Saturday, January 30, 2010

Butler ends Pembroke Irish Senior reign

Stephen Butler’s 54th minute corner strike ended Pembroke’s two-year reign as Irish Senior Cup champions at Serpentine Avenue and advance to the last eight of the competition.

The fixture will scarcely make it into the pantheon of great ties between the sides with a total of 14 time-stoppages in play – only two for injury – gave an idea of the slow, static nature of a tie that usually sets the pulse racing.

Glenanne effectively took the sting out of Pembroke’s flyers and left the hosts resorting to crash-balls from 30 metres out long before the scoreboard-timer served to confuse both teams in the endgame.

The Glens soaked up pressure, enticing Pembroke away from their preferred counter-attack game and they found space a scarcity. It could have been a very different game had Pembroke taken any of three first half chances.

Alan Giles’ high deflection dinged off the post in the 14th minute and Butler intercepted a Patrick Good pull-back soon after, a metre from his line and the lurking Alan Sothern.

Steven Doran – playing with a cortisone injection to assuage pain in his cracked rib – produced a brilliant stick save to deny Tim Lewis’ measured strike to leave it 0-0 at the break.

But they were rare openings. Corner situations were sparse and when they came were frustrating for all concerned, Pembroke’s first effort in the 42nd minute taking upwards of two minutes to finally settle following lengthy protests, line-breaks and delayed push-outs, before the shot zinged wide.

David Shaw was yellow-carded in the aftermath of that incident for a body-check but it was in this period Glenanne made the killer move. Mick McGuinness flew down the left wing and was unceremoniously nudged over just over the 22-metre line.

Butler held his nerve from the ensuing corner, the Glen’s second, forging a gap between David Harte and Tim Lewis for the day’s only goal.

A series of Pembroke pumped balls came the direction of Doran’s goal but Brennan and Butler dealt comfortably with the majority. One that got away was Sherriff’s bash into Andy McConnell’s path but Jonathan Kane applied enough pressure to ensure the ball went the wrong side of the post.

At this stage, the ground’s scoreboard ticked to zero though was not including time stoppages. The countdown, though, might have played quite a significant factor in the Glens dribbling for the corner and Pembroke’s play taking on a more ragged fashion having stuck rigidly to a two-third press for 65 minutes.

The Hook’s personal timer still read nearly six minutes to play, the majority of which Alan Lewis had to sit out for the day’s second yellow card. Mick O’Connor won Pembroke’s second corner in the last minute. Another lengthy delay saw Doran become the second Glens player green-carded for time-wasting at a corner but McGuinness was off the line like a light to get something on Sothern’s drag.

Suggestions it hit his foot were waved away as Glenanne celebrated but the final whistle had still not been blown but the ‘Broke weren’t alert enough to capitalise from the long corner and the tie was finally sealed.

Elsewhere, just three other fixtures survived the frost or snow as Monkstown woke up to a blanket of snow in Raphoe, Instonians and Banbridge had a tie postponed for the second time in a week and Three Rock’s hosting of Cookstown was also put on the long finger.

Corinthian were the big Leinster winners of the day. They out-classed Cork C of I in the second half of their tie at Whitechurch Park – moved from the main pitch to the recently laid second-surface at St Columba’s – to win 4-3.

Darren Kimfley and Lucas Piccioli’s link-up play was again superb while the hosts strong spine based on the strength of Andrew Cronje and Brian Doherty was too much for CI who relied heavily on Jermyn’s drag-flicks for inspiration.

The pair were locked at 2-2 at the break with but the reds raced clear in the second period and, but for Jermyn’s final hooter strike, could have had a more emphatic win. YMCA and Fingal both bowed out of the competition to mid-table northern opposition, losing to Kilkeel and Lisnagarvey, respectively.

In ALSAA, Paddy Gahan produced an excellent opening goal but Fingal were unable to hold onto the lead, conceding to a neat Greg Thompson reverse just before half-time and they relinquished the tie in the 66th minute. Up to then, Garvey had enjoyed the majority of possession but Fingal had the clearer cut chances only to be sucker-punched in the closing stages.

YM, meanwhile, dropped out of the cup with Gareth Russell’s double proving crucial for the Mourne men. YMCA had led 2-0 at half-time via David Robinson and Andy Walker but Kilkeel bounced back in the second half to take the result. Robinson, too, may be out of action for a couple of weeks following a hand injury sustained during the game.

The draw for the third round was postponed due to the volume of cancellations.

