UCD 3 (H McLoughlin, M Carey, K Egan)

Pegasus 1 (Maguire)

Reporting by Emma Porter

UCD LADIES HOCKEY have won the women’s Irish Senior Cup for the third time in four years as the clubs got the chance to finish off the 2019/2020 Senior Cup fixtures.

UCD took an early lead with two goals in the opening quarter. A penalty corner in the first five minutes saw KJ Marshall insert for UCD and Hannah McLoughlin put the open goal on the scoreboard.

UCD’s Michelle Carey showed off some impressive skills shortly afterwards to make it 2-0 to UCD. With a number of Pegasus defenders in the circle trying to keep her out, Carey lifted the ball onto her stick in mid-air, juggling it as she moved before hitting it in past Pegasus keeper Todd.

UCD were the dominant team in the opening quarter, although Pegasus were not without opportunity. UCD’s Cassin kept her cool to prevent the first real opportunity for Pegasus getting them on the scoreboard. While a sideline shot across the goal from outside the circle for Shirley McCay went wide without a Pegasus player there to receive it.

Pegasus came out fighting in the second quarter, with a number of early entries into the UCD circle, although kept out of the goal each time. UCD’s Patton had an opportunity on the Pegasus goal. While it was kept out by Todd, a penalty corner was awarded shortly after.

Similar to their first penalty corner, Marshall inserted, and McLoughlin took a shot, however Todd was able to save the ball, and Curran’s attempt with the rebound went wide. Pegasus’ Lucy McKee followed this shortly after with a quick charge down the pitch to challenge UCD, which ultimately was defended.

However, an interception from UCD passes saw Beggs with the opportunity to take a shot, not quite producing a goal for the Pegasus side but did succeed in securing a Penalty Corner for them. The insertion from Beggs provided McCay with a shot, deflected from the goal by defence and resulting in a second penalty corner.

A similar insertion and shot routine followed, although Pegasus lost control of the ball and the half-time score remained UCD 2 – 0 Pegasus.

Pegasus retained the energy they brought to the second quarter for the remainder of the game. Although UCD secured a penalty corner early in the second half, this was saved by Todd and rebound was well defended. UCD were able to apply pressure early on in this quarter, however Pegasus seemed to spend much more time in the UCD half of the pitch throughout.

A penalty corner for Pegasus saw Maguire insert to Harvey, with McCay able to find Maguire again, unmarked, to bring Pegasus back into the game; UCD 2 – Pegasus 1.

Pegasus returned for the final quarter of the match applying serious pressure on UCD in search of an equaliser.

The first chance of the quarter coming from Beggs in the UCD circle, although it was well defended by UCD. A penalty corner to Pegasus provided McCay with another shot on the UCD goal, however keeper Clodagh Cassin again ensured UCD kept their lead. The pressure from Pegasus was clear when UCD opted for long shots down the pitch on two occasions.

They failed to make any progress towards the Pegasus goal as the UCD players remained in their own half in order to face the attacking Pegasus players. Despite the dominant presence of the Pegasus players in the UCD half of the pitch, Pegasus struggled to stay in the UCD circle when attacking.

With just over seven minutes left on the clock, UCD managed to push back into Pegasus’ half of the pitch. A lovely run from Carey, passed to Young, who was able to provide Katherine Egan with a shot brought UCD to a 3-1 lead over Pegasus with just five minutes on the clock.

The reaction from Pegasus saw them move to 11 outfield players. While they continued to press throughout the final minutes of the game, UCD remained strong and Pegasus were unable to change the score before the final whistle.

UCD: L Gunning, C Cassin, A Elliott, S Thomas, N Carey, K Egan, M Carey, S Kelly, H Mcloughlin, C Cope, G Keane, O Patton, S Patton, S Young, E Young, E Curran, N Heisterkamp, KJ Marshal.

Pegasus: E Armstrong, C Harvey, R Maguire, T Doherty, E Montgomery, M Dougan, N McIvor, M Harvey, L McKee, O Berry, A Speers, S McCay, K McDonald, K Gourley, S Thompson, C Beggs, A Robinson, M Todd.

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