Reds blow title race wide open

Men's Division One:
Pembroke 1 (Justin Sherriff) Corinthian 2 (Andrew Cronje, Brian Doherty)
Corinthian completed an extremely rare league double over Pembroke as they came from a goal behind to add yet another twist to a fascinating Leinster league season. The Serpentine Avenue hosts occupied the box seat at half-time at 1-0, enjoying the majority of possession as Corinthian were content to hit the 'Broke on the break.

The one breach of a superbly marshalled defence - Andrew Cronje to the fore - came when Henry Micks was dispossessed at right-back and a quickly worked ball to Justin Sherriff who tried his utmost to break the backboard with a wonderfully thunderous reverse-stick shot from an acute angle.

That goal came right on the half-time whistle but the reds were back in the frame when Cronje netted a penalty stroke. The award owed much to Davy Carson's baseline foraging, using some unique skills to flip the ball off David Harte and the post before Lucas Piccioli's follow-up hit a foot on the line.

Pembroke had a stroke of their own to restore the lead when a corner shot was deemed to hit a Corinthian foot in line with the goal, originally being awarded as a long corner. But Alan Sothern's shot was blocked by the legs of Ross Murray.

And the reds capitalised on their fortune, Brian Doherty firing a low bullet with ten minutes to go to take the lead at 2-1 which they held to the end. Pembroke earned a last-minute corner but, despite some debate, only a long corner ensued and the title race was blown wide open again. Pembroke and Glenanne can both win the title if they win all their remaining games, making their tie on March 14 a vital one. Corinthian will need that result in combination with at least one other to go their way.

Clontarf 0 UCD 2 (John McInroy, Robbie McFarlane)
UCD jumped up two places, leap-frogging Fingal and Railway Union as two second-half strikes all but condemned Clontarf to the bottom-rung of the division one ladder. The Bulls held the balance of power but an ineffective corner-routine meant they went unrewarded for their efforts despite earning a number of set plays, which included having a goal chalked off. And they were punished when the returning John McInroy gave UCD the lead with a reverse rebound. The hosts piled forward to no avail and when the impressive Robbie McFarlane bagged the second with six minutes remaining the writing was on the wall. Stephen Cairns did pull off a number of good saves for Clontarf while John Brennan stood out for the students who took the spoils in this vital six-pointer.

Fingal 2 (Paddy Gahan, Gary Sharman) Monkstown 3 (Gareth Watkins 3)
Gareth Watkins pounced on three Fingal defensive errors to over-turn a 1-0 deficit and keep their charge for a third trip to the IHL alive. The ALSAA men had been in control for close on 45 minutes but lapses in concentration cost them dear and they drop down to eighth in the rankings while the Town move into a tie for fifth place with YMCA after 13 games a piece. Paddy Gahan had given the northsiders the lead from a short corner break-out, tapping in from Tom Manning's cross to round off a pitch-length move.

But Manning was robbed on his own 25 line by Watkins who rounded Andy Marshall before planting home an open side hit for 1-1. With Derek O'Gorman in the sin-bin for a deliberate foot in the second half, Watkins struck again when he caught out Eamon Bane and shot, this time on his reverse and he completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, awarded courtesy of Lloyd Pearson's bizarre and dangerous attempt to clear an overhead in the circle. Gahan squared for Gary Sharman to pull one back but Monkstown held on for the three points.

Railway Union 1 (Mark English) Glenanne 5 (Stephen Butler 2, Brendan Parsons, Graham Shaw, Gary Shaw)
Glenanne produced a much more routine win over Railway Union this week after last Sunday's battle in Tallaght and, with Corinthian helping their progress, look an imposing threat in the title race after months in the background. Brendan Parsons got on the end of a corner to open the deadlock against his former club before Gary Shaw continued his fine form and Stephen Butler netted for a 3-0 half-time lead. Butler and Graham Shaw added goals before both being sentenced to time in the sin-bin in the second half while Mark English scored a consolation goal.

Irish Junior Cup, second round:
Monkstown II 2 (Richard Sykes, Simon Allen) Kilkeel II 1 (A Graham)

* For more of Adrian Boehm's photos of Pembroke vs Corinthian, click here; Deryck Vincent's photos of Clontarf vs UCD are here.