How Quins became kings – in their own words

Cork Harlequins’ Irish Senior Cup victory in 2012 was  a true bolt from the blue, one of the biggest shocks in Irish hockey in recent seasons. Here, Quins coach Phil Oakley, captain Mark Black, defender John Hobbs and supporter and former manager Donal Kingston tell the story of a remarkable triumph (with a small bit of contextualisation from SFH!) in their own words. Having wrested the Munster title back from Cork C of I after a few fallow seasons, there was cause for quiet confidence in the Quins camp at the start of 2011/12. The side was laden with experience but light on young talent, and having failed to compete at the business end of either the Irish Senior Cup or Irish Hockey League since 2007, they were determined to make a splash on the national stage before a predicated wave of retirements. Phil Oakley, coach: We didn’t target anything specifically, rather try and do as well as we could in every competition. We got off to a good start in the IHL with a win and a draw, but then lost 4-0 to Banbridge; that was a real wake-up call – we were way off the pace and couldn’t cope with their intensity. That game was a very good lesson for us, and I referred to it regularly during the season in terms of where we needed to be, from our on-pitch intensity to what improvements were required to beat supposedly better sides. John Hobbs, defender: We wanted to be involved at the business end of the Irish Hockey League and Irish Senior Cup, having been missing on the national stage for the past number of seasons. We felt progress had been made in terms of winning the league in 2010-2011 so wanted to try and kick on from there and attain any success we could, as the legs were not getting any younger!

Donal Kingston, supporter: My own feeling was that a win in the Munster senior league or cup would represent a good season. From the squad that won the league in 2010/2011 we lost Eddie Dore and Darren Farrell, and the average age of the squad was fairly high! We also lost Lee d’Alton due to work commitments in the second half of the season. On the plus side, it was great to have the experience of Sean Nicholson back in the team for the final third of the season after a number of injury plagued years. Phil Oakley: I think we’ve been competitive in nearly every game this season, bar a few in the IHL. Once you feel you’re competitive, it gives you the belief you can win, so winning Irish Senior Cup games becomes a possibility in your head. The lads have become very good at producing performances and work to get wins in tight games – we won every ISC game by a goal. The Irish Senior Cup draw pitted Quins at home to Annadale in round two in November, before a five-month wait for the quarter-final against Banbridge, also on the Farmer’s Cross sand. Phil Oakley: I don’t think any of us were delighted to draw Annadale in the second round as there was less difficult opposition in the draw, but Quins hadn’t had a home draw in years so that was a major positive. John Hobbs: Home advantage is always a great help. It allows you be more relaxed with your preparation; you know how long you have to leave to get there on time, where you’re getting changed, that kind of thing. Bann and Annadale have some great players but any team with the two Blacks and Lombards in it have more than a fighting chance. Those guys are real leaders on the pitch, and great to have in the changing room. Having IHL games and games against C of I in the league around these fixtures also helped in terms of sharpness. Phil Oakley: We knew Annadale would be difficult; Peter Caruth was playing well for Ireland and they are strong all over the pitch. The most important thing was we felt we were competing well from the start, and taking the lead reinforced that feeling. Even when they got back to 2-2, I still felt we could win it and the Lombards produced a superb move down the right to win it in the last few minutes, directly replying from the hit off from Annadale’s equaliser. I think the game gave us a sense that we were capable of producing performances that could win us tight games. Donal Kingston: It is interesting that all four cup matches were won by the minimal margin and in normal time. I think that home advantage really helps in the cup especially in the early rounds. Both Annadale and Banbridge are strong sides and it was really important that we got home draws against both of those teams. I felt Quins displayed great belief and composure. In any of the matches where we fell behind we never panicked, and played our way back into the games with good possession hockey. Mark Black, captain: We weren’t playing well coming into the Banbridge game – we actually lost a training match to C of I 8-1 on the Tuesday night! But we pulled it out of the bag, 2-1, and every player stepped up.

