Clontarf and YMCA emerged from an ultra-competitive Group Two, requiring goal difference to advance on the first day of the National Indoor Trophy in DCU. It meant the Bulls ousted 2009 semi-finalists Corinthian to reach the play-off stages at the first time of asking, inspired by guesting indoor expert Kevin King and Dutch outdoor international Laurence Docherty.
Docherty - originally from Scotland - was the star name but it was those with connections to south of Hadrian's Wall who did the early damage in an 8-0 win over UCD as Rob Abbott's hat-trick and Andrew Poynter's double set the Northside club on their way with Nathaniel Franks also scoring twice.
Corinthian and YMCA played out a tense classic with the reds drawing first blood, overcoming a 3-2 half-time deficit to win 4-3 with Andrew Cronje scoring the key goal while David Robinson let a last-minute chance to earn a point slip from the penalty spot.
But the Y were back on course when Jacob Webber's double nicked a 3-2 win over Clontarf. Corinthian's earlier 8-2 win over UCD now left their tie with Clontarf was a group decider as goal difference would put the northsiders through should they win. Anything less and the reds would be in the last eight.
And Docherty showed his class to artfully score twice from play. Chris Pelow flicked in two corners but Kevin King restored the lead, 3-2 at the break, and he and Poynter extended the margin in the second period.
Goal difference was still a factor but Corinthian failed to find the target again, leaving their hopes in the hands of UCD. YM needed to beat the students by five goal to eliminate Corinthian - whom they beat in last season's semi-finals - and got off to a shaky start as former member Jamie Tobin cancelled out Jacob Webber's early goal. Andy Walker made it 2-1 at half-time but four goals were still required.
But Webber stepped up to the mark to crash in that total on his own while four others were on the mark to build up an 11-1 margin and progression to the February finals weekend.
Group One proved a simpler affair as reigning champions Three Rock Rovers ran up three comfortable victories. Peter Blakeney bagged the day's highest individual total with six against newcomers Galway while Pierre de Voux impressed with a hat-trick against 2007 champions Pembroke in a 6-0 triumph.
Father and son duo Liam and Ross Canning both scored in each of their three games. Pembroke took second spot following big wins over Dublin Uni and Galway - Alan Giles scoring five times while Paddy Conlon and Mick O'Connor netted four each.
Group three gets underway in Tallaght on January 24 while group four returns to DCU on January 31.
National Indoor Trophy
Group One results:
Dublin Uni 3 (Freddie Hill 2, Doug Montgomery) TRR 10 (Pierre de Voux 2, Peter McConnell 2, Mick Maguire 2, Ross Canning 2, Peter Blakeney, Liam Canning); Dublin Uni 9 (Freddie Hille 2, Keith Crawford 2, Sean Flynn, Chris Tyrell, Craig Moore, Stu Cinnamond, Doug Montgomery) Galway 2 (Barnaby Gaughan, Andrew Kinsella); Dublin Uni 3 (Keith Crawford 2, Sean Flynn) Pembroke 9 (Craig Wilson 3, Alan Giles 2, Paddy Conlon 2, Mairtin Cronin); TRR 6 (Pierre de Voux 3, Ross Canning, Liam Canning, Peter Blakeney) Pembroke 0; Galway 1 (Stephen Barrins) Pembroke 11 (Mick O'Connor 4, Alan Giles 3, Paddy Conlon 2, Craig Fulton, Antoine Bruneau); Galway 2 (Fergal Keaveney, Mike Tighe) TRR 11 (Peter Blakeney 6, Liam Canning 2, Ross Canning, Mick Maguire, Pierre de Voux)
Final Standings (points/goal difference):
1. TRR 9pts (+22) 2. Pembroke 6pts (+9) 3. Dublin Uni 3pts (-5) 4. Galway 0pts (-26)
Group Two results:
Corinthian 8 (Ben Murphy 3, Rowland Rixon-Fuller 2, Andrew Cronje, Brian Doherty, Lucas Piccioli) UCD 2 (Rob Anderson, Shane O'Donnell); Corinthian 4 (Brian Doherty, Chris Pelow, Lucas Piccioli, Andrew Cronje) YMCA 3 (Jacob Webber 2, Andrew Walker); Clontarf 8 (Andrew Poynter 2, Rob Abbott 3, Nathan Franks 2, Kevin King) UCD 0; Clontarf 2 (Rob Abbott, Richard Forrest) YMCA 3 (Jacob Webber 2, Todd Gill); Corinthian 2 (Chris Pelow 2) Clontarf 5 (Laurence Docherty 2, Kevin King 2, Andrew Poynter); UCD 1 (Jamie Tobin) YMCA 11 (Jacob Webber 5, Andrew Walker 2, Stephen Walker, Will Powderly, David Robinson, Trevor Dagg)
Final standings:
1. YMCA 6pts (+10) 2. Clontarf 6pts (+10) 3. Corinthian 6pts (+4) 4. UCD 0pts (-24)
Interpro heroics mask structural deficiencies
7 years ago
28 comments:
congrats to the tarf. great results. some good performances from the teams on show.
