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Archive for month: May, 2022
Hockey Ireland senior women’s coach Sean Dancer has named a 23 player national squad panel ahead of a busy 2022 which includes July’s World Cup and August’s EuroHockey Championship qualifiers. […]
Six exciting finals this weekend marks the culmination of the national club season with the men’s and women’s Irish Hockey Trophy, Hockey Challenge and Junior Cup competitions all to be decided.
It starts with a triple leader at Banbridge’s Havelock Park on Saturday where six different Ulster clubs go in pursuit of glory.
First on the turf is the men’s Irish Hockey Trophy with Queen’s facing North Down. Queen’s had the stronger domestic season, finishing fourth in Senior A while North Down ended third in Senior B, perhaps giving them the slight favourites’ tag.
The student side is captained by Irish Under-21 international Scott McCabe while North Down are led by Ross Linter.
Next up is the women’s Irish Hockey Challenge featuring Bangor in their first ever national final since forming a female side. They are up against NICS who finished four places below them in the Senior One division.
Game three is the men’s Irish Junior Cup final. Cookstown are in their fifth final, hoping to emulate their victories in 1983 and 1985 when they come up against Annadale in the decider at 3.30pm.
For Dale, they won the title four times between 2000 and 2006 and will be in the final for the first time since 2008. Whoever wins, it will be the seventh different winner of the title since 2014.
On Sunday, the action switches to Belfield with Corinthian and Pembroke’s second teams starting the day’s action at 11.45am in the women’s Irish Junior Cup final.
Coached by Peter Caruth, it is Corinthian’s first time appearing in the final, facing up against a side who were ten-time champions – and holders – who were also Leinster Division 2’s leading side.
There will be a first time winner of the women’s Irish Hockey Trophy with Avoca up against Raphoe. Avoca were in the final against Bandon in 2016 but came unstuck against Bandon while the Donegal side are in the decider for the first time following their semi-final win over Ashton.
Closing out a busy weekend, Portrush are up against Waterford in the men’s Irish Hockey Challenge. Portrush were runners-up in Ulster’s Inter A, narrowly missing out on promotion in midweek at the hands of Newry.
They are the reigning champions and are relatively regular finalists having played at Belfield against Limerick in the 2014 final.
Waterford, meanwhile, have had a sensational season, landing Munster’s Division 2 and the Cork Cup. They won the Irish Hockey Trophy in 2019 but this is a side with a lot of changes in the interim.
Saturday 7th May 2022
Men
Irish Junior Cup Final: Cookstown 2 v Annadale 2, Havelock Park, 3.30pm
Irish Hockey Trophy Final: Queens University v North Down, Havelock Park, 11.30am
Women
Irish Hockey Challenge Final: Bangor v NICS, Havelock Park, 1.30pm
Sunday 8th May 2022
Men
Irish Hockey Challenge Final: Portrush v Waterford, Belfield, 3.45pm
Women
Irish Junior Cup Final: Corinthian v Pembroke Wanderers, Belfield, 11.45am
Irish Hockey Trophy Final: Raphoe v Avoca, Belfield, 1.45pm
Tickets for the 7th will be available at the gate in Banbridge Hockey Club.
Tickets for the 8th will go on release to general public at 12noon on Friday 6th May. Please see tickets page here
Men’s Irish Senior Cup final
Lisnagarvey 3 (A Williamson, H Morris, B Nelson) Monkstown 1 (D Carson)
Lisnagarvey extended their lead at the top of the men’s Irish Senior Cup winners all-time list as three second half goals saw them retain the title at Belfield in brilliant style.
It was right the way in the balance until the closing minutes as Andy Williamson’s goal was all that stood between the sides with five minutes to go.
But two counter strikes from Harry Morris and Ben Nelson put them in dreamland, winning this title for a 25th time, adding to the EY Hockey League and EY Champions Trophy crowns already won this term.
Williamson had a dramatic day, scoring the first, being sin-binned while the second went in and then returning to assist the third when his effort bounced off the post.
“It feels great to get the third trophy this year. It’s something our guys have chased for a few years now, it’s fantastic,” he said afterwards, tormenting Monkstown for a second week running having scored late on in their Champions Trophy semi-final.
“We know it will be tough against those guys, one of the toughest out there. I just so happened to get the two goals. It has been a long season for me, only coming back in January after ankle surgery so great to be back and playing strong opposition.”
Indeed, it could expand to five titles as they still have Ulster’s Kirk Cup and a European campaign to come in June.
Monkstown were the sides out of the blocks quicker with Andrew Fogarty to the fore. His reverse was the first shot on target while Lee Cole’s drag-flick was guided around the post by James Milliken.
Garvey came more into it in the second quarter with Daniel Nelson and James Lorimer pulling off shots from a very tight game.
It opened up more after the break with Troy Chambers exceptional down the Lisnagarvey right and they started a run of corners, one of which Williamson planted into the corner.
