Promoted trio celebrate

Three of the four Irish under-21 players promoted to the senior squad last week by coach Riet Kuper celebrated their call-ups by scoring for their clubs at the weekend.

Hermes' Caitriona Carey equalised against an impressive Pembroke Wanderers at Belfield on Saturday, after Nikki Fuller had given the visitors the lead after 15 minutes.

Second-half goals from Mary Logue, Fiona Manning and Helen Kilroy secured the points for the champions, who would have doubled their tally but for superb displays by Pembroke goalkeeper Caroline Syme, sweeper Orla Mulvihill and right-back Joanna Morris. Trinity's Anya Bowers, another of the additions to Kuper's squad, helped Trinity to their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw away to Glenanne, for whom Paula Davis scored, while Jill Orbinson, one of the stars of Ireland's under-21 European Championship campaign in Belfast during the summer, scored twice for Portadown in their 3-0 win against Coleraine.

Loreto dropped a valuable point at Beaufort to a spirited Railway Union, who showed plenty of character in bouncing back from last week's heavy defeat to Hermes. Muckross and Old Alexandra stay level on six points, just behind Hermes and Loreto, after comfortable victories over Clontarf and Genesis, respectively. Kathy Johnson scored three of Muckross's goals in their 6-0 win.

Karen O'Brien, also named in the Irish squad last week, was the leading individual scorer of the weekend, helping herself to four goals in Harlequins' 7-1 win against Lansdowne in Limerick. In Ulster, Tamara Stronge, Ards' player of the season in the last campaign, scored against her former club when she helped Pegasus to a 3-0 win in Belfast.

The All-Ireland champions are level on points with Randalstown, the only other Ulster club with a 100 per cent winning start to the season - a Denise Johnston goal gave them a 1-0 win away to Bally money on Saturday.