No play occurred in division two with Avoca’s trip to Weston and Suttonians jaunt to play Dublin Uni at Grange Road ruled out due to frost.

Irish Senior Cup, round two results:
Pembroke 0 Glenanne 1 (Stephen Butler); Kilkeel 3 (Gareth Russell 2, William Annett) YMCA 2 (David Robinson, Andy Walker); Fingal 1 (Paddy Gahan) Lisnagarvey 2 (Greg Thompson 2); Corinthian 4 (Darren Kimfley 2, Chris Pelow, Brian Doherty) Cork C of I 3 (John Jermyn 2, Nick Burns)

* Deryck Vincent's photos from the Pembroke vs Glenanne game can be seen here

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steven Doran, Mick McGuinness and Joe Brennan were all immense today.

Doran for proving all his critics wrong with some phenomenal saves.

McGuinness for winning the corner and running down the last one - legally or illegally

And Joe who managed the considerable feat of keeping Sothern relatively quiet for the whole game and his usual quota of last ditch tackles to boot.

Anonymous said...

Nice work lads, great win. Johnny G

Anonymous said...

I was at the Corinthians match I saw a slightly more experienced team beat and entheuastic inexperienced team. I did not see Corinthians completely outplay C of I in the second half, I saw experienced players take their chances and inexperienced players make errors under pressure. Errors they are unlikely to make again.

I saw enough in C of I that if these young players continue to develop that this squad will be very talented in deed.
Corinthians deserved their win but the reporter to say completely outclassed shows a lack of objectivity and understanding

Anonymous said...

When's the draw for the 1/4 finals??

Anonymous said...

Derek's photos of the Pembroke Glens game are excellent. Great work!

Anonymous said...

Would love to know how many caps were on the pitch for C of I in comparison to Corinthians??

Although there may have been a few young up & comers in their squad, there was still a large compliment of international, ex-international & ex-inter-pro levels of experience on this enthusiastic inexperienced C of I team, as you put it 7.37 AM?!?!?

Anonymous said...

Stephen, great report also great photos by Deryck.
What joy on Butsies face!! superbly caught by Deryck.
Pembroke wernt outplayed result could have gone either way,but they were out thought,out fought and of course out scored.
Perhaps their decision to play 3 matches in one week,IHL,Mills Cup,ISC,did not help. A tad arrogant perhaps !!! who knows.


Heard at the ground after the game:
"Thet'll have to re-write the Old Testament story(1 Samual 17)
David(Harte) v Goliath(Butsie)
Only this time with a different ending".

Well done again Stephen and Deryck.

Anonymous said...

congrats to glenanne - i posted here that pembroke would win 3-1 - and glens would miss goulding - but i guess it shows that now they have a bigger squad than most people think - they deserved their win

congrats also to doran - again proved the doubters wrong

C

Anonymous said...

Shaw, Butler and Brennan are so strong. The controlled the game yesterday. I agree the Mick Mc and Doran played very well too. Pembroke were a little unlucky but didnt carve out many big chances. Well done Glenanne. Impressive.

Anonymous said...

It's anyone's cup to win. As open as it has been for many years. Any team could be a difficult draw. Glenanne going to Kilkeel would be an interesting. Current odds?

Anonymous said...

Pembroke badly missed Conlon and Gormely in my opinion. Fulton playing at right back wasn't getting in as advanced positions as Gormely usually does which deprived Pembroke of a key attacking asset. The debacle with the clock should have never come to a head, either have someone controlling the clock in time with the umpires or don't have it showing at all, what is the point?

Glens did very well to really limit the amount of chances that Pembroke had although on another day Giles's deflection could have snuck in or Tim Lewis would have connected to an almost certain goal in the last few mins.

Having seen alot of games between these too this was a disappointing spectacle from a spectators point of view and I was suprised by the amount of technical mistakes that were made during the game (mis-traps, dribbling the ball out of play etc). Having said that it was clear from the start that Glenanne wanted this badly perhaps more than Pembroke, their work rate was outstanding and they deserved it in my opinion on that basis.

Anonymous said...

Was at the game yesterday. Didn't think it was as good as other Pem. vs Glen. matches .Pembroke must feel sick, had enough chances but poor infront of goal.Doran played well.

Anonymous said...

Not a great game if people are to be honest.Not much energy in the game.Pembroke will be kicking themselves seeing as they had the better of the game and chances.congrats to the glens though,should win it now.

Anonymous said...

player for player, broke are better individual - but the glen's gave a supberb team peformance, particularly the back 5. glad to see a new ISC this year when the final comes! (Well done Glens)

Anonymous said...