Phil Oakley: Again, drawing Banbridge wasn’t ideal, as we had lost to them three times in two seasons, but again we didn’t have to travel. Our attitude was that we’d have to play them at some point, and it might as well be at home. I felt we’d be a lot closer to Banbridge than we were in the IHL, especially at home. I think we had the better of the chances and deserved to win. I was never so happy to see us finish off a 3 v 2 like we did with Colin Ross’s goal that won the game, we work on them a fair bit in training. With a Munster league and cup double already in the bag, Quins were into bonus territory after progressing to the Irish Senior Cup finals weekend at UCD, which sees the semi-finals and final all played off in little over 24 hours. Avoiding favourites Lisnagarvey, who were fresh from winning the Irish Hockey League the week before, in the semi-final draw was a good start. John Hobbs: I was delighted to avoid drawing Lisngarvey. I was up at the IHL finals the week before and they were clinical in terms of their corners and played a very high tempo game. But Instonians are a good side too, and all of what I was hearing was that they were dogged, never give up and had been better since Paddy Brown had returned. But we had beaten them in the IHL; I suppose that helped psychologically. Phil Oakley: I wanted to avoid Garvey. We all felt we could turn Instonians over once it was confirmed, but it was the possibility of two games in two days that was most worrying for us. It was crucial for us to play Monkstown in the IHL and then C of I in the league playoff around the ISC quarter-final and finals weekend, as it meant we had a tough game on both intervening weekends. I asked the lads after the C of I game in the dressing room (Quins won 2-0 to retain the Munster title) as to how many of them would be happy to go back out and play another game the following day, and there was a bit of silence. So we knew that managing the players well, should we get to the final, would be key – ice baths, food, warm down, physio etc would all be important. It was a job made easier by having former internationals in the squad to advise and support. John Hobbs: In terms of the two games in two days, the politically correct answer would be to say that we were only thinking one game at a time, but at a finals weekend you have to be planning for the next step, and it was mentioned in the week coming up to the games. It would have been a real worry for us, especially after a car journey too. We wouldn’t really be spring chickens, but what did help was the fact that we had played in these situations before and knew what was required. Back in the day there would have been awful whingeing about ice baths, but there was little or no moaning. Mark Black: The only downside after the Inst game was the ice baths. They were a six-minute nightmare!

Instonians were also a side looking to return to former glories; they’d beaten Quins in the 2004 ISC decider. The hockey media speculated that the overall winner would come from the other semi-final, while also wondering if Quins’ luck would run out against a game Inst side, despite the Leesiders’ 3-2 win over the Ulster men in the IHL. Phil Oakley: I don’t think we entered the weekend as underdogs in our own heads, and there was no mention of it between us as a group. We had beaten Instonians twice in the past 12 months, so there was no reason we couldn’t do it again. We all had a good laugh at David Medcalf in the Irish Independent calling us the “Rolling Stones” of Irish hockey – with Mark Black as Mick Jagger. Mark Black: We were pretty happy to have drawn Inst, we’d played them before and knew them well. The only problem was I felt we were maybe going in as favourites for the first time in the competition; it had been much easier in our other games as we were the underdogs, and no-one envisioned us winning. Phil Oakley: While the lads were in the dressing room, I went to the car to drop off a bag and I heard the screams; Railway had defended a Garvey corner on the whistle and they were through.  “That’s the first step,” somebody said to me in passing. To be honest, having seen Railway play, I wasn’t so sure, and they now had a 2-3 hour head-start on recovery over the winners of our semi-final – not much when you’ve got international standard players, but tougher when your average age is 28. Mark Black: One thing that worked in our favour was arriving early to watch 20 minutes of the other semi-final. All of us hadn’t been involved in this arena for six years, so I think those 20 minutes were very important to get the mindset right. I think our mindset for the weekend was that no-one rated us as a team. I think all the other teams would have been happy to draw us,  they overlooked a lot of our players and didn’t rate a lot of them. As a team we rely on a certain few players, but here all our players performed really well. Donal Kingston: I felt that we were slight favourites to beat Instonians, having already accounted for them in the IHL in November. As it turned out, it was a real heart-in-the-mouth game as we found ourselves behind on three occasions before going ahead for the first time five minutes from the end. The way we ran down the clock for the last few minutes was really impressive. Phil Oakley: We didn’t start very well in the Inst game conceding a series of shorts and a goal, but it didn’t take too long to rectify it and once we got back into the game, I felt we could win it. Our short corners have been good all season and John Hobbs did very well to knock a couple in to make it 2-2. We were a bit slack for Mark Irwin’s goal, should have picked him up on the back post, but we got caught ball-watching. Dave Egner’s goal to make it 3-3 was a superb move, ended with a neat reverse from Ducksy (David Lombard), who had a great game having flown in from Malaga the night before. He had collected a pass from Locky (Phil McLaughlin) whose brother gave him special leave from the christening where he was to be godfather. Fair play to his brother; Locky duly obliged by heading straight to the after-christening to spend some time with his new godchild. Dan Hobbs knocked in a cracker to win it and we had some big performances in the second half – Paul Lombard played over 60 minutes in the game up front, and never stopped running. We left very little on the pitch after the semi, so warm-down, recovery and food became crucial to getting the lads ready for the final. And here you had it – the unlikeliest of Irish Senior Cup final pairings, and a clash between two sides with very different cultures: the wily old Quins against the fit, fast, youthful Railway Union. How the bodies would hold up was one issue, but no-one inside the Quins camp had any doubt where the mental advantage lay. John Hobbs: People would have rated us as underdogs going into the final as Railway had beaten Glennane fairly handily in the Irish Senior Cup quarter-finals, and then accounted for the IHL champions Garvey in the semis, but I personally didn’t see it that way at all. I felt we had been given a great opportunity. Knowing from previous finals how much it hurts to lose on the day – and how little there was between the teams on those occasions – the final is all about who wants it most. We had the experience in our changing room, but as was highlighted by so many on the weekend, Railway had the legs. I remember thinking the night before that I was glad that I was in the Quins changing room, as it can get very nerve-wracking on a big finals day, and we had the experience to counter that. Phil Oakley:  The approach for the final didn’t change much as to how we approach every game. We did a little bit of video in the morning and had some lunch near UCD before watching a bit of the first half of the women’s final. Tactically, we had a fair idea of where Railway’s strengths were and what was required to be competitive. Mark Black: We knew Railway were a fit side with a big flicker, but also that they were young and inexperienced at this type of big game, so we knew we were well in the hunt.

