Loreto and Muckross progress

LORETO and Muckross qualified for the final of the Leinster Senior Cup on March 18th in greatly contrasting styles at Loughlinstown on Saturday.

Loreto put in a spirited performance to defeat Clontarf 4-0 with Aoife Pomeroy opening the scoring with her first goal of the season after only five minutes. Loreto dominated the game, the wind well, which prevented them from becoming bogged down in the middle of the pitch. The lead was extended in the 20th minute when Derbhala O'Carroll found the target from a short corner and again three minutes later when Catriona O'Kelly netted from open play.

The second half yielded only lone more goal when Aoife Pomeroy scored five minutes from the final whistle. More encouragingly though for Loreto is that they kept their discipline to the end by keeping to their game plan of using the wings.

Muckross were very disappointing in their 1-0 victory over Hermes. The vital score came when Kathy Johnson gratefully accepted a golden opportunity to score after a poor clearance from Hermes goalkeeper Sarah Hilliard. But the lack of inventiveness in Muckross's game is clearly indicated in the short corner statistics - they had 10 without reward.

More damaging though was their mid-field play, where they crowded and got in each other's way, as they all chased the ball.

If Muckross are to retain the Leinster Cup, they will have to gel as a team, while Loreto will have to reproduce their structured play at a faster pace while under greater pressure, if they are to succeed.

In a surprise win Glenanne beat Railway Union 3-1 in the Leinster Senior League. This lifts them from the bottom of the table and makes Clontarf's prospects of avoiding relegation very slim.

Trinity won the senior B League as they defeated Hermes II 2-0 and Aer Lingus beat second place UCD 1-0.