Saturday, February 20, 2010

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.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Irish Junior Cup: Cookstown II 3 (Mark Crooks, Thomas Hutchinson 2) Glenanne 2 (Eddie O'Malley, Clive Kennedy)

Great game in Tyrone! Glenanne came back twice to bring in extra time before Cookstown won it after defender was adjudged to have stopped a short on the line with foot. Hutchinson scored resultant PF.

Anonymous said...

good win for the Students! they worked hard and got the points!Well done Lads.

Anonymous said...

I don't know who gave you the information for the report on the Fingal game but to say they were in control for 45 minutes is rsally stretching the imagination. It was a very even game in the first half and Fingal only scored from a breakaway from a Monkstown short corner.

Anonymous said...

Now tell me Sutts does not deserve a Leinster Senior slot !!!

Anonymous said...

I presume today's fixtures are called off with the snow?

Anonymous said...

Cookstown got the flick with 30 seconds to go in extra time too!

What an end to the match!

Anonymous said...

re: the Cookstown II Glenanne II junior cup match. Think the stroke in the final minute of extra time was given for a back stick on the line.

Anonymous said...

are the mills cup games off????

Anonymous said...

They got a short for a back stick and then from the resulting short it hit a foot on the line.

Anonymous said...

monkstown II will be tough to beat this year in IJC

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Corinthian for a great win - makes the league fairly interesting now which is great for the game.

We will no doubt have the usual nonsense comments about Pembroke lost it rather than Corinthian winning it. Or the latest one of negative play wins game !

Also congrats to glenanne - glad to see them recover from their disaster 1-0 win last week !

Still feel that Pembroke will win the league, overall they do have the best squad.

Clive

Anonymous said...

Isn't this Irish Junior Cup a waste of time?

Anonymous said...

The Cookstown junior cup game was fantastic, Glenanne gave a great account of themselves and both teams went all out for the win, the game was played in a very hard but fair fashion and was a great spectacle.

Anonymous said...

Anyone have the mills cup results?

Stephen Findlater said...

Mills Cup:
Fingal 3 (Sharman 2, Neville) Monkstown 2 (Ewington, Allen)

Pembroke 2 (Sothern 2) Corinthian 0

Anonymous said...

It was Manning, Neville and Sharman who scored for Fingal

Anonymous said...

What were the goals like in the IJC match?

Anonymous said...

gaevey 2nd or cookstown 2nds will be the 2 to beat in the irish junior cup how is it a wastse of time 4.29 it a cup that our club holds in high regard

Anonymous said...

Guess thats it for Clontarf. Don't think anybody coming up next year will be as good as they are this year which is a shame but in terms of quality I think they are just a little short for this division.

Anonymous said...

Four real good goals in normal time. Cookstown's Crooks went through about five players and reversed then O'Malley went all 3D and walked it in. Hutchinson's PC was a thunderbolt and Kennedy nearly bust the net with a reverse late on. It was close right to the end but PF golden goal sealed it.

Anonymous said...

Garvey IIs look a real good outfit but don't forget Cork! They beat Cookstown and Pembroke last year, and Banbridge in the first round of IJC.

Anonymous said...

The actual IJC is physically the oldest hockey cup trophy in the world from what I hear. The Irish senior cup is one year older but its not the original cup.

Any and every club would and should be proud to compete in it if they qualify for entry.

Anonymous said...

Everyone is forgetting the champions CI! the team to beat lads!

Anonymous said...

does anyone know if its possible to get first team games cancelled if your 2nd team is still in the IJC?

Anonymous said...

No Monkstown 1st requested a cancellation last Saturday against fingal 1st due to there 2nd playing IJC against Kilkeel and it wasn’t given, which meant there 2nd team end up playing a load of 3rd players due to injuries.

Anonymous said...

personally don't think 1st teams should get a refix cos of IJC...while there is movement between squads on a weekly basis if i was a 2nd teamer i'd be annoyed that my club actively postponed a 1st XI game and replaced 2nd teamers with 1sts. it's the irish JUNIOR cup after all...

Anonymous said...

Yeah but all IJC teams are a mixture of your first's teams squad players (i.e. numbers 12-16) and 2nd team players that have no chance of making firsts. I'm a second team player for a club that's still in the IJC and know that unless we have our first team squad members in the next round, we'll have no chance of winning.

Anonymous said...

Re comments on squads for IJC.How is it possible for one of dublins premier clubs to have a player included in the extended irish senior squad and at the same time play him in the IJC.I know the issue about numbers 12 to 18 etc.but i still think this is not right and should not be allowed.

Anonymous said...

To February 24, 2010 9:30 AM

get over it, Pemroke are out of the IJC so it makes no difference. Your just trolling on here.

Anonymous said...

to 11.23.I am not trolling on as you call it.The IJC as you well know is played annually and the issue is one that arises every year.What about the teams that Pembroke beat in this years competition do they not feel hard done by.Surely this is a case that the IHA should examine and ensure that this competition has a level playing field in future years.
What about teams that won their IJC games last year and were subsequently thrown out of the competition for what were in my view far less serious issues.