Who does this Kevin King guy play for in England? some player...
Oh Great - now we are shipping in players on a cheap ryanair flight to play indoor matches - really this is becoming a joke - what about developing younger players to play. How do you think clontarf players feel who lost their places to imports -
I dont mind players coming into the country with a commitment to play for a season and to train with their clubs. Some players have given great service not only to their team but to their clubs by passing on great experience
but this thing of Flying in players to play for a day and then flying them out - well its a joke
A number of clubs have done this in the past also - i remember TRR shipping in a german guy for a final once - (which they lost ! )
Come on clubs - use your players who turn up training every week and pay their fees - without them you would have no club.
Craig Jennings
Conversely you could look at it as a great thing for the club and the indoor competition as a whole that a club has the motivation and ability to attract a Dutch Olympian. Think about the two teenagers playing in the Tarf team who get to say they played with a Dutch Olympian and EHL winner! He was a joy to watch.
The rest of the team seemed fairly well drilled compared to some of the other teams with more of an idea on how to play indoor. Looks like a bit of training was done there so credit to the club for making the effort.
Craig,
The players who played for Clontarf yesterday were present for the whole of the indoor season so far! Do you not think having players such as Docherty come to play in Ireland is a privilege? The guy is a world hockey legend and I dont think anyone that saw him play yesterday will forget it in a hurry. Can only do the game of indoor good here! I for one hung around to watch Clontarf's matches so I could watch him and I know I wasnt the only one! Fair play to Clontarf for putting out one of the favourites yesterday and best of luck to them in the finals - I wonder what they're got up their sleeves for finals day...Jamie Dwyer???
Kevin King plays for a club called BBHC in england but used to play for East Grinstead in the National League. He has played over here the last 2 years for Railway Union indoor.
And At Clontarf we have been training since the start of october Indoor preparing for the qualifing tournament and it obviously paid off what with us causing a suprise.
And us attracting a player with the status of Laurence's could only be good for raising the profile of Indoor Hockey within Ireland.
Abbo (clontarf hc)
If you want to picth yourself against the best players then this is only a positive move by Clontarf. I am sure that the YM, Corinthians and UCD players enjoyed doing battle against an Olympian and a top English based player. Not to mention the mrale boost to Clontarf who have struggled in Div 1 this year and the benefit the younger guys will have got form playing in the same side. Well done Clontarf.
Fair play Abbo, definite coup for the indoor game. plus heard you have a few injuries, including a new one on saturday, so not really 'stealing' somebody's place.
as for the rovers guy a few years back. I remember Ulli Moessel played but he stuck around for a few league and cup games too, played Mills final I think. Mattie Bechmann was also there that year but coached/played all year. Was there another guy brought in?
Craig
it is brilliant that Tarf got Laurence Doherty over to play, i would pay to watch him play! shame more people didnt know about it as i'd have got out of my scratcher to go and watch it if i'd have known. will he be back for finals?
Same here. Why the big secrecy? DCU would have been packed out if the word had been spread around.
What exactly is the point behind this cricket-score madness, do you lads not get enough hockey during the rest of the season? This just looks like a tournament in which everyone takes turns batterin each other????
I mean obviously it's up to yourselves an all but my god, I can honestly say it's the least appealing idea I've seen in a long time....ugh, I'm tired just readin the reports.
S.Quinn - Navan
S Quinn- Navan.. You obviously dont know much about indoor hockey!? Its usually a very high scoring game and if you look across indoor scores across europe some teams bang in 15-20 goals agaisnt others..
I don't know why Docherty's appearance was kept secret, but there was a rumour floating around for weeks that there was going to be a pretty decent guest for Clontarf...
But either way, it's irrelevant. There was plenty of support there from people who were there to support ALL of the players who were playing for all the various teams. They were rewarded by also seeing one of the best players in the world!!!
To say that it should have been made public that Docherty was playing, so that people would turn up to watch is a terrible insult to people who turn out and support hockey every week at every different level across the country, rain, hail or snow!!!
Fair play to all the people who did manage to 'get out of the scratcher' and support the event, and hopefully the numbers will continue to grow in support of a terrific tournament!!
