Pumped-up Hermes take inaugural women’s EY Hockey League title

The inaugural women's EY Hockey League season reached its logical conclusion as a pumped up Hermes, revved by Anna O'Flanagan, had too much fire-power for Pegasus at Havelock Park.

She struck in the first 10 minutes and while the reigning national champions were often a threat, they did not have the star quality that the Dubliners had in abundance.

Taite Doherty pulled one back midway through the second half but a suitably classy Nikki Evans goal, created by Sinead Loughran's clever reverse strike to the right post, killed off the game with four minutes to go.

Representatives

It means Hermes will be Ireland’s number one representative in Europe in the 2016/17 season with Pegasus taking the number two spot.

Hermes coach Rudi Wortmann had been worried the knockout nature of the competition might deny his side what he felt was a deserved overall title.

His belief was based in a regular season that saw Hermes win the league with four games to go and 12 points to their nearest competitors.

He needn’t have worried as they blitzed Irish Senior Cup winners Ulster Elks in Saturday’s semi-final 6-3 thanks to doubles from Carroll and O’Flanagan.

Rude health

Pegasus were 2-0 winners over Railway Union in a much tighter fixture and they started in rude health in the final, winning four corners in the first phases. But O’Flanagan, later named player of the tournament, soon put them on the back foot with a cracking finish from the left of the circle.

Another breathtaking move made it 2-0 and Hermes were well on their way to their first national title since 2008.

It is also their last in this current guise as they make the transition to Hermes-Monkstown next year following confirmation of their merger in the past week.