Coming off a hard-fought victory last weekend against Pembroke Wanderers, Dublin University Ladies Hockey Club went into the game against a historically successful University College Dublin (UCD) team as the underdogs, but came out having more than proven themselves.
Trinity unfortunately started off on the wrong foot, conceding a goal in the first few minutes to UCD’s Emma Russell. The frustrating slip-up and a relentless assault from UCD throughout the rest of the quarter pushed Trinity onto the defensive.
Issy Delamare, Avril Dooley O’Carroll and Jenny Long formed the backbone of a strong guard that repeatedly fought off the sharp, ranged passes from UCD that put their players within shooting distance of the goal.
UCD’s enthusiasm for the offensive allowed a few brave charges from Trinity through thinly spread formations, the most impressive of which was led by Ailish Long who drove well into the UCD half before being cleared out by her opponent’s own tight defence. However, Trinity’s mostly defensive stature put the team into the second quarter with a low and recoverable point difference of only 1-0.
Undeterred by several close but failed attempts at goal, the second quarter was characterised by an even fiercer UCD attack. Led by the powerful pairing of Katie Mullan and Emma Russell on UCD’s left wing, and supported by the seemingly ubiquitous Elena Tice, Trinity came under serious strain. It held though and half time came with an unchanged score board.
Not settling for a low-point difference, the third quarter introduced a more aggressive Trinity. An imposing Niamh Sweeny worked with an agile Ellie Noone to deliver a number of strong attacks right through UCD’s centre. Sally Campbell’s excellent break into UCD territory seemed so surprising to even her own team that it went unsupported. Though this didn’t come at the expense of Trinity’s defence, a rare and messy clash in front of Trinity’s goal saw the ball popped up by UCD’s Katie Mullaand to deliver an unceremonious goal. This brought the score to 2-0 at the close of the third quarter.
As several spectators noted, the fourth quarter was for both sides the strongest, and overall, easily the most exciting. Neither UCD’s energy or skill had waned, yet Trinity had not given up hope of depriving them of victory. Once again, Ailish Long and Ellie Noone gave constant grief to UCD’s centre, but a number of closely missed shots at goal were also set up. The attempts paved the way for a brilliant Sally Campbell to make good on earlier threats, and finally give Trinity a point with a decisive blast of the ball into the corner of UCD’s goal.
A revived Trinity spirit and a brief spell of panic amongst UCD’s ranks gave great opportunity to equalise but UCD quickly reformed into the superior team that they’d been throughout the game. Not far out from the final whistle, Katie Mullan scored the final goal of the game in a drag corner, ending the spectacle with a well-deserved result of 3-1 to UCD.
