HOCKEY: St Andrews 4 Wesley College 0. A year after winning the first Leinster Senior Cup in the school's history St Andrews became Leinster league champions for the first time yesterday, beating Wesley College 4-0 in the Premier League final at Grange Road.
Two goals in the first half from Aoife Morris, followed by two more from Suzi Murray in the second, completed what was a sparkling display by the team from Booterstown.
After the opening 18 minutes, which were interrupted by a brief wintry blizzard (the umpires took the players off the pitch for three minutes), Wesley could have had no inkling of what was to come, having starting brightly enough and taking an ample share of the possession.
From the moment Morris scored, however, forcing home a rebound from the first short corner of the game, Wesley were left chasing the shadows formed by the floodlights required to light up the gloomiest of afternoons.
Concentrated Andrews' pressure followed the opening goal and yielded a second six minutes later. Again Morris was alert on the right post when a short corner was deflected her way, firing past Deidre O'Ferrall to double Andrews' lead. By then Andrews' captain Fyona Flinn was the dominant force in the game, repeatedly winning tackles in midfield and setting up a string of attacks, with her twin sister Roisin, on the right wing, creating most of the best chances.
It was Roisin Flinn who fashioned Andrews' third and fourth goals, Murray the beneficiary on both occasions. The third came four minutes after the break and effectively sealed the win; the fourth was the result of a quite brilliant angled pass from Flinn on the right, one that split the advancing Wesley goalkeeper and retreating defender, falling perfectly for Murray to tap home on the left post.
But for O'Ferrall and some wayward shooting by the Andrews' attack the margin of victory would have been greater. They were, though, up against an Andrews' team that included six of the starting line-up from last year's cup triumph - the Flinn twins, Murray, goalkeeper Bairbre Luke, defenders Krisy Neligan and Nina Doyle - with two of the newcomers, left-back Catriona McGilp (who is in the Leinster under-16 squad for the interprovincials at the weekend) and sweeper Hannah Leggett looking the part.
ST ANDREWS: B Luke, H Leggett, K Neligan, N Doyle, S Mawhinney, A Morris, F Flinn (capt), S Murray, R Flinn, V Taylor, C McGilp. Subs: K Langstine, A Black, L Burdett, K Stewart, R Burke.
WESLEY COLLEGE: D O'Farrell, J Boate, J Smythe, J White (capt), A Warren, J Heggie, E Richardson, F Medow, L Darling, K Syme, M Lambert. Subs: S Byrne, B Curtis, C Hearnden, W Adams, M Galvin.
Umpires: C Metchette and J Beamish.
