Monkstown ladies moving on up

In their second year since reforming, Monkstown ladies had an equally successful sophomore year, quickly being bumped up from division 12 to division eight after three 11-0 wins in Autumn.

Even with the jump and a backlog of fixtures, the side coached by Chris Beere and captained by Sarah Lovett took the title as early as February with an excellent final goal tally of +61.
Newcomer Laura Maher scored 22 of those goals with Suzie Murray close behind, grabbing 13 goals.

The club also had a successful run in the Irish Hockey Challenge, reaching the semi finals but losing against a tough YMCA side, who went on to win the title for the second year in a row.

This league win makes it 11 successive promotions for the Monkstown ladies moniker, the former incarnation earning nine league promotions in-a-row before rebranding as Glenageary HC at the time of the move to Rathdown by the men.

By virtue of their jump in leagues, though, the club was unable to contest the division 7/8 cup.
Phoenix Park, meanwhile, secured their fourth promotion in five years last Monday night with a 2-1 win over Corinthian IV at St Columba's College.

They took the spot ahead of Weston II by the narrowest possible margins, with games won the decider after both ended the campaign on 31 points. Alva Mulloy got the vital goals on Monday after Corinthian had capitalised on a defensive error to take the lead.

Mulloy, working from centre-midfield, levelled after a weaving run to blast home. Goalkeeper Yvonne McEneff kept her side in the hunt before Mulloy struck again following a series of short corners.

* For more of Kevin Gallagher's photos from Corinthian IV vs Phoenix Park, click here