Despite Cratloe’s Naomi Carroll finding the net for her hockey club Catholic Institute, the Limerick side fell short in their attempts to EY Champions Trophy title.
They lost out 4-1 to Dublin side Pembroke who produced a perfect all-round team performance to add a first EY Champions Trophy title to the regular season crown they won a month ago.
Catholic Institute were pipped to the EY Hockey League by the same opposition on the final day of the season.
Carroll and co. will have to be content with a place in Europe and a quick revenge-mission next Saturday in the Irish Senior Cup final.
The final itself was guaranteed to produce a first time winner with Pembroke’s 3-1 win over Loreto and Insta’s 3-2 success against UCD meaning both clubs reached the final in their first attempt at the playoffs.
It was a win built around an outstanding first 10 minutes in which Sinead Loughran and Ali Griffin both netted to give Pembroke the dream start.
Insta got back into the contest when Roisin Upton’s perfect overhead found fellow Olympian Naomi Upton at the right post to bat in a head-high volley, cutting the gap to 2-1.
However, Eanna Horan made it 3-1 at half-time before Martha McCready sealed the deal in the second half for the newly crowned champions.