There's life left yet in the race for the Leinster Senior A title after Saturday's match between leaders Hermes and second-placed Muckross at Rathdown ended in a 0-0 draw. A fine Muckross defence restricted the defending champions, who had averaged almost six goals a game before Saturday, to just one clear-cut scoring opportunity and three short corners. But it was far from one-way traffic with Hermes's Helen Kilroy producing two superb tackles in her own circle to deny the home team a goal.
Later in the afternoon Loreto missed a chance to go level on points with Muckross in second place when they dropped a point to Genesis at Beaufort in a 2-2 draw. At Dardistown, Trinity secured their first win of the season, beating Clontarf 4-0. Meanwhile at Park Avenue an extra-time goal from Paula Davis gave Glenanne an excellent 2-1 victory over Railway Union in the replay of their Sharwood's Irish Senior Cup first-round tie. The big upset in the quarter-finals of the Ulster Shield took place at the Antrim Forum where goals from Julie Doak gave section two team Knock a 2-1 win over Randalstown. They will be joined in the semi-finals by Pegasus, 4-0 winners over Ards, Portadown (who beat Ballymoney 10) and Collegians, 5-2 victors over UUJ. In Munster, Belvedere produced a surprise 3-0 win over UCC.
