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PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2021

It has been a busy schedule since my last newsletter. On Wednesday 13th October, I was invited by the Minister of Communities, Deirdre Hargey, to a reception in the Great Hall Parliament Buildings, Stormont, to celebrate the achievements of Northern Ireland’s athletes in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Out of the 12 athletes present, four were members of the Ireland Women’s Hockey Team – Katie Mullan, Shirley McCay, Lizzie Holden and Zara Malseed. Katie and Shirley were interviewed and spoke very well about their experience.

It was time for the European Hockey Federation World Qualifiers and on Thursday 21st October I travelled to Cardiff to support the Ireland Men in their tournament. I stayed in the Village Hotel, as did Ireland squad, which was approx. a 20–25-minute journey to Sophia Gardens.

Ann Rosa at Stormont with the Irish Olympic contingent

The players and support staff were in a bubble, ate their meals in a separate area and we just met if we were in the reception area at the same time. As a result, I was not able to congratulate and present Johnny McKee with his 50th cap on Thursday 21st and Shane O’Donoghue with his 200th cap on Sunday 24th. The team conducted themselves impeccably well during their stay and were a credit to Hockey Ireland.

In their first match, they played very well against a strong Russian team and were clear winners, 2-0. The Russians were only allowed to field 11 on-field players due to Covid restrictions, but this did not take away from the Irish victory. Our men deserved the win. The Irish players were quietly confident going into the Welsh game on Saturday, knowing that the winners would secure a place in the World Cup. However, it wasn’t to be and Wales won the shoot-out competition after an unfortunate umpiring decision.

The match to decide 3rd and 4th places took place before the final on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, after taking the lead the Irish men could not hold off strong Austrian attacks. They had their chances, but another shoot-out competition, decided their 4th place. Wales came out winners of the tournament, beating France in a closely contested final.

As we cheered on the Irish men, we were wondering how we were going to be able to watch the women’s match online from Pisa. Sarah Campion, Hockey Ireland’s Media Officer, had the answer – she brought her lap-top to the side of the pitch and as she was multi-tasking and keeping Twitter feeds going, we were able see the women in action against Wales. We were delighted when the Irish girls held on to win and qualify for the World Cup.

On 30th & 31st October, I attended the WISE Hockey ID Festival at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus in Abbotstown where seven teams took part. Harbourne and Wakefield travelled from England with teams from Botanic, Monkstown, Railway Union, Three Rock Rovers and Wicklow joining the event. Players and officials were delighted to meet the Irish Minister of State for Sport, Jack Chambers, who came to support the event on the Saturday morning.

As part of the event, there was a FIH Hockey ID Coaching Course with Norman Hughes, Grahame Mansell-Grace, Hans Pieter van Beek and Hugh Santos working with coaches over the weekend. Our thanks go to Dwyne Hill for organising this event and to all the volunteers who made it such a memorable weekend for all.

The Under 16, Under 18 and Under 21 Interprovincials are being played under a different format for this season only. On Sunday 14th November, I travelled to Three Rock Rovers to watch the Connacht Under 18 and Under 16 teams take on Ulster. Two very exciting games were played. Ulster came out winners of both matches with the Under 18s winning 4-0 and the Under 16s winning 7-0. The Connacht girls played very well in both matches and did not give up until the final whistle.

As President of Hockey Ireland, I was invited to Stormont on Wednesday 24th November, to celebrate the commencement of Ulster Hockey’s 125 celebrations and the launch of Ulster Hockey’s Strategic Plan, hosted by the Minister of Communities, Deirdre Hargey. The theme was ‘The Past, The Present and the Future’ and guests listened to speeches from Joan McCloy, and Terry Templeton who talked about key events in the past, Shirley McCay and Conor Savage the present, and Marc Scott, Ulster Hockey’s Executive Manager who outlined the future with the key elements of the Strategic Plan.

