Hermes put eight past North Kildare in Leinster first division tie

Between them the top five in the Leinster first division scored 22 goals without reply on Saturday against the bottom five in the table with Hermes putting eight past North Kildare.

Hermes maintain their three-point advantage over Railway Union, with defending champions UCD another two behind and Loreto and Pembroke Wanderers a further point adrift.

Hermes now have three games to go, while Railway, UCD, Loreto and Pembroke have four. That makes the season’s final fixtures on March 1st very interesting: Hermes v Loreto and Railway v UCD.

Sinead Loughran and Rosie Carrigan scored two apiece in Hermes's win against Kildare, while Railway beat Glenanne 3-0. UCD eased to a 5-0 victory against Corinthian, while Loreto beat Old Alexandra 4-0 and Pembroke were 2-0 winners against Trinity.

Loss for Pegasus

In the North, Pegasus’s hopes of retaining the league title were hit by a 1-0 home defeat to Ulster Elks, Áine Curran getting the goal. Ards, who still have to play Pegasus twice, stay two points clear of Elks after a 7-1 defeat of Randalstown. Pegasus are now nine points behind the leaders, but with a game in hand.