Hermes in good spirits

Hermes' European Cup Winners' Cup campaign opened in defeat yesterday in Cologne when they lost 2-0 to hosts Rot Weiss but the Dublin club go in to today's meeting with Dinamo Sumy in good spirits after producing a fine display against the German cup holders.

German captain Heike Latzsch set up Scottish international Sue Gilmour, a professional with Rot Weiss this season, to score in the 20th minute and Annika Monkedik made it 2-0 10 minutes from time, converting a short corner, but Rot Weiss didn't have it all their own way and had to survive intense spells of Hermes pressure, particularly in the second half.

German goalkeeper Birgit Beyer twice denied Jenny Burke with superb saves from corner strikes and Carol Devine was just inches wide after a fine move involving Burke and Deirdre McDermott. Hermes, with goalkeeper Tara Browne once again in sparkling form, were resolute at the back too, denying Rott Weiss from all seven of their first-half corners.

Dinamo Sumy's 2-0 win over Edinburgh yesterday means Hermes must beat the Ukrainians today if they are to have any hope of reaching the play-offs for medals on Monday. Meanwhile in Cardiff Holland, predictably, proved too strong for the Irish under-16 and under-18 teams at the European Youth Trophy, winning 4-0 and 3-1, in the respective games. The junior side were 3-0 down by half-time in their game but restricted the Dutch to just one second-half goal, with Jessica Lynch and Anna Coppel coming close to narrowing the lead.

The under-18s put up an excellent show in their game, going in 0-0 at half-time, but some clinical finishing from the Dutch in the second half put them 3-0 up before Nikki Symmons scored a consolation goal from a corner six minutes from time.