League title up for grabs

Well now, so much for talk of a two horse race for the Statoil Leinster League Senior A title. With half the season now completed the title race is very much a four-team contest after Old Alexandra and Loreto's heroics over the weekend.

Yesterday afternoon Old Alexandra inflicted a defeat on the leaders Hermes for the first time this season, only their second loss in two league campaigns, when Tracey Skoyles scored the winner from a last minute short corner at Milltown.

Trish Conway had given Old Alexandra the lead with 18 minutes to go, scoring with a classy reverse stick effort following a short corner, but Mary Logue levelled for the defending champions six minutes from time, rounding the outstanding Jenny King to slot home the equaliser. At that point Hermes seemed the more likely to snatch victory but Old Alexandra forced two short corners at the death and from the second Skoyles produced her team's priceless winner.

The victory moves Old Alexandra, who still have a game in hand on the leaders, to within a point of Hermes, and level with Loreto who produced a breathtaking performance against Muckross on Saturday. Their 4-1 victory was the first time they had beaten their old rivals since an Irish Senior Cup meeting in 1993 and after recent slip-ups in the league their title hopes are now very much revived.

Gillian Dawson and Caitriona O'Kelly (from a penalty stroke) put Loreto 2-0 up in the opening 16 minutes and they withstood intense Muckross pressure for the remainder of the half, with goalkeeper Avril Copeland frustrating the home team with a string of fine saves. Goals from Carol Parnell and Cathy McKean made it an almost incredulous 4-0 for Loreto in the second half, before Teresa Hurley converted a late penalty stroke to give her side a consolation goal - Copeland saved a second stroke from Hurley minutes from the end.

In Ulster Pegasus maintained their 100 per cent, nine game winning start to the season, beating Enniskillen 6-0 (with player-coach Jeanette Turner scoring a hat-trick), while in Munster defending league champions Harlequins were held to a 0-0 draw by Belvedere while UCC beat University of Limerick 2-1.

In Kilkenny, Munster won both the under-16 and under-18 interprovincial titles, dethroning Leinster and Ulster respectively. The under-16s clinched the McCullough Trophy by beating Connacht and South East on the final day and the Templeton Cup headed south after the under-18s beat Leinster and Connacht, both by a 2-0 scoreline.