A much-changed Glenanne line-up bounced back to beat Railway Union by the odd goal in five as Stephen Butler, Stephen Doran, Shane O'Donoghue and Joe Brennan were rested for the Mills Cup opening tie.
David McCarthy scored his second of the weekend for the Union to give his side the lead but a Gary Shaw double and one from Clive Kennedy swung the game the direction of the Tallaght-men. Peter English pulled one back on the final whistle but Glenanne were safe in their 3-2 win.
They will face Fingal in round two after they won the northside derby with three late goals. Scoreless until 15 minutes from time, Dave Bane (left) broke the deadlock at Mount Temple - the school where he teaches - with a drag-flick before a long ball caught the pressing Bulls on the counter-attack.
Adrian Sweeney scored from a one-on-one situation before Paddy Gahan completed a very stylish team move to round up the win.
Three Rock advanced to play Corinthian in round two, wiping out a half-time deficit at Belfield inside an eight-minute purple patch. Sven Galjaardt and Pierre de Voux scored in that time for a 2-1 lead after former Rover Tim Hill had got the final touch for UCD's opener. Galjaardt later added a corner goal for 3-1.
The ties between division one and two sides were scarcely contests. YM rattled in eight first half goals en route to a 12-0 win over Navan with Richie Pedreschi scoring a hat-trick and Jacob Webber bagging five. Todd Gill (pictured right, celebrating) scored the pick of the goals having returned from his nasty facial injury.
Monkstown were scarcely less ruthless, beating near neighbours Avoca 10-0, Frank Ryan getting a first senior hat-trick. Bray's tie with Weston has been postponed until provisionally next Saturday.
Results:
* For Adrian Boehm's photos from Monkstown vs Avoca, click here. For Deryck Vincent's photos from Clontarf vs Fingal, click here and for a few shots from YMCA vs Navan, click here.
44 comments:
go on elmo. 2 from 2
seems like a good game between the glens and railway. And 2 goal scorers i have never heard of before. Who are David McCarthy and Clive Kennedy?
And Monkstown banging in the goals again...Best form of defence is attack lads.
...clive kennedy is a 2nd team player who playa every now and then....i believe doran did play but came off as he has an injury from the pembroke game...butler was on the bench...glens stuggled as they did against the broke yesterday!!they dont seem to hav the depth in the squad
Obviously they do if a 2nd team player came up and scored in a tight victory, are we to say Pembroke don't have strength in depth as they only narrowly beat Weston in the Neville early season? Get over it. A win is a win. Congrats to all the teams that made it through. Good luck in the next round.
Graham Shaw got going and ran the show for the Glens. Never in doubt..Shows a squad depth.
how did ucd get league postponements for the Saturday yet they're able to play on the Sunday?? I'm not a having a go at UCD i'm having a go at the fixtures committee
12:18 AM- David Mcarthy (Elmo) a name to look out for in the coming season has showen huge progress in the number of seasons watching as a neutral in the past Elmo was one of those who stood out as a 16year old, doesnt get half the credit he deserves. my bet is keep an eye out.
Exams on saturdays, not on sundays.
most of the ucd team had exams on the saturday of the games each week. they couldnt field any team. sunday exams arent on.
Really highlights the the difference in class between 1st and 2nd division Navan losing by 12, Avoca by 10 - madness. I don't know about the Avoca lads but Navan were short 1st team players going into the game, had to use a few of the 2nds lads (up from Div 6!!) Felt bad for our 17 year old goalie among them, least he wasn't bored though!
You know right well whoever gets promoted from Div 2 in the coming years will go straight back down suffering some embaressing scorelines along the way, just look at Clontarf.
(S.Quinn - Navan)
While it's too late to do anything about it this year as the competition is underway the Leinster Senior League should have had 2 down and no promotion this year. One possible option is to have no promotion from Div 2 09/10 with one team relegated (Iknow Iknow! would create uneven number of teams in both leagues) Then 2010 2 teams relegated and 1 team up. That would get you to 8 Div 1 and 8 Div 2 teams.
Chances of this happening .....zero
Not a bad suggestion, Or we could just drag all the 1st teams of Portrane, Naas, Skerries and Mullingar into Div 2 they do alright against each other and it'd be good for all clubs involved in the long run.
I propose a different idea. Why not amalgamate division two and three into a 16 team competition.
Two groups of 8; play each other once in first half of season with top four from each go into a second league and bottom four going into another. Can play each other twice (total 21 games).
Means div 2/3 debate sorted once and for all! Plus every team plays most of season against sides of similar level to help clubs find a 'natural level'.
