Both Pembroke and Fingal over-turned Saturday league defeats to Corinthian and Monkstown, respectively, to take their place in the Mills Cup final on St Patrick's Day after taking the spoils at Serpentine Avenue this afternoon.
For Pembroke, the result broke the hoodoo that has seen them fall at the hands of the reds three times in the last year as Alan Sothern, in spite of a relatively quiet afternoon, struck twice inside the opening 20 minutes.
From then on, Corinthian awoke from a slumbering first half to fire a barrage David Harte's way in the second period but found him equal to seven penalty corners and a number of open play chances to shut out the visitors.
Sothern had provided Pembroke with the perfect start, rolling home from close range after a high-speed move, started at right back by Adam Pritchard, found its way to Maurice Elliott. The trickster out-foxed a couple of defenders on the right endline and just as space opened for a shot, he picked out Sothern for a simple finish.
And the hitman doubled his record from the penalty spot after Chris Pelow was called for a shove on Ronan Gormley. It was a personal triumph for Sothern as he went powerfully high to beat Ross Murray who had won the duel a day previously, though the keeper guessed right and got his glove to the ball.
Pembroke were in complete control to this point, playing neat, designer hockey. The reds only penetrated the circle for the first time in the 23rd minute and only took one shot, the last touch of the half when Brian Doherty's corner was comfortably saved by Harte.
The second half, though, proved a different matter. Lucas Piccioli's snap-shot 30 seconds after the break served notice and he had two further attempts in successive minutes. Andrew Cronje inexplicably deflected wide from a corner move on the slide from three yards.
And Pembroke were forced even deeper when Justin Sherriff was sin-binned for a barge on Alan Blennerhassett; the pair had tangled in the game's early throes...
Corinthian failed to capitalise as the 'Broke rode the punches, bouncing off the ropes to win their sole corner. In response, Kimfley was pulled back when primed to shoot and a sixth and seventh reds corner went a begging but chances from play were limited to crash balls as time wore on.
On the break, Pembroke had two chances in the last five minutes to secure the tie but neither were taken, nor needed, and yet another cup final beckons.
Earlier, Fingal managed to hold out the Monkstown second half charge in a similarly divided fixture with the Airport side making all the early running. They were 3-0 up by the break and while the league strugglers looked nervy in the face of a Town onslaught, they limited clear shooting opportunities despite spending vast periods of time inside their own 25 and held on for a 3-2 win.
Dicksboro man Tom Manning broke the deadlock when he finished off a neat move with Paddy Gahan and Gary Sharman influential. Chris Neville doubled the difference, getting the final touch to a corner move after David Bane and Derek O'Gorman had played a one-two at the top of the D.
Monkstown roared back to life in the second period, Andy Ewington whizzing a flick past Nigel Grothier's glove to awaken the vocal support and they spent the remainder of the half probing the Fingal circle.
Gareth Watkins fizzed an open side shot just past the post while a couple of others went close but the Fingal defence, typified by Andy Marshall's big tackles, managed to ride their luck and held firm despite a lack of ball.
Ian Allen did make it a nervy finish when he flicked home a rebound after Andy Ward's deflection bounced off Grothier straight to the experienced forward and he calmly finished. Dave and Eamon Bane both had rushes of blood to hand the Town possession deep in Fingal territory but it came to naught and Fingal were into their second Mills Cup final. For Monkstown, its a third semi-final defeat in the past five years.
Results:
Fingal 3 (Tom Manning, Chris Neville, Gary Sharman) Monkstown 2 (Andy Ewington, Ian Allen); Pembroke 2 (Alan Sothern 2) Corinthian 0
* For more of Adrian Boehm's photos of Fingal vs Monkstown, click here
34 comments:
Who is the heavy guy who plays at the back for Fingal? Some of his tackling against Monkstown was unreal
Great to see Fingal get to the final!!! a real achievement!! but can they overcome pembroke!!
No disrespect but i dont see it!
why do corinthians only have one corner routine when it clearly doesnt work!?
Corinthians used four different routines.
is there any pictures from the Pembroke chc game??
