Glens raid Garryduff again

Cork C of I and Cork Harlequins all but kissed goodbye to any lingering hopes they might mount a challenge for a men’s Irish Hockey League semi-final spot, after suffering heavy defeats at home to Dublin opposition today. Glenanne have become rather fond of raiding Garryduff, and did so again in clinical fashion, coming from behind to etch a 5-1 success into C of I’s psychological wounds that added to last year’s 4-1 win at the same venue. The game exploded into life on 22 minutes following a nervy opening quarter, when Stephen Sweetnam fed his namesake Clinton, who marauded down the left before squaring perfectly for a diving John Jermyn to convert. Billy Lynch, in flying form in the C of I goal recently, had to make a couple of saves as Glens woke from their slumber, but there was little he could do about Shane O’Donoghue’s equaliser.

The former Ireland U18 hitman saw his initial drag-flick saved by Lynch, but he lethally volleyed the rebound high to the net for parity seconds before the break. That set off a chain of five Glenanne goals in 16 minutes, as the visitors ruthlessly put the game to bed.by pressing high and forcing efforts in the C of I backline. O’Donoghue dragged low from the first of three second-half corners, after Jermyn had been carded in the build-up, before Filip Jaros gobbled up a rebound three minutes later, following a mix-up in the C of I circle. Another defensive error gave Glenanne their third corner two minutes later, which O’Donoghue dispatched to the bottom corner, before he repeated the trick inside 90 seconds for 5-1 and a 100% short corner conversion rate. C of I huffed and puffed in the last quarter without much success. Philip Sweetnam had a great chance to get a consolation goal, collecting Stephen Sweetnam’s through ball and rounding Stephen Doran, only to see Graham Shaw take his shot off the line. Glenanne’s bonus point victory has moved them back into contention in Pool A, where they now sit just a point behind Corinthian and Lisnagarvey. Corinthian have been in poor form domestically but they continue to confound expectations in the IHL, defeating Cookstown 2-1 on home turf earlier today, despite losing start forward Davy Carson with an ankle injury early on. Greg Allen gave the Tyrone side the lead in the third quarter, but Jordan Sutton finished adroitly to haul the hosts level before Ben Murphy’s rocket won it with eight minutes to go. Meanwhile, ‘Garvey’s second win of the pool stages arrived with a comprehensive 5-2 rout of Annadale at Hillsborough. Veteran Mark Raphael’s double was the catalyst, with Timmy Cockram, Andy Forrest and Mark Daniel also on target, while Neil and Ian Hamilton hit the ‘Dale’s replies. As for C of I, they will now turn their attentions to Cookstown in the Irish Senior Cup next weekend, knowing this is their best chance at progressing in an Irish competition. Meanwhile, avoiding the wooden spoon is now once again the target for Cork Harlequins, who were also reined in despite taking an early lead, eventually capitulating 4-1 to YMCA.

David Eakins’ drag-flick had them one up after five minutes, but David Robinson replied in kind from YM’s second corner to leave it honours even at the end of the first quarter. YM’s stranglehold on possession frustrated the hosts, but it was a mistake of their own doing which gave the Dubliners the chance to take the lead, as they intercepted a poor pass out of defence before teeing up Phil Powderly for a close-range strike. It was more of the same in the third quarter, and YM pushed the lead out to 3-1 four minutes in, Robinson again converting a corner. Quins finally began to offer some meaningful resistance thereafter, but couldn’t convert their chances and a YM counter-attack was finished off by Jamie Tobin to secure a bonus point for the visitors. Elsewhere in Pool B, Monkstown are the overnight leaders ahead of Pembroke’s clash with Instonians, as their reputation for producing goals at both ends continued as they saw off Banbridge 5-3 in a high-class affair at Rathdown. Dermy Reay broke the deadlock for Bann before Josh Moffett’s cut-back was turned home by a Monkstown defender for an own goal, and a shock 2-0 lead for the Ulster outfit. One more strike and Monkstown knew it would be curtains, but they were right back in it as captain Gareth Watkins dragged home for a one-goal deficit at the break. Stephen Cole flicked home a corner rebound to draw the ‘Town level, a goal which seemed to settle the hosts. Cole robbed a Bann defender on the 25 and fed Watkins, whose shot was parried by Gareth Lennox for Andy Ward to tap in. A defender’s stick deflected Watkins’ cross past his own goalkeeper for 4-2, but Bann set up a grandstand finale through Hugh McShane. Monkstown netminder David Fitzgerald was pressed into action and produced two outstanding stick saves as the visitors sniffed an equaliser, but one such attack yielded a breakout that produced a sucker punch for Bann. Kyle Good surged down the left and drew the last defender before feeding Watkins. Clean through one-on-one on Lennox, he squared for David Cole who had the simplest finishes to kill the game off. There was one good news story for Munster men’s hockey at national level, however – that was provided by UCC, who advanced to the quarter-finals of the Irish Hockey Trophy by winning 3-1 away to Donegal’s Raphoe. It was a full-blooded affair at Royal and Prior, where College were hoping they could erase the memory of their last trip to Ulster, which saw them squander a two-goal led in going down 4-3 to Belfast Harlequins.

Peter Catchpole gave them an early shot in the arm by netting a sweet short corner move after 10 minutes, while Andy Gray was denied a solo goal of the tournament contender shortly after, setting off on a run from the sweeper position past four players before smashing a reverse off the upright. Raphoe, relegated from Ulster’s top tier last term, equalised around the 20 minute mark, crashing in a free hit which caused a goalmouth melee before Richard Patterson got the decisive touch. College’s next big chance came in the second half when they were awarded a penalty stroke after Roger Gray’s goal-bound drag-flick struck a defender’s leg; Andy Gray did the necessary from the flick spot. They thought they’d scored again from their next corner when David Gash rebounded in but the effort was disallowed, before they finally made the game safe late on. Successive quick passes found Fionn O’Leary, and the former Bandon man used his skills to create the space to unleash a trademark reverse into the roof of the net. College will now travel to Rathgar Chiefs in the last eight next weekend. Irish Hockey League Rd 3, Pool A Cork C of I 1 (J Jermyn) Glenanne 5 (S O’Donoghue 4, F Jaros); Corinthian 2 (J Sutton, B Murphy) Cookstown 1 (G Allen); Lisnagarvey 5 (M Raphael 2, M Daniel, A Forrest, T Cockram) Annadale 2 (N Hamilton, I Hamilton); Pool B Monkstown 5 (G Watkins, S Cole, D Cole, A Ward, own goal) Banbridge 3 (D Reay, H McShane, D Ward); Cork Harlequins 1 (D Eakins) YMCA 4 (D Robinson 2, J Tobin, P Powderly); Instonians 1 (I Pannu) Pembroke Wanderers 3 (S Furlong, P Good, M O’Connor); Irish Trophy Rd 2 Raphoe 1 (R Patterson) UCC 3 (P Catchpole, A Gray, F O’Leary)