Monkstown, meanwhile, had strong shouts of their own. They argued one corner was denied by a body on the line by Johnny Bell but umpire Warren McCully – standing in his last fixture – and Alison Keogh – the first female to officiate the men’s final – agreed it went off a stick.
When Williamson departed for the sin-bin, it seemed time for Monkstown to really turn the screw but it was their opponents who broke out in devastating fashion. Ben and Matthew Nelson combined with quick-fire passes and while the brilliant Lee Cole dove back to nick the ball away in the shooting phase, it squirmed invitingly to Morris waiting on the right post to tip in.
It left Garvey four minutes to play out but, with Town applying a full press, a lengthy James Lorimer overhead was brilliantly tipped around the last defender by Williamson. His shot bumped off the bottom of the post but Ben Nelson followed up to touch in.
There was still time for Davy Carson to rifle one into the net but it was a consolation as Garvey had their victory and a third trophy in this remarkable season.
Monkstown: D Fitzgerald, D Nolan, D Carson, A Fogarty, J Duncan, J Henry, D Cole, S Cole, G Cole, K Kenning, L Cole
Subs: N Dee, G Sarratt, K Lynch, S Hohn, M Gibbons, T Kohlmann, R Clarke
Lisnagarvey: J Milliken, J Lorimer, J Lynch, J Bell, M McNellis, J Corry, A Williamson, D Nelson, A Edgar, M Nelson, T Chambers
Subs: P McKibbin, B Nelson, H Morris, C Chambers, R Getty, O Kidd, J Ritchie
Lisnagarvey’s Ben Nelson celebrates in style. Pic: Adrian Boehm
Women’s Irish Senior Cup final
Catholic Institute 1 (A Hickey) Pembroke 0
Aoife Hickey wrote herself and Catholic Institute into Irish Senior Cup folklore as her 16th minute goal handed the Limerick club their first ever senior title as they denied Pembroke a perfect treble at a drenched Belfield.
She brilliantly volleyed in Naomi Carroll’s knee-high cross for the only goal and the Limerick club saw out the win in super style to crown a remarkable season.
At the start of the campaign, they openly admitted top six would represent success but, by the spring, they had marked themselves along with Pembroke as the two outstanding clubs on the scene.
Pembroke had landed the EY Hockey League and Champions Trophy, picking apart Insta just six days ago at Havelock Park 4-1.
But the patterns shifted drastically this week with Carroll an effervescent dynamo at the heart of this remarkable performance.
“We are ecstatic,” said Carroll, the game’s outstanding player. “We had a tough week, losing to Pembroke last week and were devastated after it but it just shows the quality in their side, scoring two goals in the first quarter and they really put us under the pump.
“We really had to turn things around and we had to believe in ourselves and couldn’t let that happen again. We knew if we could keep it close or score early, we’d give ourselves a chance and I am absolutely over the moon. It’s been a really long season and it is incredible to finish it off on this high.
“We watched a lot of video and saw we ourselves made a lot of mistakes which we knew we could rectify. We knew the pace they had in midfield and the quality in their defence in their flat-stick tackling. We had to change what we did and bring our strengths forward, not fall into their game plan. We focused on that and gave it everything! Empty the tanks was our motto!”
Pembroke had started brightly with Aisling Naughton’s backhand needing a diving Christine O’Shea block to smother it’s path with Rachel O’Brien had a couple of big digs at goal.
But Carroll’s influence soon came to bear and it was her surge that laid the base for Hickey to net just before the end of the first quarter, battling to nick the ball and then rounding the defence on the right flank.
She almost created a second for Lizza Ryan whose deflection was blocked by goalkeeper Emma Buckley who was far busier than a week before.
Pembroke came on strong in the second half with Ellen Curran and Gillian Pinder building up speed. They won five penalty corners but found no way through with the combination of Pam Smithwick and Michelle Barrett an adept duo to clear the lines.
Insta, though, always looked the more incisive on this occasion. Ryan and Hannah Kelly combined well to force another save from Buckley while a baseline cross was just beyond the stick of Kelly from another big chance.
Without the insurance goal, it always left Pembroke in the hunt, winning a series of set pieces in the final play.
But, fittingly, Carroll had the last touch of the game, charging down as the first defensive runner on the final hooter to confirm the victory.
Pembroke: E Buckley, L McGuire, A-K Trevor, S Loughran, E Beatty, O Macken, E Curran, R O’Brien, I Delamer, A Naughton, G Pinder
Subs: A Griffin, C Moroney, C Foley, S Campbell, T Wensley, M McCready, R Cowman
Catholic Institute: P Smithwick, C O’Shea, N Carroll, R Upton, L Clery, E Ryan, M Barrett, A Horan, J Clein, C Moloney, M Barrett
Subs: A Hickey, H Kelly, B Murphy, M Scanlon, A Bourke, L Ryan, M O’Callaghan
Umpires: G Garrett, F Davitt
