Corinthian and Monkstown top indoor group stages

Two Corinthian wins this morning saw the reds progress into the semi-finals as top of group one in the Indoor League, ahead of reigning champions on goal difference. Andrew Sutton's five put paid to Dublin University as part of 13-0 thrashing.

Glenanne's 8-3 win over Kilkenny - thanks to four goals in six minutes from Paul Fitzpatrick - set up a straight play-off with Corithian for the second semi-final spot after Three Rock had secured their final place with a similar 8-3 win over the Cats.

Corinthian, however, proved much the stronger, leading 2-0 thanks to Andrew Cronje's tap in and Dan Williams corner. They extended the lead to five before Fitzpatrick got a consolation with three minutes remaining but Rixon-Fuller completed the 6-1 rout to take top spot in the group.

They now face YMCA in the semi-final. They eased by Avoca 4-1 to finish on six points and saw Monkstown do them a huge favour. Railway needed just a point to qualify from the final group two game but the Town showed no let up in last week's intensity.

Francis Lee's neat early double set up the 9-3 win. Lee went on to score four in total with Gareth Watkins, Filip Jaros, Ian Allen, Alec Barrett and Brian Groves all getting in on the act to oust last year's cup winners.

It meant Railway were consigned to third in the group and left to rue the last second equaliser against Avoca last week. Those two dropped points ultimately cost them a semi-final place.

Semi-final draw:
5pm: Corinthian vs YMCA
6pm: Three Rock Rovers vs Monkstown

Indoor League results - Tony Byrne Cup
Group 1: Corinthian 13 (Andrew Sutton 5, Sam Lobsey, Rowland Rixon-Fuller 2, Alan Blennerhasset, Miles Warren 2, Chris Pelow 2) Dublin University 0; Three Rock Rovers 8 (Mitch Darling 3, Andy McConnell, Neil Lyons, Liam Canning, Graham Dowling, Lucas Piccioli) Kilkenny 3 (Gary Sharman, John Lazenby, Peter Yeates); Glenanne 8 (Paul Fitzpatrick 4, Stephen Butler 2, Gary Shaw, Richie Shaw) Kilkenny 3 (Peter Yeates 2, Gary Sharman); Glenanne 1 (Paul Fitzpatrick) Corinthian 6 (Andrew Cronje 2, Dan Williams, Chris Pelow, Andrew Sutton, Rowland Rixon-Fuller)

Group 2: YMCA 4 (Jacob Webber 2, Will Powderly, Andy Walker) Avoca 1 (Jamie Scott); Pembroke 6 (Paddy Conlon 2, Craig Fulton 4) Avoca 0; Railway Union 3 (Dave Jenkins, Paul O’Brien, Kevin King) Monkstown 9 (Francis Lee 4, Ian Allen, Alec Barrett, Gareth Watkins, Filip Jaros, Brian Groves)

Standings:

Group One (played/points/goal diff): 1. Corinthian 4 - 10pts, (+23); 2. TRR 2 - 10pts, (+18); 3. Glenanne 4 - 6pts, (+1); 4. Kilkenny 4 - 3pts, (-9); 5. Trinity 4 - 0pts, (-33)

Group Two: 1. Monkstown 4 - 10pts, (+20); 2. YMCA 4 - 6pts (-1); 3. Pembroke 4 - 5pts, (+2); 4. Railway Union 4 - 5pts, (-1) 5. Avoca 4 - 1pt, (-19)