The experience is in the age and the playing experience of the team not the caps. Leinster is a far more difficult league to play in. Corinthians had far more playing experience on their team.
With 4 under 18's and 2 u21's. All of these players in their first year of senior hockey as far as I could find-out. LB 18, Sub 18, CF 18, LW 17, CB 20, RB 20

Look at the Corinthians bench it was quite strong, Colin Black is a fine player and would start on a lot of Leinster teams.
Everyone in hockey likes to win, but not to give credit is unnecessary.
If I remember rightly in the past Harlequins beat a far more experienced Corinthians team in terms of the number of caps and internationals, but the Harlequins team had more playing experience.
I did not hear of Harlequins crowing or boasting about their victory but how great irt was to play a really good match.
Being a good winner is also very important in sport is essential.
Our sport is dying on its feet and the purile and soccer orientated retoric is completely unecessary.
Both teams should have been applauded for their skill and effort.

murph said...
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Anonymous said...

If it's such an inexperienced team, maybe it wouldn't be such a shock if they were outclassed by a seemingly more experienced side.

It's not all about back-slapping here & people should be able to say if, they think that, a team under-performed.

Sometimes teams don't perform to the best of their ability & blowing smoke up their asses isn't a great idea.

I thought that Corinthians started well at the beginning of the first half & C of I did well to get back in to the game and then again to take the lead. The momentum swung back Corinthians way and the sides went in, fairly as I mentioned previously, level at half-time.

The second-half was a different situation, with Corinthians coming out of the blocks much quicker and because of some sloppy finishing didn't extend their lead even further than the 2 goal cushion they had for the majority of the 2nd half. C of I didn't compete in the 2nd half, the way they did in the 1st. Simple as that

I don't think it's necessary to wrap anyone in cotton wool though. It's counter-productive.

Anonymous said...

Anyone any the wiser about when draw for quarter-finals takes place?

Anonymous said...

murray made a number of class saves which helped keep chc in game and maintain lead at different stages. One triple save in H2 was class.

Anonymous said...

dohertys drag flick was one of the best i have seen in a long time

Anonymous said...

6.49 When has there been any crowing or boasting about CHC beating CofI? When was the harlequins game you are talking about and who were the CHC players with caps?

Anonymous said...

Vital win for the Glens. It would have been a real mental blow to lose again. Think this was reflected in the conservative nature of their play. Beating PW is a monkey off their back and I expect they will kick on and win the ISC.

Anonymous said...

For all the stick Doran has taken, it was Harte who was poor on the day. Should have really saved the drag from Butler.

Anonymous said...

it's quite simple.

The CHC / COI game was close up to the point when CHC game from 2-1 behind, to take the advantage in the second half.

CHC went out and did job under very tough circumstances against a very good COI side.

I have absolutely no idea what 6:49 is on about as it was game that could have gone either way - in the 2nd half, CHC upped their game and took it from there.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised at the YM result. Kilkeel have an excellent home record especially in the cup & got to the semi-finals in 06 before losing to eventual winners Harlequins.

Anonymous said...

To those moaning about the score board in pembroke.

The main thing is surley the umpires get the time right. Yes it was a bit of a mess. Still didnt take away from an exciting hockey match.

PWHC Player

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The less talked about players got the win for the Glens on Saturday, Kane, O'Donoghue, O'Malley, the 3 "other" Shaws, McGuinness. Their workrate was outstanding and lead to a real team performance and the victory

Anonymous said...

kilkeel is a hard place to go they may not have the experiance in term of representation in term of ulster or ireland teams but there work rate, heart and mentality is more than expected it would be a tough place for any team to go. hope they do well a under dog in the semi finals could be nice especially if they at home

Anonymous said...

corinthians are showing plenty of potential. The midfield is where the real difference is compared to last year with players delivering rather than promising . Glavey is playing great stuff and will get better .Pelow is finally starting to play the way only he can and Sutts deserves leinster sen call up. simple

Anonymous said...

McConell, Giles, Butler, Shaw, Maguire, Pelow all ahead of Sutts, will be doing well to get in...

Anonymous said...

I would have to disagree with you on Giles, Pelow and Maguire.
Now you will probably respond by saying Giles and Maguire are senior internationals? Yes they do have senior caps but I doubt they will ever get another one.

Anonymous said...

To 11.47 (PWHC Player)
The mess up with the time didnt take away from an exciting match? It was about the only excitement in the match!! Not a classic match in fairness - at least by the high standards set by the two teams.