Draw kind to seeds

WOMEN'S HOCKEY / Irish Senior Cup: The draw for the third round of the ESB Irish Senior Cup was, largely, kind to the seeded teams, with holders Hermes at home to the University of Limerick or Galway and last year's beaten finalists Ballymoney given a home tie against Belfast Harlequins.

The match of the round looks like being the pairing of the current leaders of the Leinster and Munster first divisions, Pembroke Wanderers and Cork Harlequins, who will meet at Serpentine Avenue in January.

On Saturday Armagh won through to the third round of the cup by beating UCD 3-1 in their rearranged second round tie. After a scoreless first half Amy Stewart gave Armagh the lead, 10 minutes after the break, and although Roisin Flinn levelled for the students, goals from Irish international Hannah Bowe and Jill Stewart sealed the win for Armagh, currently second in Ulster's division two.

Their "reward" is an away tie against Railway Union, making Armagh the only Ulster side to have to travel outside the province in the third round. Loreto and Old Alexandra must both journey north, to Lisnagarvey and Omagh respectively, while Ards host Church of Ireland and Pegasus are at home to Randalstown.

IRISH SENIOR CUP, second round: Armagh 3 (A Stewart, H Bowe, J Stewart), UCD 1 (R Flinn). Third round draw: Ballymoney v Belfast Harlequins, Pegasus v Randalstown, Railway Union v Armagh, Hermes v Univ of Limerick or Galway, Lisnagarvey v Loreto, Omagh v Old Alexandra, Ards v Cork Church of Ireland, Pembroke Wanderers v Cork Harlequins.

Ties to be played January 21st.