After a two-year hiatus from the annual hockey calendar, the Intervarsities made a roaring comeback as the competition descended on Queen’s University Belfast. With 5 collegiate women’s teams and four men’s teams competing for the historic Chilean and Mauritius cups, the weekend long competition was poised to be a unique and entertaining lineup of matches.
Day 1 Round-Up
MAURITIUS CUP
The hosts Queen’s University got their campaign off to a good start with a comprehensive win over University of Limerick.
Daniel Irvine opened the scoring for Queen’s after 6 minutes followed by captain Sam Boyd. Boyd grabbed his second of the game in the 16th minute when he converted a penalty stroke. Adam Lecky added a fourth for the hosts in the 30th minute. Adam Reddick sealed the 5-0 victory with a 41st minute field goal before the final whistle.
One of the oldest varsity sporting rivalries provided the second game of the day in the Mauritius Cup when University College Dublin took on Trinity College.
UCD took the lead through Mark Smyth in the 8th minute, and they led 1-0 at half time. But Trinity settled and got back into the game grabbing a late equaliser through Tom Varian to secure a point for Trinity.
UCD bounced back from their draw against Trinity College with a comprehensive win over UL. A hattrick from Tim Cope, a brace for Conor Walsh and a goal from Bryan Lydon handed the Dublin side a comfortable 6-0 win.
Queen’s saw off Trinity College in the final Men’s game of day 1. Adam Reddick gave the hosts the lead in the 9th minute from open play to make it 1-0 to Queen’s. Tom Varian equalised for Trinity in the 17th minute, but Matthew Vincent restored the lead for Queen’s in the 29th minute. The win was sealed by Matthew Spence with another goal in the 43rd minute and the result was a 3-1 win for Queen’s.
CHILEAN CUP
With five entrants into the women’s Chilean Cup competition, the women’s competition also took on a round robin format. Day 1 offered up five scintillating matchups.
The first game of this year’s competition took place between University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin.
In the first half Trinity were able to withstand the pressure of their more illustrious opposition to keep the game scoreless going into half-time. The breakthrough eventually came for UCC, whose captain Emma O’Sullivan struck from open play in the 33rd minute for the only goal of the game.
Defending champions UCD got their Chilean Cup defence off to the best possible start with a comprehensive 9 – 0 win over UL. The goals were shared across the side with Olivia Brady and Mikayla Power grabbing a brace each, along with a goal each for Florence Maughan, Ava Maleady, Aine Naughton, Amy Handcock, and Aliya Davis.
A youthful Trinity College put in an excellent performance against Queen’s University and managed to get a share of the spoils in both side second match of the Chilean Cup. The Ulster Women’s Premier League side would have been warm favourites for this game, and it was a surprise that the sides went in 0-0 at half time.
The surprises didn’t end there as Trinity College took the lead through Alex Gallagher’s converted penalty corner in the 36th minute. Trinity’s 1 – 0 lead was short lived, however, as a minute later Queen’s were back on level terms when Anna McKew got the equaliser. The sides would have to share the spoils as neither could create the winning moment, and the game ended 1 – 1.
UCC showed why they have secured their spot in Ireland’s top division of club hockey, the EY Hockey League, as they stormed pasted UL. A comfortable 12 – 0 victory for UCC came thanks to three goals from Micaela Sanderson, two goals each for Captain Emma O’Sullivan, Bethanne O’Farrell and Julia McCarthy, and goals from Sarah Murphy and Amy Nangle.
Defending Chilean Cup holders UCD took a decisive step towards retaining their title with a win in their second game on Day 1 over hosts Queen’s. Olivia Brady converted a penalty corner to open the scoring for UCD in the 19th minute. Lauren Johnston added a goal from open play in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0. Mikayla Power converted another penalty corner in the 25th minute to extend the lead to 3-0. Sydney Weir Mc Erlean’s 45th minute field goal completed the scoring it finished UCD 4 – 0 Queen’s University.
