Glenanne took the first IHL final place in a thrilling 5-4 win over Banbridge at Grange Road, though the main talking point is likely to be the incredible scenes surrounding Johnny Kane's goal which put the Glens 4-3 ahead.
He scored 26 seconds after the hooter, according to the public clock, should have gone for the end of the third quarter leading to chaotic scenes as rulebooks were checked and phonecalls made before the goal eventually stood.
Bann fought back for Ross McCandless to level the game for the fourth time in the game with his hat-trick from short corners but Stephen Butler's immense drag-flick gave the Glens the vital incision with approximately six and a half minutes to go as the game's stopwatch once again went haywire.
It brought to an end the scoring in one of the most entertaining games of the season with the ebb and flow fluctuating wildly throughout.
The Glens were ahead inside a minute, Johnny Goulding weaving some magic before sliding past Gareth Lennox. Ross McCandless levelled at the second time of asking - his first corner effort disallowed for an obstruction - nailing a drag-flick.
But Brendan Parsons had the Tallaght-side back in front inside the first quarter - the only player to get a touch to Stephen Butler's ball while surrounded by several defenders.
Bann, though, thoroughly bossed the second quarter, deservedly equalising when McCandless' drag his a post, Diarmuid Reay snapping up the rebound. Eugene Magee - showing little effect of just one training session in a month - was denied by Steven Doran before the striker's steal played in Dane Ward only for his effort to be chalked off, too.
A stunning Magee snap-shot drew the sixth penalty corner from which McCandless slotted his second for a 3-2 half-time lead. The drama did not stop, though, during the interval as Bann assistant coach Mark Evans got a dressing down from technical delegate Joe Connolly.
Stephen Butler's stroke made it 3-3 after Richie Shaw's pullback to Shane O'Donoghue was illegally impeded. And then came the game's major talking point. The public clock - not an official time-keeping measure - counted past 17 and a half minutes with no hooter forthcoming.
Bann were camped on their baseline, unable to escape a full press and the ball broke to Kane who slammed home from the top of the circle. The hooter followed as the Bann players remonstrated with the bench.
Three minutes of discussion finally saw the game restarted in the fourth quarter with 4-3 showing on the board. Butler could have made the game safe but his effort was spectacularly plucked off the line by Scott Forbes while Parsons had a glit-edged chance slip wide.
And Ross McCandless netted a neat switch move to tie the game for a fourth time. Magee lobbed over a shoulder-high volley before Butler got the final score.
Bann subsequently placed an appeal over the time-keeping situation but a tribunal decided that the result would stand and Glenanne take their place in the final.
Elsewhere, a partial draw for next year's IHL was made at Grange Road. The men's Pool A includes Pembroke, Instonians, Banbridge and Monkstown while Pool B has Cookstown, Glenanne, Three Rock Rovers and Annadale.
The women's competition has Railway Union, Ballymoney, Ards and Pembroke in Pool A and Pegsus, Loreto, Hermes and Randalstown in Pool B. The remainder of the draw will be made on completion of the wildcard competition.
* For more of Adrian Boehm's pics from the game, click here
15 comments:
does this mean leinster hockey is the strongest in the country? prediction: glenanne v pembroke goes to extra time and maybe penalties like ISC semi-final.
um, fairly quick to jump on the bandwagon of IHA being anti-Ulster but it appears protocol for these scenarios was followed. in these terms, the rules are fairly well defined if a mistake of this sort is made.
As such, while the time-keeping mess was terrible, rules were followed to the letter of the law in the aftermath.
firstly, Mossley never made an appeal, they made a query so no real case of anti-Ulster bias - they gave their reasoning and the case was dropped there.
not very satisfactory position but that's how it happened so punches one hole in your theory. quit whining, continue to focus on developing your youth and come back and do some talking on the pitch.
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