And who knows, in the coming years maybe top world class players will be a feature in every team!!! Now wouldn't that be something to look forward to!!!! (I heard Taki Takima was dissapointed he didn't get the nod from Galway for this weekend)
Well done Clontarf and well done to the Tournament Organisers, and congratulations to any supporters who did get to witness some great games of hockey...
COME ON THE Y!
Yes as a participant in last weekend's tournament, I would also like to echo the congratulations and thanks for the organizers. They did a brilliant job and thanks Findo for providing the extra sticks. As for the cricket score results, we were on the receiving end of two of them and I can safely say that my team still had a great day out and was totally worthwhile.
delighted for the lads from clontarf they put in a big effort with training over the last few months guys actually made a major effort to learn how to play indoor who had neverf played before. I dont think anyone was really missing out because of a couple of injuries and that. I was disappointed not to be able to play must give it a go next year because of work must give it a go next year
December 21, 2009 10:36 PM
Credit for the sticks goes to Paul O'Brien who supplied the extras. Also, umpire Simon O'Connor deserves huge praise for taking charge of seven games after some late withdrawals.
good debate, its great that clontaft have been training for this event since october, but can i ask has this dutch player been training with you - im guessing not - so he was just flown in for these games - its crazy,
Yes its great to play with and against players of such quality - but remember this guy was taking the place of a player who trains and plays with clontarf every week.
What happens next - another club has contact with eurpoean players and flys in 6 players - are you telling me thats ok too.
Craig
Just on that, the indoor rules allow for two guest players per club for the competition.
Craig
Have you seen our injury list at Clontarf at present? and do you know how hard it was to get a squad for indoor what with asking people to train 3 times a week, 2 outdoor and 1 indoor.
The squad we had put in an enormuos effort to prepare for this competition by learning indoor hockey (8 of squad never played before october) and i dont know of anyone player in our club who has moaned about us attracting such a high profile player to guest for us.
Its a great morale boost to our club and like i mentioned before a boost for Indoor Hockey in this country.
Maybe abit of jealously from your side?
Craig,
Until you know what you are talking about you shouldnt post things on the site. Clontarf have trained with an indoor squad - separate and different to the outdoor squad. One member of the squad got injured at the last minute and we got Laurence in to replace him. He wasn't taking anyones place because there was noone else in the squad. Noone got dropped. If we'd have brought a different Clontarf player in we would have played with someone who had never played indoor before. We were very lucky in that someone knew Laurence.
Please dont make assumptions about something you know nothing about.
Tom.
go on the tarf =)...
chops
Big Congrats to Clontarf players, alot of talk about Kevin King & Lawerence Docherty and they did play an important part in Clontarf's victory but I think Craig Jennings is missing the point and not looking at the bigger picture.
90% of Clontarf squad had never played indoor. They committed to learning the game and training hard since October. Alot of credit to coach Johnathon Smyth who to put in huge time & commitment.
As a spectator I think the commimtment and belief has certainley paid off for Clontarf and it was a delight to see the players coming off the pitch smiling!!
Well Done lads!
Lads
As Stephen points out the rules state you can have 2 Guest players.
The guests can be from anywhere and do not have to be registered for your club but you must register them for Indoor.
This has been going on for years and nearly every team that are serious about indoor have done it and continue to do so. Congrats to Tarf, 2 great additions to your indoor side, obviously paid dividends.
As already said, TRR have done it previously, Railway have also as well as Avoca plenty of times over the years.
Cheers to o'brien for the sticks, much appreciated. I had a great time playing indoor. Think its a quality game and mainly just a bit of fun. Id love to see it get bigger but at the moment its just a fun day where you can enjoy the hockey and get to play loads of different teams and players you normally wouldn't. People need to lighten up, im pretty sure nobody actually playing on sunday begrudges clontarf a thing. I certainly don't. Good luck to them. Good to see your name in the irish times Findo
this is not new - flying in players - i played in a junior cup (leinster not irish !) final a few years ago - and our opposition had flown in two german guys for the final - friends of the captain - now they were not internationals or anything but they were still players who stood out and helped them win.
i agree that 2 guests are allowed for indoor - but im sure when this rule was introduced it was meant for players based in this country whos club didnt play indoor were able to play for another club who did.
But flying in players well im sorry - i just dont agree with it.
Phil - Monkstown
im not an expert but believe the rules are not just Irish rules they are the rules for the European Indoor Championships as well.
As far as I am aware, the same rules apply for European competitions, you can have 2 guests from anywhere in the world as long as they are not registered to play indoor in another European Club.
I stand to be corrected on this though.
I'm kind of annoyed I didn't know Docherty was coming, would of stuck around instead of going back to bed.
DUHC player
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