John Hobbs: We spoke during the video session about what we would have to be aware of in terms of Railway and also, really importantly, looked back at some footage of our mistakes from the Inst game. Holding possession was going to be key for us, along with setting the tempo. Corners were called beforehand, and areas were identified to target. We headed into the changing room quite early and just chatted in groups about anything non-hockey related – I suppose to take our minds off the game, and ensure the younger fellas were comfortable. But when it came to 75 minutes beforehand, the team-talk began and we just focused. When we got out to the warm-up the legs felt good, and I remember thinking we were ready. Phil Oakley: The last thing we wanted was to go a goal behind for a second game in a row, but sure enough Rob Abbott – a good mate of mine – knocked in the first one. Railway were playing really aggressively and at a high tempo, and we needed to get hold of the ball. John Hobbs: Railway came at us at a great tempo and even though we had talked about it beforehand, this did throw us for a bit. They took the lead very early, I remember missing a tackle in the lead-up and was pretty annoyed with myself for that. We threw possession away quite a bit after that and seemed to be quite sloppy all over the pitch. Equalising midway through the half helped a lot in terms of confidence; fellas started to get more comfortable on the ball, and we got into the game. Phil Oakley: To be fair to Railway, they throw men into the circle and had some chances from direct balls, eventually getting a rebound, but when they scored there was loads of time on the clock. John Hobbs: Skinty (goalkeeper Chris Daunt) blocked the crash ball but they pulled on the rebound to go 2-1 up. The heads didn’t go down at that point though. Our corners had worked the day before; Danny then got a couple of drag-flicks, one after the other, to put us 3-2 up in no time at all. Mark Black: Railway showed their inexperience in that they dropped off us a bit after taking the lead, which let us get the ball out from the back more easily. Once we got to 3-2 up, I think they started to run out of ideas. We were defending corners well and their crash ball was never going to work again with the Hobbs brothers, Jason (Black) and Sean (Nicholson) there. Phil Oakley: I thought we could hang on if we had to, as long as we could spend some time on the ball. It was important not to panic, but to maintain the tempo and the work rate and we were turned over a couple of times in the middle of the pitch, but with some gentle advice from Paul Lombard, then on the bench, we got it sorted. He had underlined just how important it was to hold possession. Railway threw the kitchen sink at us and I thought we could hit them on the break, and we did well to get a corner, which Colin Ross finished brilliantly. At that stage it was a case of holding on and even when we conceded the penalty stroke, I didn’t think Railway were going to get back into it. Mark Black: It was backs to the wall towards the end. The clock is a nightmare at this stage; it was a long 15 minutes of just clearing our lines and chucking the ball up the other end. I was hoping Chris would save the stroke as three minutes is plenty of time to score a goal in hockey. But when it went to 4-3, it was strange, we got a lot of the ball and were able to waste a lot of time running it into the corners. John Hobbs: Off one of their short corners I was hit in the knee by a rebound. I felt it was harsh awarding a stroke as I was in front of the keeper, but what can you do. We won a corner of our own with just under a minute to go; I thought “This is it, bury it and it’s game over”. Dan’s flick rebounded to Mark Black who ran it into the corner. I was just focusing on marking my man, and making sure everyone at the back was tight. Eventually the whistle sounded and that was it – job done. Phil Oakley: The final whistle was a joy to hear, but I was concerned about Paul Lombard, who had heroically taken a hit to the head to prevent Kenny Carroll playing a Hail Mary hit up the pitch. He was fine, thankfully. Mark Black:  Paul showed all his experience when we turned the ball over at the end, launching himself at the Railway captain. Paul O’Connell would have been proud of that one.

