time lead, Bowers adding a second after the break, but a goal in each half from Ydel Steele and Emma Begley will give Ards some hope for the second leg.
