Lisnagarvey stay clear in men’s EYHL as Town, YM and TRR win

Men’s EY Hockey League – day 14 round-up
Monkstown 4 (D Carson 2, G Sarratt, J Duncan) Annadale 1 (M Robson)
A brilliant four-goal burst in the first quarter saw Monkstown ease to victory over Annadale at Rathdown, moving into a share of third place.

Davy Carson was at his effervescent best and he broke the deadlock a couple of minutes in when he peeled away to take in Guy Sarratt’s rocket of a pass in his stride. His control was followed by an outstanding reverse-stick to the top corner.

He was denied an instant second when he pumped into the goal but was deemed to have shielded in the build-up. It was 2-0, however, via a brilliant team goal when Lee Cole clipped a pass which Theo Kohlmann controlled well before passing on to Rhys Armah-Kwantreng who found Jeremy Duncan; he flicked in on the turn.

Duncan played a heavy role in goal three with some aerial juggling before hitting the post with Sarratt on hand to clean up the rebound. And their scoring was complete by the 15th minute when Kohlmann picked out Carson whose snap-shot on the turn made its way in.

Annadale steadied after the first break and had a couple of good chances through Michael Robson while Sam Hamill blocked a couple of chances with acrobatic saves.

Into the second half, Sarratt flicked a stroke wide moments before Dale got on the board from the spot, themselves, after David Tremlett was fouled; Michael Robson popped it in. Both sides had four more corners in the second half but none were converted.

Banbridge 2 (Ph Brown, C Rowe) Glenanne 2 (R Couse, S O’Donoghue)
Banbridge and Glenanne’s potential title chances were both setback as their draw – allied to wins to the sides around them – left them almost out of range.

Richard Couse got the only goal of the first half but Bann turned things around in the second half with Philip Brown and Charlie Rowe both scoring. Shane O’Donoghue’s penalty stroke equalised at 2-2 before the end of Q3.

Glenanne are now four points of top spot while Banbridge are in fifth with six points to make up on Lisnagarvey and four to Three Rock in the second EY Champions Trophy place.

Lisnagarvey 7 (A Edgar 2, D Nelson 2, M McKibbin, O Kidd, M Nelson) Pembroke 1 (J Dale)
Lisnagarvey put struggling Pembroke to the sword to maintain their slender two-point lead at the top of the men’s EY Hockey League, running up a comprehensive 7-1 win at Comber Road.

It also ended a remarkable series which saw the lead change hands in each of the last six rounds of fixtures as Garvey built on last week’s significant 3-2 success over Three Rock Rovers.

Garvey took a while to get up and running as a series of close changes went incomplete in the first quarter but they never really looked back after the in-form Ollie Kidd put them in front in the 20th minute.

A phenomenal Daniel Nelson doubled up before half-time and they soon raced away in the second half with the eldest Nelson brother getting his second. Andy Edgar made it a personal three goals in three games from the penalty spot and he duly added another via the same method for 5-0.

Matthew Nelson and Matthew McKibbin both chipped in before Julian Dale got a consolation goal for the Dubliners who remain in the relegation zone as a result.

Three Rock Rovers 3 (A Haughton 2, E Jennings) Corinthian 2 (I Stewart 2)
Three Rock Rovers nicked all the points from a feisty Dublin 16 derby, Evan Jennings scoring the crucial goal with nine minutes to go despite his side being down to nine players at the time.

Three Rock got off to a strong start with Ali Haughton scoring twice in the first 10 minutes; his first followed a right-wing attack that broke to him at the left post where he controlled and flicked in.

His second was an outrageous effort, a ball deflecting his way at pace and two feet off the ground; he swung on his backhand and caught it perfectly, leaving goalkeeper Simon Thornton standing.

Corinthian got back into the game from a smart quick free, Andrew Sutton finding Peter Caruth in the D and he laid off a pass to Ian Stewart for a simple finish.

Haughton went close to a hat trick from another volley, Thornton saving well. Ben Whelan did likewise at the far end with a brilliant stick stop early in the second half but Stewart did make it 2-2 with a virtuoso piece of work, catching a loose ball, beating a player and then chipping into the top corner.

Rovers went into foul trouble in the second half, picking up three yellows but still had slightly the better of the chances in the closing quarter. Jennings took the crucial one, cleaning up after Ross Canning’s shot was parried his way. The reds had a last second corner which Caruth slapped at goal but Harry McMahon guided it around the post to ensure a scrappy three points.

YMCA 3 (A Walker, G Glutz, A Meates) UCD 2 (S Byrne, K O’Dea)
YMCA took another big step toward both an EY Champions Trophy spot and confirmed safety in the EYHL for next season with their win over UCD.

The students did go in front early on when good pressure led to a goal from Sam Byrne, tapping in at the back post and they had a couple of corners to extend the lead in a lively opening spell, drawing good stops from Jakim Bernsden.

The Y, though, were also notching up the chances with Ben Campbell hitting the post in the first quarter before Adam Walker’s corner made it 1-1 from a corner flick. Grant Glutz added the next from a penalty stroke and they had a further effort ruled out just before half-time following a much more controlled spell.

Andrew Meates stretched the lead out to 3-1 in the 43rd minute from play despite UCD pressure until the very last minute when Kevin O’Dea scored a final hooter corner goal.