Hickey the hero as Catholic Institute claim first title

Women's Irish Senior Cup final

Catholic Institute 1 (A Hickey) Pembroke 0

Aoife Hickey wrote herself into Irish Senior Cup folklore as her 16th-minute goal handed Catholic Institute their first-ever senior title as they denied Pembroke a perfect treble at a drenched Belfield on a 1-0 scoreline.

She brilliantly volleyed in Naomi Carroll's knee-high cross for the only goal, and the Limerick club saw out the win in super style to crown a remarkable season.

At the start of the campaign, they openly admitted that top six would represent success but, by the spring, they had marked themselves along with Pembroke as the two outstanding clubs on the scene.

Pembroke had landed the EY Hockey League and Champions Trophy, picking apart Insta just six days ago at Havelock Park 4-1.

But the patterns shifted drastically this week with Carroll an effervescent dynamo at the heart of this remarkable performance.

"We are ecstatic," said Carroll, the game’s outstanding player.

"We had a tough week, losing to Pembroke last week and were devastated after it but it just shows the quality in their side, scoring two goals in the first quarter and they really put us under the pump.

"We really had to turn things around and we had to believe in ourselves and couldn’t let that happen again. We knew if we could keep it close or score early, we’d give ourselves a chance and I am absolutely over the moon. It’s been a really long season and it is incredible to finish it off on this high.

"We watched a lot of video and saw we ourselves made a lot of mistakes which we knew we could rectify.

"We knew the pace they had in midfield and the quality in their defence in their flat-stick tackling. We had to change what we did and bring our strengths forward, not fall into