Monkstown II claimed the division three crown with a 4-3 win over Corinthian at Serpentine Avenue in a bizarre encounter last night which almost saw the reds recover from a four-goal deficit inside the last ten minutes.
The Town hit the front thanks to Zac Dutton's drag-flick early on before Corinthian saw a series of corner chances slip through their fingers, one effort chalked off for a foot after consultation between the umpires.
Andrew Ward doubled the lead from a corner rebound for 2-0 at half-time and made it three midway through the second half with a superb solo run from halfway to round Ross Gribben and score. The key touch was his first, using one deft movement to pull the ball clear of the last defender on halfway and create serious forward momentum.
And it looked to be lights out for the reds when Frank Ryan swept home Alec Barrett's cross with barely a quarter-hour to go.
But Bruce Campbell scrambled one in from a corner, as did Wesley Rothwell - on his return from the sin-bin after he and Simon Groves both saw yellow. When Rowland Rixon-Fuller netted a drag-flick with a minute to go, the impossible looked like coming to pass as Monkstown hit away possession from the tip-off giving the now 10-man Corinthian team - Campbell shown a red card for an altercation with Craig Ellis - one last phase of play to score.
They could not get the ball upfield quickly enough to give the Town the LHUA President's Cup.
Earlier in the evening, Clontarf U-16 girl's claimed the league in another match that almost offered up an equally unlikely comeback as they beat Three Rock 5-3 at Grange Road.
Goals from Nicola Taylor, Jen Keating and Megan Oliver had the northside club 4-0 up by half-time. Three Rock fought back in the second half, with Kerri Ann Cullen and Ciara Maginn on target to get within two goals of Tarf but they held firm to secure the title.
21 comments:
Well done to both Monkstown 2's and Clontarf Girls!
Congrats to both.
Div 3 is a tough league to win.
Anyone know the last time Monkstown won div 3 ?
Congrats again boys
Duggie
It was 7 seasons ago (2002/2003)
Few different faces in the team this time - think only the evans' and horse still remain....
The girls under 16 final was a cracking show and a very good standard of hockey. Congratulations to both teams who put on a spectacle to remeber for those that were there. Well done to Clontarf,i believe it is there first success for there colts which has only been operating for 5 years.
In the seconds match last night, credit where credit is due - both umpires were really good last night. communicated well for two big incidents.
Hadn't seen that guy Simon O'Connor before but had a really good game
geoff and simon were both very good last night. they got all the big decisions right. i felt sorry for bruce campbell though, i thought a red with 1 minute left was harsh for what wasn't a dirty game. Division 3 was class this year, great standard and a good rapport between all teams on and off the pitch, anyone really could have beaten anyone else on their day. Best of luck to Pembroke on Saturday in the Ijc.
Monkstown til i die
I think the comment was made before in a blog a few months ago but I feel that some of the Div 3 sides would defo give the Div 2 sides a good run for their money.
Most of the Div 3 sides are made up of experienced 1sts players who only want to play 2s (players who have played Div One for a number of years). The side is also made up of Div 1 players coming back from injury or trying to break into a 1st team for the 1st time.
This is across all teams in Div 3.
You will always get good games to watch in Div 3 and it would be great to see some Div 3 play some Div 2...see how it matches up...
Good game last night and a good midweek crowd also from Monkstown and CHC...
great day for the town. the 2nds stuck to their task all season and have got a reward. richly deserved!
the standard in Div 3 this year was immense. higher than i had experienced before.
Without a doubt the standard in div 3 is higher than div 2. Only Clontarf and possibly Bray would be in the running for div 3 title.
To:
'You will always get good games to watch in Div 3 and it would be great to see some Div 3 play some Div 2...see how it matches up...'
YM seconds played clontarf in Feb.... result was 2-2....... I agree that it would be good to see some more games like that. I don't want to bring up the 2nds team in Div 2 debate again. Bu if these teams a looking for friendlies, they can look to div 2 or vica versa
this debate has been played out before about div 2/3. last night, both sides scrambled for as many 1st team players as registration allows.
This is the very reason why the two leagues should not joined as it would mean a level playing field would not exist.
Pulling players from the firsts happens all the time and is in the rules but div 2 sides can't do this to raise their standards while sides with a div1 side can.
a cup (maybe the neville davin) would be a better way to play off div 2/3?
ciara maginns goal was well taken. she nearly got a second from a great diving attempt that went just wide.
The division 2/3 thing is played differently in the women's league in that second teams are allowed play in the second division. I don't think it has a poor effect on the league that some teams have first team players to call on because it gives first teams in the second division a chance to test their strength against better players. The standard of the league thereby increases and any possible promotions to the first division would be more deserved as well as being less of a shock to the team promoted. As it is the second division is a bit of a mickey mouse affair and doesn't reflect the standards it should do.
Great job to the Clontarf U16 girls on winning the league!
Just goes to show what a competitive league division 3 is when you have 5 different clubs contesting the major 2nd XI honours for the seqason:
Irish Junior Cup - Pembroke Wanderers
Division 3 League - Monkstown & Corinthians
Railway Cup - Three Rock Rovers & YMCA
If the better 2's team played in Div 2 the standard of the league would be higher. We can take this as fact.
This would in turn give teams being promoted to Div 1 a better chance of staying in Div 1 as they would have better experience from Div 2.
At the moment the gap between 1 & 2 is far too big. The top sides in Div 1 would probably hit 7+ goals against Clontarf (no disrespect intended) if they played their full squads.
Kilkenny often opt to play Div 2 over Div 3 because they believe the hockey is better. They only play Div 2 because they have to if they want to get promoted.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF DIVISION 2?
Just a thought,
Alec
agreed alec
Division 2 gives false confidence to teams playing in it.
Without a doubt many teams from division 3 would beat the higher placed teams in div 2...and this is the league from which teams get promoted to div 1? Like lambs to the slaughter!!!
monkstown beat bray and 'tarf in friendlies this year. Both comfortably too
monkstown beat both these teams comprehensively while using mostly 2nd team players.
If you let 2nd XI teams compete in Divisin two, then I imagine only Clontarf, Bray, Avoca and Skerries would retain their places...
which isn't too far off the ratio that the ladies currently have in their Division 2 competition with 5 1st XI sides competing...
The only problem with this is that you get stalemate in Division 1 as the bottom team there is only relegated if a 1st team from Division 2 finishes in the top 2places....
although you could have a playoff between the bottom Division 1 team and the highest placed 1st team in Division 2 regardless of what position this is to ensure you're still getting the best 1st teams in the top division
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