At the Leinster live blog event, it was noted that since the decision to go to three 'senior' divisions, over 10 clubs have gone bust in about 25 years. Suggestions were that the stretch in ability in such leagues was a severe factor in drop-outs. Would seem there needs to be a shake-up which still allows promotion/relegation!
2 leagues of 8 is the best answer...would both be competitive and will also increase the standard of div 1 what with there not being too many walkover games-ie hammerings.. and for div 1 they just play each other twice,which would mean only 14 league games so no burn out for internationals and plenty of space for the IHA to sort there calender out.
Still, some attempts to get the likes of Skerries, Naas, portrane,Mullingar to play at a higher level can only be good for the game. Skerries and Naas in particular have facilities that are too good to waste, and it would be good for the Leinster leagues to break the Dublin monopoly and spread the game to a wider population. Def something has to be done tho, Div 2 is a joke.
Badger no. 7
i think dinger's idea of 2 groups of 8 is good, but how is the composition of each group decided and would the overall winner be promoted to div 1? And if that winner was a club which already had it's 1st team in div 1, what happens then?
Nah lads, I'm tellin yis, lets forget about all this amalgamation business and just pressgag the 4 highest placed 1st teams outside of div 2 in with the other 6 at the start of next season.
It'll be grand, also I don't think having less teams in our 1st Division is good for Leinster.
-Badger no. 15
doran did play yesterday!
I have to say Skerries have to be moved back up. Having played them this season in division 5, they're a cut above anybody else we've played this season. Surely it can't do the competition any good to have a team in there that is going to run away with virtually every game it plays?
Not going to do skerries much good either, they should be aiming to play competitive hockey not just have a saturday run about.
8.55pm - my apologies if he played. The info I received was Gareth Carragher was in goals.
I heard monkstowns 1st was a cracker, anyone no who scored it??
i really dont feel moving Division 3 teams into Division 2 is the answer at all, the reality is that Division 2 is for mens firsts teams and should remain the same, if you were to ask many players who play in Division 2 im sure they would not agree with the proposal of the Division 3 teams moving up.
i do think that forcing the top placed mens senior teams to play Division 2 hockey is a good one. although the likes of Mullingar would have to move from their grit home and look for an astro pitch further afield.
im only familiar with Naas and Skerries but in both cases they had some good players and had little reason to pull out of the division in skerries case brian mcmahon was an outstanding player in Division 2, possibly one of the best in the divison, with players like that to build a team around how could anyone justify dropping down?
im unfamiliar with Portrane or Mullingar, would they have the personell to cope in Division 2?
just look at Navan they got promoted after finishing mid table in division 4 and now look a good side with some very good players that can only improve.
it wasnt Doran in goals.....it was Stephen!!!!
there are some players in division 2 that would slot into a lot of div 1 teams...Brownlow, Gillett, Holden, Wormald, Tucker, (obviously Brown), Murtagh, Flynn, Coady...people underestimate the talent in div 2. whoever ends up going up has as good a chance as any to stay there...div 2 has some very good players. clontarf were a good team but they lacked anyone capable of changing a game. gillett and brownlow can with a moment of brilliance while no one in tarf could/can do that...
didnt Gillett play a bit of Div 1 then drop back down, why did he move back down?
Simple solution to leinster league issues.
Abolish Leinster leagues for Mens 1sts teams.
Instead;
IHL Division 1:
12 teams as is current format but to extend it to home and away like a normal league.
IHL Division 2a
IHL Division 2B
2a and 2b to consist of all other senior teams drawn randomly each year into two leagues. Geography no longer matters
Promotion and Relegation:
1 gets relegated from Div 1 directly.
Winners of both 2a and 2b play straight promotion playoff. Winner gets promoted to Div 1.
Loser of this final plays promotion/relegation playoff against 2nd last in Divion 1.
2nd placed teams in Div 2a and 2b play playoff for right to play 3rd last in Division 1 for last promotion/relegation playoff game.
The sooner we abolish the provincial league system the better for all clubs playing hockey in Ireland.
"gillett and brownlow" might be able to turn a game in div. 2 but they certainly wouldnt be able to do it in div. 1 against top class defenders, dont cod urself mate
Clontarf lack people who can change a game? In Abbott and Noonan they have 2 players who would probably start in 70% of Div 1 teams. I think if you compare the Clontarf squad against any Division 2 squad they are a lot stronger. Having played them this year and last year they have improved no end and are more than capable of playing Div 1, they just need a bit of experience. as mentioned on here before, they need to learn how to win.
Fingal player.
sutton played tarf about a month ago and beat them. comfortably...
sutton played tarf about a month ago and beat them. comfortably...
