St Andrew's hold firm to seal extra-time win

HOCKEY LEINSTER SCHOOLSGIRLS' SENIOR CUP FINAL:IN 2003 St Andrew's won the Leinster Senior Cup for the first time in the school's history – following yesterday's 2-0 extra-time win over holders Loreto Beaufort Mandy Hollwey's charges have now won the competition four times in the last seven years.

But as with most recent encounters between the schools – notably last year’s semi-final, which Beaufort won, and the 2006 final, when St Andrew’s prevailed – there was a hair’s breadth between the sides at Grange Road yesterday, the match scoreless after normal time.

Beaufort had the better of the opening exchanges, Hannah Matthews and Carly Baker coming close to giving their school the lead, and it wasn’t until Sarah Woodroofe’s drag flick from a St Andrew’s first short, in the 20th minute, that the holders were threatened, Beaufort goalkeeper Jennifer Duffy saving superbly.

That effort lifted St Andrew’s who having struggled in the early phase when the Beaufort midfield of Matthews, Sarah Barnwell and Sinead McGirr largely ran the show. Soon after Gillian Pinder’s crisply-struck pass across the face of goal just evaded the St Andrews’s forwards, the same player’s reverse strike was saved by Duffy shortly after the break.

For all the attacking talent in both sides – the Matthews v Chloe Watkins midfield contest particularly compelling – the defences came out on top, between them producing an abundance of critical interceptions and tackles just when a goal seemed imminent. Beaufort’s Zoe Ennis’s radar for trouble resulted in her thwarting St Andrew’s time and again.

While possession was evenly shared in the closing stages it was St Andrew’s who came closest to scoring, Pinder firing just wide from a short corner with 10 minutes to go, before Chloe Watkins’ fiercely struck cross-cum-shot drifted just wide.

So extra-time. Just as a consensus was reached amongst the spectators that penalty strokes were inevitable Lauren Kingston ended the stalemate, seven minutes into the first period, Courtney Watkins’ initial shot blocked, Kingston turning home the loose ball to give St Andrew’s the lead.

Five minutes into the second period of extra-time, Courtney Watkins – one of three survivors from the 2006 winning squad (Jenny Doran and Courtney’s sister, Chloe, the others) settled matters, weaving her way through the defence before firing a reverse strike into the top right corner of the goal.

Beaufort rallied with two short corners, but St Andrew’s held out to take their place alongside Foyle, Ballymena Academy, Bandon Grammar, Coláiste Iognaid and Loreto Wexford or Loreto Kilkenny in the All-Ireland finals at the same venue on March 19th-20th.

ST ANDREWS: T Ellis, N Atcheler, J Donohoe, S Gamble, J Doran (co-capt), L Kingston, V Taaffe, Chloe Watkins, G Pinder, Courtney Watkins (co-capt), S Woodroofe. Subs: G Murphy, L Pinder, L Stephens, H Meredith, S Marshall. Coach: Mandy Hollwey.

LORETO BEAUFORT: J Duffy, Z Ennis, J Early, N O’Reilly, J Redmond, S Barnwell, S McGirr, H Matthews (capt), C Baker, P O’Dwyer, K O’Farrell. Subs: L Delany, R Kelly, A O’Riordan, F Gavin, R Murphy. Coach: Eimear Campion.

Umpires: A Groves and D Acheson.