I have pics from the Monkstown vs Fingal game and Corinthian vs Pembroke from Saturday to hand.
If someone took pics from the Sunday fixture, drop me an email.
glad to see Pembroke finally playing the way they can - 1st half was incredible to watch. so fast and they defended very well in 2nd half when they had to. nice turnaround from defeat on Sat.
Interesting game yesterday - very much a game of two halves. First half Corinthians could have been blown away with the pace of Pembrokes' hockey. Second half Corinthians really pushed hard. Must have been a hell of a half time talk. Pembroke did defend well, but they rode their luck a little as well - a less lenient umpire could have been harsher on some of the circle challenges - particularly when a stroke was awarded in similar circumstances in the first half. Ultimately Harte in goal proved his class - that clean sheet spoke volumes with big saves from corners and open play. Congrats to both teams - great to see both still going hard at it at the end of two tough days.
you'll have to be more specific we have a few heavy guys playing at the back
thats andy marshal,,,he should be on the irish development panel
To be honest I usually try to get St. Paddy's day off work to watch the Mill's cup final...won't bother this year...
Pity, no booze balcony action!..
Sorry Fingal, but Pembroke have their name all over the Mill's cup trophy this year and there is no way they will lose....
AP.
Hi AP
Not aure who you are...perhaps you might idetify oneself.....
and if so confident, then perhaps you are willing to do a lap of the pitch in the nude or purchase each member of the fingal team 5 pints each when they lift the cup........
im sure all the Fingal/Pembroke players will very upset you wont be watching AP
AP, petty comments like yours are welcome, it will only make us try harder to prove you and other narrow minded supports wrong..
i like that idea the if fingal win ap sud hav to do sumthing i say it will be a gud match like fingal are doin well in the cup they bet glenanne n i think that was the same week tat glenanne beat pembroke in the isc
and if i remember this time last year the same was said bout chc most people said they had no chance against pembroke n they went on to win it!!!!
Any chance of some grammar or full words? I have no idea what 4.48pm is trying to say.
Stephen
Another weekend of great coverage on the site .
I stayed behind to watch the Pembroke /Corinthians match from the comfort of the bar area. What struck me was that 2 incidents occurred at the Ed Sports end of the pitch.
The Branch Disciplinary Committee should request a copy of the video recording of the game as they both occurred close to where the Pembroke camera is positioned and they must have been picked up.
“The Committee may hold hearings in relation to any alleged playing offence at its sole discretion.”
We have to protect the integrity of the game and there are certain actions that are beyond what is acceptable .
I am deliberately not referring to individual players or individual teams as that is a matter for the DC.
Stephen, great reading up on the weekends games. I admit that I posted on this site that both Pembroke & Monkstown would win both games and it just goes to show how tight it is this year. What an exciting finish to the rest of the league we have ahead.
The Pembroke v Corinthian game on Sunday was played at great pace and was a physical match. I agree that an early incident in the game could have been brought to a disciplinary hearing but if nothing was done about it there and then, it should not be reviewed at a later point. This could not happen on a level playing field as all grounds do not have the video equipment that Pembroke have and it is still only an armature sport.
Well done to all teams and umpires on a good weekends work.
DK
I believe the the GAA are having similar problems at the moment...
So DK, what you are saying is that because all matches aren't recorded it's ok for players to play dirty, just as long as they don't get spotted by the 2 people umpiring their game.
Sticking you head in the sand and just avoiding the issue is hardly the best way to address players' safety.
What "incident" are people talking about?having played in the game I can honestly say that I have no recollection of anything unsportsmanlike at all
In relation to any alleged incident, if there is a case to be answered too, there are official routes to pursue this rather than any suggestions on this website which may get people in trouble.
As such, comments along this route will not be posted.
I think ypu'll find that A.P. (4.09) isn't a Pembroke member. Purely another 'stirrer' trying to get a bite.Think the Final will be tight,tough match.
Look, I only state what other people are thinking and maybe saying in private circles...
Fingal, 3rd from bottom and Pembroke 2nd from top in a running for the league title...
Pembroke's season was awesome last year...
Fingal's not so good...their last recorded cup win?
