WOMENS HOCKEY: The net result of the drama over the weekend in the Club Championship quarter-finals is neither the Leinster nor the Munster champions, Loreto and Cork Harlequins, have qualified for next weekend's tournament in Cork. Indeed, only one of the four finalists, Pegasus, managed to win their provincial title this season, with two more of the line-up finishing third in their league.
But the latter two teams, Railway Union and Randalstown, appear to be maturing every time they set foot on a pitch, and their growing resilience was in evidence once again on Saturday.
When his team trailed 2-0 at half-time in the first leg of the quarter-finals at home to Loreto a week ago, Randalstown coach Johneen Black probably felt there was as much chance of them qualifying for the finals as there is of Larne Football Club, where he was once manager and chairman, making the Champions League final in the next five years.
His young side, though, fought back to draw that leg 3-3 and, on Saturday, beat Loreto 2-1 at Beaufort to take the club in to the all-Ireland finals for the first time since 1997, when they were beaten to the title by Muckross.
Their elimination is a desperate disappointment for Loreto, who had made success in the competition their chief target this season, but they could have no complaints on Saturday, when Clare Parkhill put Randalstown 2-0 up by half-time.
Cathy McKean got a goal back for Loreto late in the game, but Randalstown survived their hosts' efforts to steal a second, one that would have put them through on away goals.
"To have come from two goals down last week and drawn with the best team we have played all season was a crucial boost for the girls," said Black. "In the first half we dominated to such an extent that they didn't have a shot on target. When they got a goal back they threw the kitchen sink at us, but we held on and we'll continue our learning curve next weekend in Cork."
And it is to Cork Railway will return after a Karen Clarke goal four minutes from time against Harlequins, when she deflected home an Isobel Joyce short corner strike, put the Leinster side through on away goals.
By then they seemed destined to go out after conceding three first-half goals, with Jane Chapple getting two and Karen Bateman the other, but they regrouped and denied Harlequins a fourth goal that would have all but sealed the tie.
Defending champions Hermes were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Ballymoney but went through 2-0 on aggregate, while Pegasus, with the aid of a Claire McMahon hat-trick, beat Church of Ireland 5-1 to complete a 10-1 victory over two legs.
