Varsities produced identical semi-finals

The Mauritius and Chilean Cups produced identikit semi-finalists as DCU and UCC squeezed into the men's intervarsity last four on goal difference while UU's women put paid to Trinity's hopes in the women's competition.

As a result, both UCC teams will face UU in the semi-finals today while UCD and DCU face off on the other side of the draw in the men’s and women’s events.

In the men's Mauritius competition, UU Elks comfortably took top spot in Pool A with a 6-0 win over DCU, in which Mark Moreland got the only first-half goal before the floodgates opened, and a 6-2 win over Trinity.

The Dubliners led that tie 2-1 before the Jordanstown outfit clicked into gear with David Ames at the heart of much of their forward momentum. It left 2002 champions DCU the task of scoring eleven times to progress and had two goals to spare when they tonked RCSI 13-0.

DCU will now face UCD who had a rest day while the rest of Pool B fought for second place. Single goal wins for CIT (2-1) and UCC (3-2) meant the tie between the southern rivals was a direct qualifier for the last four.

Andy Gray's bullet corner gave UCC the lead but Chris Scanlon turned in Ronan Moran's square ball with minutes to go to tie the decider at 1-1. With both sides equal on points and goal difference, the deal-breaker was UCC's extra goals scored.

On the women’s side, UCC had few irritations in completing their group with a perfect record, beating RCSI 6-0 and then trouncing DCU 7-0 in what was a direct play-off for top place in the pool.

Pool A proved a much tougher arena. UCD qualified for the semis with a hard-fought win over Queens before the Ulster women ended Trinity's interest in the main prize with a 3-2 win. It left UU and UCD free to contest a repeat of last year's ISC semi-final safe in the knowledge qualification was assured.

It proved the highest quality offering of the week to date with Roxy Turner opening the scoring early in the second half from the flick spot after Suman Bala was adjudged to be impeded while lining up a shot. But the Belfielders fought back and levelled two minutes from time with Lisa Jacob finishing off a nice move to seal top spot in the group and what looks a much friendlier semi-final against DCU. UU play UCC.

Chilean Cup:
Pool A: UU Elks 1 UCD 1; Trinity 2 Queens 3; UCD 4 Queens 2; Trinty 8 CIT 0; UU Elks 13 CIT 1
Pool B: UCC 6 RCSI 0; UCC 7 DCU 0; DCU 1 NUI Galway 0; NUI Galway 3 RCSI 1; NUI Galway 1 UL 1

Pool A: 1. UCD 11pts (+14) 2. UU Elks 10pts (+13) 3. Queens 6pts (+1) 4. Trinity 4pts (+5) 5. CIT 0pts (-33)
Pool B: 1. UCC 12pts (+20) 2. DCU 9pts (-2) 3. NUI Galway 5pts (-3) 4. UL 3pts (-4) 5. RCSI 1pt (-11)

Chilean Cup Semi-finals (both at 11am): UCD vs DCU; UU Elks vs UCC
Final: 2pm

Chilean Plate semi-finals (both at 8.30am): Queens vs UL; NUI Galway vs Trinity


Mauritius Cup:
Pool A: DCU 13 RCSI 0; DCU 0 UU 6; Trinity 2 UU 6
Pool B: CIT 1 UCC 1; CIT 2 Queens 1; UCC 3 Queens 2

Pool A: 1. UU Elks 9pts (+27) 2. DCU 5pts (+7) 3. Trinity 5pts (+5) 4. RCSI 0pts (-39)
Pool B: 1. UCD 9pts (+25) 2. UCC 5pts (-6) 3. CIT 5pts (-6) 4. Queens 0pts (-13)

Mauritius Cup Semi-finals (both at 12.15pm): UU Elks vs UCC; DCU vs UCD
Final: 4pm

Mauritius Plate semi-finals (both at 8.30am): RCSI vs CIT; Queens vs Trinity