Mount Anville's spirit prevails

HOCKEY: Mount Anville ... 3 St Andrew's College ... 2 After extra-time. The players of St Andrews were inconsolable at the end of their Esat Digiphone Leinster Senior Schools' semi-final at Grange Road yesterday after experiencing the heartache of falling victim to a marvellous comeback by Mount Anville. Two-nil down with just 11 minutes to go, Mount Anville dug deep to equalise through Gillian Davy in the final minute of normal time before the same player scored the winner five minutes from the end of extra time, putting her school through to Thursday's final against Muckross Park.

Admiration for Mount Anville's spirit was matched only by sympathy for St Andrews who had risen wonderfully to the occasion. When they met last Wednesday Mount Anville had the better of the game before it was abandoned early in the second half, due to gale force winds and torrential rain, but it was St Andrews who started the brighter yesterday, taking the lead after 12 minutes.

After fine work down the left by Fiona Flinn her twin sister Roisin scooped the ball high in to the net following the rebound from Gillian Young's save from Heather Irvine. Seven minutes later Irvine made it 2-0 for St Andrews, finishing off a superbly worked short corner by firing home Aisling Flinn's pass.

Rather than collectively dropping their heads a stunned Mount Anville rolled up their sleeves and set about trying to get back in to the game but were frustrated time and again by an unyielding St Andrews' defence, brilliantly marshalled by sweeper Katie Horner. Just before the break Davy looked set to score when left-back Margo Harbourne made a saving tackle and early in the second half Davy, again, was denied by the timely intervention of Aisling Flinn's stick.

Mount Anville finally pulled a goal back 11 minutes from time when Kate Fitzgerald kept her cool to slot Davy's through ball past Carla Dalton. Two short corners in quick succession followed for Mount Anville but, again, they were thwarted by courageous St Andrews' defending, with Rebecca Coll blocking the first of their attempts on goal.

At the other end sweeper Amy McCabe made a string of well-timed tackles to deny Andrews' a third goal with Young clearing just in time to prevent Roisin Flinn from sealing victory. Dalton, too, was quick off her line in the final minutes to cut out the danger posed by the on-rushing Davy but the Irish under-18 international soon found herself buried under a mound of elated Mount Anville bodies when she forced a cross from the right over the line in the final seconds of normal time.

Having already felt hard done-by by some of the umpiring decisions Andrews might have had a penalty stroke, following a short corner, at the end of that first period, but their appeals fell on deaf ears. The game's decisive moment came in the second period of extra time when Davy scored following a free at the edge of the circle.

MOUNT ANVILLE: G Young, A McCabe, S Blennerhassett, L Banahan, K Quigley, K Fitzgerald, C Quinlan, C McGowan, C Sexton, G Davy, R McGrath. Subs: S Geoghegan, R Copeland, K O'Donnell, D McGuinness, E J Coughlan.

ST ANDREWS: C Dalton, K Horner, R Griffith, C Nelligan, M Harbourne, R Coll, A Flinn, F Flinn, R Flinn, S Murray, H Irvine. Subs: B Luke, N Doyle, K Stewart, A Morris.

Umpires: E Coyle and N Roche.

LEINSTER SCHOOLS' SENIOR CUP - Semi-final (at Grange Road): Mount Anville 3 (K Fitzgerald, G Davy 2), St Andrews 2 (R Flinn, H Irvine), after extra time.