Women’s Irish Hockey League Final
Pegasus 1 (S Ferris) Loreto 1 (A Meeke); Pegasus win 4-2 on a shoot-out
Pegasus snatched their second Irish Hockey League title from Loreto’s grasp as their cool heads in the shoot-out and defensive resilience saw them win out at Grange Road.

Had it been decided on points, Loreto would have won at a canter but their inability to make chances stick cost them dearly in a tie they bossed for long periods.

Natalie Pinkerton and Hannah Grieve were superb in defence while goalkeeper of the tournament Ayeisha McFerran was unbeatable between the posts. Steph Thompson was a dynamo in midfield while Alex Speers showed her experience – having won the title previously once with Pegasus and twice with Railway Union, – down the final stretch.

It meant the good approach work of Nicci Daly and Hayley Mulcahy went without reward for the most part. An early penalty corner was upgraded to a stroke for a deliberate back-stick but defensive lynch-pin, so often Loreto’s key player, Hannah Matthews saw her shot tipped onto the post by McFerran.

Matthews did play a key role in the Dubliners’ goal three minutes into the second half, applying the power for Ali Meeke to deflect into the roof of the net.

But Pegasus hung tough and took one of their rare chances when Vanessa Surgeoner stole the ball high up the pitch, following a poor pass from Matthews, getting it to Speers on the right baseline. She picked out the experienced Suzanne Ferris to pop home from close range for the equaliser.

It came in the 62nd minute, the same time that Surgeoner had struck the winner in Saturday’s 2-1 semi-final victory against reigning champions UCD.

Once again, Loreto had their chances to win the game in normal time with a couple of penalty corners in the last minute and also in silver goal extra time.

Pegasus held on, leading to a shoot-out in which the Ulster side had the advantage from the start as Niamh Small rolled wide and Matthews dinged the crossbar. Pegasus had Steph Thompson, Ruth Maguire, Kate McConnell and Robyn Chambers all on target scoring their shoot-outs to eventually win back the title they last won in 2011.