Hermes manage to hold out to derail Union

Hockey Round-up: They may have lost their position at the top of the Leinster first division table, with Pembroke Wanderers taking over on goal difference, but Hermes will still be more than content with their weekend's work having inflicted on Railway Union their first defeat of the season.

Two goals from Aoife Mitchell, in the 12th and 25th minutes, had Hermes leading 2-0 at half-time and although Beth Maguire pulled a goal back 15 minutes into the second half Kristen Farrell, with the score of the game, restored Hermes' two-goal advantage 10 minutes from time.

Ciara O'Brien, back from England to play for her club, gave Railway a glimmer of hope with four minutes left, making it 2-3, but Hermes held out.

To add to Railway's woes they lost Isobel Joyce early in the second half with an ankle ligament injury - having been named in the provisional Leinster squad for next weekend's interprovincial tournament in Cork she is now a doubt for the tournament.

Pembroke and Hermes, then, have opened a five point gap over third-placed Railway, with Old Alexandra and Loreto another two points adrift. While Pembroke's 4-0 victory over bottom club Clontarf was predictable enough the manner of it was surprising, with the leaders held scoreless until the second half.

Two goals in each half gave Loreto a 4-2 win over Corinthians, with Nikki Keegan scoring twice, while UCD recovered from their successful intervarsity exertions earlier in the week to beat Three Rock 2-0.

Church of Ireland stay top of the Munster first division table but are level on points with Harlequins, who have a game in hand, after losing 3-0 to the champions at Garryduff on Saturday, Karen Bateman scoring a hat-trick.

In Ulster Ballymoney lost the chance to go top of the table when their game against Ballymena was postponed, due to a flooded pitch. Pegasus, then, remain top.

Meanwhile, in the men's game, Leinster Mills Cup holders Corinthians advanced to the second round of the competition with a 5-2 win over Railway Union at Whitechurch on Saturday. Two goals from Andrew Sutton helped Corinthians to a 3-2 lead at the break, one they extended in the second half through Myles Warren and Adrian Nissen.

In yesterday's ties Pembroke Wanderers, despite having the bulk of the chances, were frustrated by Kilkenny for 62 minutes, at which point Alan Giles finally made the breakthrough with the game's only goal. Joining Pembroke in the second round will be Three Rock Rovers, 4-1 winners over Avoca yesterday.