Day 2 Round-Up
MAURITIUS CUP
The tournament drew to a close with Queen’s University winning the Mauritius Cup on 15 points, UCD getting the runner-up spot in second place on 8 points. Trinity finishing in the bronze medal berth on 7 points and UL finishing in fourth place but showed improvement with each outings. Tim Cope’s hat-trick for UCD in their win over UL was enough to get him the Top Goal Scorer award in the tournament. Matthew Spence of hosts Queen’s won the Player of the Tournament trophy. Here’s how the final games in the pool played out.
UL produced a very respectable performance in their third and final game of the Mauritius Cup on Sunday. They lost 3-1 to a Trinity College Dublin team who, themselves developed and improved throughout the tournament. Thomas Bean opened the scoring for Trinity with a penalty corner after 3 minutes. Alex Gallagher had Trinity 2-0 after a field goal in the 10th minute. But Limerick responded through a goal by Conor Hoban in the 13th minute to make it 2-1. Rory McPherson’s 39th minute penalty corner secured the full points for Trinity which sealed the bronze medal win.
Hosts Queen’s secured the Mauritius Cup for the first time since 1991 following their win over UCD in the final game of the competition. UCD, the reigning champions needed a win to secure the trophy following their 1-1 draw with Trinity on Day 1 while Queen’s could settle for a draw.
UCD got the opening score of the game through Chris Knatchbull but a brace for Ben Law put Queen’s in the driving seat. In the 42nd minute Matthew Spence scored from open play to make it 3-1. UCD captain Mark Smyth reduced the deficit from a converted penalty corner in the 46th minute but that was the last score of the game. It ended 3-2 to Queen’s University. Congratulations to them on winning the Mauritius Cup after many years.
CHILEAN CUP
Given the extra team in the Chilean Cup, Day 2 was a considerably busier day for the women’s sides. The competition went down to the wire, with UCD securing the Chilean Cup for the first time in three years following their victory in the competition’s final game. Hosts Queen’s, secured silver, while UCC took bronze. Queen’s University player, Ellie Edwards, took home the top scorer award thanks to a hattrick on day 2. Alex Gallagher of Trinity College was awarded the Player of the Tournament thanks to her leadership and heroics throughout. Here is how the final games played out.
Trinity kept their medal hopes alive with a 7 – 0 victory over UL.
Lisa Biermann opened the scoring after 10 minutes followed by a brace from Sarah Bryce to leave Trinity 3-0 ahead after 18 minutes. Laura Noble scored twice in three minutes between the 42nd and 45th minute and was joined on the scoresheet by Aoibhin Murdoch and Beatrice Wharton in the 48th and 49th minutes respectively to leave the final score 7-0 to Trinity.
Trinity followed up their win over UL with an even more remarkable result holding pre-tournament favourites UCD scoreless in their pool match. This put a dent in UCD’s Chilean Cup aspirations but a win over UCC in their final pool match should secure the trophy for the Belfield Trophy Cabinet after an absence of three years.
UL came into this tournament with a relatively small squad of 14. By the time this final game of the pool came around they could only field 10 fit players due to injuries. Queen’s exploited this fatigued team running up a 17-0 victory.
A jaw dropping five goals for Ellie Edwards, hattricks for Jodie Simmons and Megan Cochrane, a brace for Eva Gaston and goals from Olivia Thompson, Mimi Bradley, Pippa Wilson and Katie Kimber handed the hosts a comfortable victory.
UCD took on fellow EYHL Women’s Division 1 side UCC in the decisive final game of the Chilean Cup. Queen’s had completed their program and were level on points with UCD and if the Dublin based side avoided a defeat by more than one goal, they would be champions.
Lauren Moore opened the scoring from open play in the 8th minute to make it 1-0 to UCD. Sydney Weir McErlean made it 2-0 in the 26th minute and got her second of the game two minutes later to leave UCD leading 3-0. There was no further scoring and UCD are the Chilean Cup winners for 2024/25.
The three-goal deficit meant UCC secured the bronze medal position over Trinity College.
