WOMEN'S HOCKEY:NEXT MONTH'S league meeting between Hermes and Railway Union increasingly has the look of a title-decider after both teams picked up maximum points from their weekend fixtures, Hermes collecting six from their double-header against Corinthian and Trinity.

Yesterday’s 4-0 defeat of Trinity, following Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Corinthian, was Hermes’s 13th win in a row in the League, the team not dropping a point since their draw with Pembroke Wanderers on the first day of November.

That form has lifted them three points clear of the defending champions, but Railway, for whom Jean McDonnell got the winner in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Pembroke, have three games left to play, compared to Hermes’s two.

All Loreto can do is keep on winning and hope the top two slip up, calamitously, before the season’s end. They also collected six points over the weekend, from their 4-0 and 4-2 wins over Old Alexandra and Pembroke respectively, but they trail Hermes by five points with just two games to go.

UCD’s 1-0 win away to Bray, courtesy of a Rosie Carrigan goal, combined with Alexandra’s defeat to Loreto, sealed fourth place in the table for the students, ensuring their qualification for next season’s Irish Hockey League. Alexandra are certain of finishing fifth, putting them, like last season, in to the play-offs for an IHL place.

Meanwhile, Sylvia Gilsenan’s golden goal against Railway II earned Alexandra II a place in the Irish Junior Cup final where their opponents will be Randalstown II – the Ulster side had a comfortable 4-0 victory over Lurgan II in the second semi-final, Pamela Muir scoring a hat-trick.

Also on Saturday YMCA beat Fermoy in the Irish Challenge final at Belfield for the second year in a row, Tara Powderly and Helen Keane getting their goals, while Catholic Institute, beaten in last year’s decider by Ulster Elks, went one better by winning the Irish Trophy yesterday, goals from Elaine Bromell, Rebecca Barry and Katie Campbell giving them a 3-1 win over Greenfields.