Few enough of us get to experience reaching a final, let alone winning one. So how does it feel when you win the oldest club competition in world hockey? John Hobbs: It was such a mixture of relief and an explosion of joy. We had left finals behind us in UCD before, and to not be having any regrets and be taking home the cup was a great feeling. What makes it even better is experiencing the same feelings as all of your team-mates. It makes all the slog in training – the long runs up hills in Currabinny Woods and the sprint sessions – worthwhile. Mark Black: It was an incredible feeling, one of the greatest moments of my career. There is nothing more special than winning a major trophy with your team-mates and friends. I feel this win was more special than 2006 as we were not rated as a side this time, we were seen as the old stagers and that we wouldn’t have the legs. As a team we used the true Harlequins spirit of passion and heart in our performances. Phil Oakley: Afterwards, some of the crowd came over and many had tears in their eyes, so I was delighted for them. For me though, it was about the players. Their work-rate all weekend was excellent and their attitudes were spot on for both games, particularly in how they reacted to going a goal down and their ability to focus on what we do well and work their way back into the game in a composed manner. This was a deserved victory. It was all very professional. John Hobbs:  After you have been running around jumping up and down with your own team-mates like a lunatic, you realise what it feels like for Railway. I tried to make sure I got around to all of their lads to thank them for a great game, and speak to the lads I would know about making sure they use it and remember it to make sure they win their next one. I’m sure they will have plenty of opportunities with the quality they have in their squad.

Phil Oakley: The crowd were excellent all weekend as well and the lads and their families should be very proud. (Team manager) Alan O’Driscoll deserves special mention for his calming influence over the group and his organisation and planning was second to none. Nothing is ever too big a deal to be sorted out. I was delighted for Dave Eakins, having missed out in 2006, and for a lot of the older lads who had put their heart and soul into winning it. The Lombards, the Blacks, John Hobbs – all immense, well supported by the rest of the crew. Dave Egner had a very good weekend and Skinty pulled off some great saves. Everyone contributed hugely, and I can’t thank the players enough. Donal Kingston: I don’t think any of us expected to see Quins lift an Irish senior trophy this season, and the unexpected nature of it really added to the win. It was a fantastic coaching achievement by Phil Oakley with great support from manager Alan O’Driscoll. The players, led by Mark Black, really deserved this success for their commitment, discipline and never-say-die attitude. John Hobbs: The overriding memory of the celebrations on the pitch afterwards was going over to my parents with my two brothers (Rob and Dan) and seeing the pride and happiness in their faces. Mom’s been through an awful lot this year, having been in hospital from mid November right up to Christmas, and it was great to be all there and to share the feeling of winning the Irish Senior Cup. We have a great family photo for the mantlepiece with all of us in it, along with a shot from later on in Quins with the whole gang included, David (Hobbs, brother who plays with Cork C of I) and all the significant others, Cliodhna (Sargent), Rachel (McSharry) and Claire (Bergin). Rob was a reserve in 2006 and didnt get to play in the final, while Dan was that little bit young that year, so to share the pitch with those two was a great feeling. With the cup safely in tow, Quins hit the M8 and returned to their clubhouse so the celebrations could really begin. Monday morning daylight was filling the room when the last of them finally headed for bed. John Hobbs: The celebrations afterwards were great – many of those that give up so much of their time to keep the club on track were there with us. Moray Russell and Stephen Dale do so much of the organising in the background, and can regularly be found in the club on any night of the week, it’s great to do it for them. Seeing some of the others like Donal Kingston, Kenny Dale, John Martin and Norman Deane with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces afterwards reminds me of exactly how much this club means to all of us. Phil Oakley: I had to stay in Dublin for a while after the final, but got to Quins before 11pm. The place was rocking with a DJ and loads of players, families and members. The cup was being handed around with a disgusting mix of cider, whisky and vodka, which Mark Black eventually took home, and it was generally great craic, bit of a late night. John Hobbs: We had a great night, and morning! The cup was filled the minute it went in the door and seemed to stay full for the duration. This may be premature, but if it does not work out for us in the EuroHockey League then at least some of the lads will have a future in the music industry. Songs from the Rolling Stones, to You Ain’t Seen Nothing Like The Mighty Quins to a song about a European adventure to Italy were belted out all night. I’m delighted for Phil Oakley and Alan O’Driscoll, given the amount of time those lads have put into us over the past two years, they deserve this more than anyone else really. Phil must be thinking that coaching a men’s team is the easiest thing since sliced bread! Mark Black said after the final that he would have to “revisit” his planned retirement from top-level hockey. With the carrot of a EuroHockey League campaign awaiting in October, Quins will be hoping the older players will hang on for one last hurrah – and a few more will come on board for the adventure.

