Pembroke Wanderers picked up from where they left off before the winter break when they made it seven EY Hockey League wins in a row by beating Loreto 2-1 to maintain their five point lead at the top of the table.
Both Catholic Institute and Pegasus kept the pressure on though, the Limerick side staying second by beating Old Alexandra, while Pegasus, another two points behind but with a game in hand on the top two, had a 3-0 win over neighbours Belfast Harlequins.
Pembroke had to come from behind at Beaufort after Siofra O'Brien gave the hosts a first quarter lead, only the sixth goal the leaders have conceded in their 11 games so far. Aisling Naughton had them level before half-time with Leah Maguire sealing the win after the break.
Down at Rosbrien, Institute withstood plenty of Alexandra pressure to take the points with a 3-1 win, Roisin Upton and Hannah Kelly putting them 2-1 by half-time, Deirdre Duke having equalised, before Eimear Ryan's third quarter score all but sealed the points.
Shirley McCay, Alex Speers and Taite Doherty got the goals for Pegasus in their defeat of Belfast Harlequins, while Railway Union jumped from sixth to fourth, moving ahead of Alexandra on goal difference, with a 3-0 win over Cork Harlequins. A Katherine Egan double, meanwhile, helped UCD to a 3-1 defeat of Muckross.
Hockey League, Division One - Saturday: Belfast Harlequins 0, Pegasus 3 (S McCay pen, A Speers, T Doherty); Catholic Institute 3 (R Upton, H Kelly, E Ryan), Old Alexandra 1 (D Duke); Loreto 1 (S O'Brien), Pembroke Wanderers 2 (A Naughton, L McGuire); Railway Union 3 (S Rooney, S Hawkshaw, Z Delany), Cork Harlequins 0; UCD 3 (K Egan 2, S McAuley), Muckross 1 (K Fitzgerald).
