Pegasus earn reward for their patient approach

Hockey/ Women's Irish Senior Cup final: Pegasus supporters are often heard to sing, "if you like a lot of trophies in your cabinet, join our club".

Well, they added yet another honour to their ever growing collection at Belfield yesterday, and even though they only beat Pembroke Wanderers by a single goal in the ESB Irish Senior Cup final, they were, by some distance, the better team.

Pembroke captain Susan Ryan was gracious enough to concede after the match Pegasus "gave us a lesson in hockey today", but player of the match Claire McMahon, scorer of the winning goal, returned the compliment by paying tribute to a Pembroke defence - "you can see why they've conceded so few goals in Leinster this season" - that kept the game alive as a contest.

In truth, much of the match resembled Pegasus' 5-0 demolition of Old Alexandra in the 1998 final, certainly in terms of the amount of possession enjoyed by the Ulster champions and the number of chances they created, but Pembroke defended with discipline and concentration throughout, in the face of near ceaseless Pegasus attacks.

Aoife O'Gorman, on the left, was particularly resolute, but goalkeeper Mary Goode was outstanding, making a dozen saves to keep her team in it. At the other end Sharon Moffett was only called in to serious action once when, seven minutes after the break, she denied Dawn Kelly who had been picked out by a long ball from Natalie Fulton.

Pembroke, pinned in their own half for most of the first half and for periods in the second, failed to win a single short corner in the game, compared to the 11 forced by Pegasus. "We made hard work of it, we didn't take our chances, but patience was the name of the game and I think we showed that," said Pegasus captain Arlene Boyles, who admitted to feeling "absolute relief" when McMahon finally broke the deadlock four minutes after half-time.

Kirsty McCollum fed Alex Speers on the left in the circle and when her attempted cross deflected high off Goode's pads McMahon was on hand to volley the ball home. There was a certain inevitability about the former Irish winger being the one who would decide the game, having been at the centre of most of her team's best attacking work. Goode, though, denied McMahon on several occasions, notably in a one-on-one midway through the second half.

Having survived until half-time without conceding Pembroke made more of a game of it after the break, but simply could find no way through, or around, the Pegasus defence of Boyles, Jill Orbinson, Nadine Brown and Fiona McIlwaine.

With the Ulster title and the Irish Cup wrapped up, Pegasus, on course for the treble, will turn their attention to next month's All-Ireland Club championships.

PEGASUS: S Moffett, N Brown, A Boyles (capt), J Orbinson, F McIlwaine, C McKee, K Kennedy, K McCollum, A Speers, S Beaney, C McMahon. Subs: R Aiken, M McCaughan, K McConnell, G McCullough, G Irwin.

PEMBROKE WANDERERS: M Goode, C Hayes, S Clarke, K McCommish, A O'Gorman, K Little, N Fulton, E MacNicholas, S Hall, W Hobson, S Ryan (capt). Subs: E Ryan, D Kelly, E Bromell, R McKeown, O Canavan.

Umpires: C Metchette and Z Howe.