Depleted Loreto make it past gritty Glenanne in Potter Cup
A DEPLETED Loreto still had enough to see off a gritty Glenanne outfit, winning 4-0 to reach the semi finals of the Jacqui Potter Cup in Beaufort on Saturday.
The Tallaght side put up a real battle in the opening half and may have been unlucky to find themselves trailing to a Jess Meeke goal at the halftime break.
Loreto made it through to the last four of Jacqui Potter Cup
Indeed, the visitors did have chances to open their account with Hannah Del-aney and Paula Fitzpatrick both going close.
Glenanne could certainly have done with a score at this point because their hosts began to move through the gears in the second half despite missing a number of their key stars.
Sarah Evans hit the target before Aoife Taaffe steered home a third and Sarah Clarke followed up on the rebound off her penalty corner to help put Loreto out of sight.
Loreto Head Coach, Paul Fitzpatrick was pleased with his side’s efforts in light of the fact that they were without the services of some of their main players.
“We were missing five of our senior internationals and two of our Under 21s,” he pointed out. “We were missing several others also, so 10 of our first team weren’t playing.
“It was a very good performance. Glenanne played very well in the first half and had it been 2-2 at halftime it would not have been an unfair scoreline.
“Because we were missing so many, these players hadn’t played together before and it took a while for them to get used to each other, but we pushed on in the second half,” he added.
Likewise, Glenanne Head Coach David Keogh was positive about his team’s performance despite the defeat telling The Echo: “The final score did not reflect our performance.
“Unfortunately when you play a team like Loreto who are two leagues ahead of you, they’re always going to be so clinical.
“If you’re not fully concentrating they’re just going to latch on to that and punish you,” he said.
He will be hoping his side can carry that same positivity into their Leinster League campaign in which they are pushing strongly for a play-off berth and possible promotion to EY2.
“The girls are in a transition period at the moment,” he said.
“I know what they want to achieve and the work they’re going to have to put in to do that,” he stressed.
As for Fitzpatrick and his Loreto team, they are just two points off top spot in the Women’s EY Hockey League and keeping one eye on European competition in Holland in April.