To see all the comments obviously coming from Fingal supporters or perhaps team players is understandable...
Truth of the matter is, I still won't be at the final to buy each and everyone of you pints (even if you do win) cos I stand by what I said..
So the day Stephen, who's Blog has transformed the coverage of our game, posts his article on the Mill's Cup final, I will post a link to this article and comments page.
Then, I will apologise if you win, or just simply post the link if you lose, to remind everyone...
Petty comments? Don't see how they are petty when one is basing them on pretty good evidence from years past...
"Fate has a way of circling back on a man, and taking him by surprise. A man sees things differently at different times in his life"..
And no I am not a Pembroke supporter but just see a class outfit when I watch hockey.
Stirrer, no....just pointing out the inevitable and bleeding obvious..
Comments like this are clearly intentionally arrogant to try and annoy Fingal supporters/players. Arrogance won't win you any games.
Stephen, I'm a little disappointed you posted it in the first place, you should be posting comments which actually discuss hockey rather than provoke a negative reaction from one side.
Personally, I see Fingal winning because they want it more. I was at the last Fingal Pembroke match. Fingal were 0-0 until the late stages of the second half despite constant Pembroke attacks. The Fingal counterattack was simply not present because of a poor game from Ben Chillingworth's replacement (he must have pushed it wide 5/6 times!), Dave Bane and Brian G's absence, Derek O'Gorman's injury and Gahan was a little off form.
Can't wait for the final! Good luck lads!
Reel them in AP!!
I hear ya AP, class outfit is right.
I particularly like their shorts...
to 1:50
To be fair, he is just expressing an opinion. Whats would be the point in censoring points like his when they are purely hockey based and are in no way defamatory. The only way to have an informed debate is to hear arguments from both sides regardless of whether they are insensitive or arrogant or whatever you call them.
Players are thick skinned and wont be too upset by words written on the internet as they know that the real talking is done on the pitch.
Key against Fingal is to score early. I am not sure they'll have it in them to come back from a deficit.
They managed a 3nil lead against Monkstown at half time, and had Monkstown been able to finish could have lost as they did on Sat, but on Sunday they were fortunate the 'Town were off target.
The longer the match goes on with Fingal either ahead or tied, the more it will swing in their favour.
Pembroke Ladies 2nd from bottom Hermes 2nd from top and look what happened there.
As a member of the fingal squad I can safely say there hasn't been too many from the squad that have entered into debate on this topic.
AP is entitled to his opinions and his comments arent too far from the truth either, the safe money would be on a Pembroke win with their form over the last two seasons compared to ours.
His black and white views on sport however lead me to believe that he's always been one of those that drink their corona in the bar and pass comment on others while knowing only too well that during his own short playing days he's never been able to do 99% of what he's now critical of.
The beauty of sport is that it's unpredictable though so we'll have to just wait and see what happens however "obvious" it may seem
Derek
Yeah Derek, I played Div 1 for 11 years so I know what I am talking about.....and during the years when Pembroke dominated and there were other strong teams like Monkstown, Corinthians, YM and Glenanne.
I have been involved in more winning games than most Fingal players and I know what it is like to lift a trophy...
I have seen and grown to know how Pembroke play and know they will fight to the very last second.
I know a good team when I see one and I know the difference between winning and losing.
I know what it is like to lose to Pembroke, being the underdogs and still losing badly, very badly to them...
I won't comment again until March 17th/ 18th, when I won't mock if Fingal lose and will apologise for what I said in this post if they win.
AP in fairness you have gone from saying "there is no way" fingal will win to now saying that you will post again later..
at least stick to your guns
"Yeah Derek, I played Div 1 for 11 years so I know what I am talking about.....and during the years when Pembroke dominated and there were other strong teams like Monkstown, Corinthians, YM and Glenanne.
I have been involved in more winning games than most Fingal players and I know what it is like to lift a trophy..."
Anyone can write that, prove it.
"I have seen and grown to know how Pembroke play and know they will fight to the very last second."
Look at Sothern, the Hartes, McConnell, Lewis. All relatively new on the scene. Can you really grow to know how they play? As if you need to be a veteran!
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