HOCKEY / Alexandra College 1 Loreto, Foxrock 0: Alexandra College emerged winners after a hard battle at Grange Road yesterday.

In the first half Loreto came close to scoring when, on 17 minutes, Alison Byrne collected a free hit deep in the Alex circle but her angled shot went wide.

At the half-time break Alex coach Jill Coe introduced Julie Keane and Megan Tenant-Humphries to the action, a move which transformed the game.

After two minutes of the restart Keane scored with a long-range shot from just inside the circle. The pair threatened throughout the rest of the game and Holly Jones came close to adding a second goal for Alex.

Loreto found little room to manoeuvre around their opponents' defence, in which Katie Darling, Martha Purcell, Sara Smith and Emily Balbirnie shone, while up front Keane, Amanda George and Tenant-Humphries impressed.

The final between St Andrews and Alexandra College takes place next Thursday at Grange Road.

ALEXANDRA COLLEGE: B McEntee; K Darling, S Smith, M Purcell, K Coghlan, E Balbirnie, V Buckley, C Ward, H Taaffe, H Jones, A George. Subs: J Keane, M Tenant-Humphries

LORETO, FOXROCK: S Caeceo; N O'Brien, N O'Reilly, S Coleman, A Byrne, C Collins, J Daly, E Kielthy, K Lowe, L McGonigle, K Moloney. Subs: H Byrne, N Farrell, K Barnes, V Travers