Well done Sutton, fair play. No point celebrating it in div 2 cause nobody can hear you.
If you are good enough you will get promoted to 'Our' league and then see what it is all about, its not much fun losing by double figures.
This comes from a team that no question dominated div 2 last year and are languishing at the bottom of the pile now.
12:08
Totally Agree, I don't believe any team in their right mind has any desire to get promoted to Div1.
Sutton beaten 6:0 by Glenanne, with half a team , in the cup earlier this season. The only way to bridge the gap is to have a stronger Div2 (whether that be with Div3 teams or more than 1 relegated from Div1.) Otherwise the Leinster League is in danger of becoming like Munster's League
I don’t think that having 8 and 8 will solve the problem. If anything the teams that go down will drop in standard as some players will leave for other clubs so that they can get div 1 hockey. As for moving first teams back into div 2, I dont see the benefit. These teams were there and they opted to remove themselves altogether. They obviously had their reasons for it.
As regards the structure of top leagues has anyone looked abroad at the different structures across Europe? Surely other countries have gone through something similar and lets learn from their mistakes to improve our system and not rush in blindly
see comment at 9.50 am for league structure that is similar to dutch system.
Having National leagues serve to condense and dramatise the league.
Im sure many of Leinster league's Div 2 sides would love to take on Ulster and Munster sides on a more regular basis.
There is no other European Country that plays the same number of cometitions as we do in Ireland.
Neville Cup needs to be removed or relocated as a midweek university cometition to allow universities to develop.
Leinster Cup should be taken out of the season calendar and made into a preseason round robin tournament where foreign teams can be invited to particiipate. could be something similar to the Kings Cup that Barcelona hold every year in January.
U 21 cup should be an U18 Cup. Having 1st Div 20 yr olds compete with against 15 yr olds makes no sense whatsoever.
Have a proper winterbreak of 2 months: gives national team time to train and play matches, allows development of indoor game, reduces needless re-fixturing (which is likely to occur this weekend due to bad weather, and most importantly gives players plenty of holiday time.
Be Creative
Mills Cup, Neville Cup, Neville Davin Cup? Is there really a need for all 3 anymore?
Why not one Leinster 1 Cup and 1 Leinster 2 Cup. Get rid of the Mills or the Neville.
Agree with the 2 month break over Winter (Dec/Jan). Lets give Indoor a proper shout!
Theres a definite need for more indoor in the Irish season. If anything the National Team benifits from it.
Its no fluke that Germany are Outdoor World champions. The indoor game is given time, which improves the players basics. Its a quicker game, gives you better ball control and does wonders for positioning.
Theres no doubt that England Hockeys success over the last year is linked to the extra time they've allocated to the indoor game over the past 2/3 years.
the u21 cup sud be left as it is
because it gives young players a chance to play with some top class players and sum of the young players have better games wen playin against div 1 20 year olds
compared to div 6/7 50 year olds!!!
Why not just promote the top 2 from division 3 into division 2 to have 8 teams. And have a div2/div3 cup.
What about an all ireland U21 Cup with winners from each province playing in a league round robbin format at end of the season, give the young players a chance to enjoy hockey more and play with their friends. this kind of compition wouldn go a miss give selectors for interprovincial series a chance to see rising talent.
Indoor is a great way to improve basics. Players have to be lower and have quicker hands. The ball cannot be raised so passing requires more precision and the nature of the game in being so fast in such a small space means that if a player positions himself badly then his team will be crucified. It also gives individual players less of a chance to be specialist as with only 5 outfield players, defending and attacking must be carried out by each person. Additionally, goalkeepers can really come into their own in this form and are encouraged to make judgement calls and be proactive. These advantages to the indoor game could only improve the outdoor form of hockey. Plus, no need for layers and layers of clothing!
skerries,navan, for two would struggle to beat Pem/TRR/Glens third teams - thats a fact. To have them playing against these clubs 2nd teams wouls be a waste of time.
Put all these so called first teams into one league..let the winner of it play the bottom team for the first div & the winner of that game gets promoted.
badger 6
ref 6.58pm
U21 players - if a player is good enough he wouldnt be playing in div 6 against 50 year olds ! - he would be playing in one of the higher leagues - and indeed for his clubs 1st 2nd or 3rds - i gather div 6 your playing 4ths - and at 20 years of age - im afraid thats were your going to be playing for a long time - unless your a late bloomer.
Start training harder - put your head down and get on with improving your game - maybe then you will advance up the leagues
Clive PW Member ( age 49 )
Clive, telling it how it is. Plenty of time to improve at 20 tho, just need to put a bit of effort in at training that's all.
Post a Comment