Phil Oakley: As for the EHL, I’m not quite thinking that far ahead. I was also due to take a year off after this season, but like Mark Black, we’ll be revisiting that one. We’ll come together in a few weeks and have a look at what’s right for the players – they might want a change – and what’s right for me. John Hobbs: I personally don’t think any of the lads will retire, the carrot is too big. It will be great for our club to be represented in the EHL and I’m sure all the boys will want to be part of that. I do really hope that Phil and Alan will stay on also, I understand that they have made great sacrifices over the past couple of seasons but this is a reward they deserve. We had only made it a far as the petrol station in Rathcoole when Jason Black was talking about going back to training and ensuring that we are running over the summer to make sure we give the EHL a good tilt and have no regrets over there. The last thing we as a group of players would want to do is not give a good account of ourselves. Phil Oakley: I think if this title win allows Quins to remain strong while they keep working on bringing through junior players, it can only be a good thing. I think the lads owe themselves a crack at the EHL and a chance to defend their ISC title. John Hobbs: Do we want anyone to join us now? Everyone is welcome in Quins, that’s just the nature of the club. I moved there when I was 19 and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It’s like one big family, where everyone is looked after. It’s a massive support network and I have made lifelong friends up there. I’m sure people have ambitions of playing in the EHL and they are more than welcome to come up and have a look, see if it’s the right thing for them. Perhaps a few new bodies can help freshen things up, and aid us in the period it takes to get our youth flowing through to the first team. We have seen the start of that with Julian Dale and David Atkinson being involved in training and a few games this season, and there are many more to follow. Sean Nicholson has to get a mention for the excellent work he has been doing and continues to do with the underage at a time when it must have been desperate for him not actually getting to play due to his injuries. Thankfully, they are behind him now. I for one thought that I was going to miss out on the EHL, having been so impressed with it as a spectator previously, but it is on the horizon now, and I have to make sure that I’m in good nick and injury free to get selected. Mark Black: We are a great side with a lot of experience with a good young coach; any player who joins us would learn a huge amount. There will be a lot of running to be done in the EHL so some fresh legs will be badly needed!  I certainly didn’t think I would be playing at this level again, so I’m looking forward to experiencing it. There won’t be many chances for players in Munster to play in the EHL so hopefully this will be a big attraction for players to join the club and try and get in the squad.

Donal Kingston: Having experienced the European Club Championships “A” Division in Brussels in 2003, I know everyone will really look forward to participating in the EHL in October. I hope that all the players who are considering retirement will stay on to play in this prestigious tournament, and hopefully we might attract some new players as well. It was good to see younger players like John Sweetnam, Julian Dale, Shane Ross and Sam Thompson involved with the first team squad this season, and this cup win may inspire some other young players to get involved as well. John Hobbs: I think it’s pretty fair to say the club was in dire straits last year and fought hard to turn the books around. The fundraising and commitment shown by the members and all who have supported the events has been enormous. This win has given the club a real shot in the arm.  There is a real feel good factor around the place now with the EHL to look forward to, and I suppose it shows all the members what it’s like and what we can achieve when hard work is put in. **Thanks to Phil, Mark, Donal and John for their contributions to this piece and for their enthusiastic response to the idea – there were thousands more words which were left on the cutting room floor! Cork Harlequins will hold a victory dinner for the treble-winning side in their Farmer’s Cross clubhouse on June 16th. A limited number of tickets priced €20 are available from David Egner (086 1921789) or John Hobbs (086 8091294).