Hermes took a giant step towards winning their first ever Senior A title at Beaufort last night when Jenny Burke's ninth league goal of the season gave them a 1-0 victory over Loreto. It was Loreto's first defeat of the campaign and one that sees Hermes' lead at the top stretch to seven points.

The goal came 21 minutes in to the first half when Burke's strike from a short corner appeared to take a deflection off a defender before squeezing past Avril Copeland in the Loreto goal. It was just reward for a period of intense pressure from Hermes who dominated much of the game after surviving a first minute scare when Dearbhla O'Carroll came close to scoring for the home team.

Meanwhile at Whitechurch Old Alexandra lost further ground on the leaders when they drew 2-2 with Glenanne - they have two games in hand on Hermes but are now 11 points adrift.