It was very disappointing for the Ireland Women’s Under 21 team when the new Covid variant resulted in the postponement of the Junior World Cup that was scheduled for Potchefstroom in South Africa from 5th – 16th December. So much work has been put into preparing the squad and producing a detailed and amazing online programme of 88 pages. It was an honour to write the introduction for this programme. We hope that it can be rescheduled in the not-too-distant future. The team travelled to Spain instead for a quickly arranged Four Nations tournament in Valencia from Wednesday, December 8 to Sunday, December 12.

I was an observer at Hockey Ireland’s EGM which was held online on Thursday 25th November.

On various weekends, I have enjoyed watching matches closer to home. On 16th October I watched the first half of Irish Trophy game between NICS and Queens at Stormont with Queens leading, then made my way to Lagan College to see the second half of the Irish Senior Cup match Annadale playing Pembroke. There was a good crowd of supporters for both teams, with Queens and Pembroke coming out winners.

With CEO Jerome Pels and Minister of State for Sport, Jack Chambers

On 20th November, I looked in at the EYHL 2 game at Queens Playing Fields to watch the home team play UNIG and come out winners 3-0, then went to Newforge to see a very close game with Pegasus drawing 3-3 with UCD in their EYHL 1 match. On 4th December, on a bitterly cold afternoon at Deramore, I watched a closely contested game between Belfast Harlequins and Muckross, with the home side coming out on top with a winning score of 2-1. On Sunday 5th December, after the online Hockey Ireland Board Meeting, I called into Lisnagarvey Hockey Club to see the Under 21 Interprovincial game between Ulster and Leinster with Leinster coming out the stronger side to take their chances in the circle and win 3-1.

A great crowd of supporters braved a damp and cold afternoon on Wednesday 8th December for the McCullough Cup Final, to watch a close and exciting match between Banbridge Academy and Wallace High School. Wallace took an early lead but Banbridge came back strongly and won this prestigious cup 3-1.

In a post-match chat, I was talking to one of the school Principals who congratulated Ulster Hockey and Hockey Ireland for the continuation of hockey in the current pandemic situation, as events like these are important to be kept running in the school calendar. I arrived home in time to tune in to the webinar for the Olympic Federation of Ireland’s EGM, as the voting delegate for Hockey Ireland.

Last Sunday, 12th December I was delighted to attend the opening of the newly surfaced hockey pitch at Dundalk Grammar School with Trevor Watkins and Shane O’Donoghue. Our thanks go to the Principal, Mr Jonathan Graham and to the Board of Governors for making us very welcome. We enjoyed watching the Senior Girls play against Boyne and must congratulate both teams on a very sporting and skilful game of hockey. A timelapse, showing the tremendous work that had gone into removing the former playing surface, that had lasted 27 years, to the laying of the new pitch, was an excellent idea and a two-minute video, shown during refreshments, summed up the work very well.

From Dundalk I travelled to the Antrim Forum to watch indoor matches and present the winners of the Under 18 Girls’ Tournament, Coleraine with the trophy. My congratulations go to all the teams that took part during the afternoon. I look forward to returning to the Antrim Forum on 28th and 29th December Ireland’s men and women in their international matches against Scotland.

Unfortunately in the build up to the festive season, we are back to online meetings but let us hope that our matches can continue uninterrupted.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and enjoyable 2022.

Ann Rosa

19th December 2021

At the opening of Dundalk GS’s new pitch

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WATCH: All the goals from the Irish U-21 men’s indoor campaign

Ireland’s first Under-21 men’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship II campaign ended with a sixth place finish in Porto, running Denmark close in the final game 6-5.

Coach Kenny Carroll says that while a big result proved elusive, with extremely limited preparation time and the newness of the experience, it was a good place to start as Ireland looks to raise its standard on the boards.

Indeed, Ireland were competitive throughout, pushing their more experienced opponents at different turns while Oliver Kidd was the tournament’s second highest scorer with 11 goals from five games.

** You can see all the goals here** 

“Sunday was a big effort against Denmark and unfortunately we end up losing by a goal in the end in a fairly exciting match,” Carroll said. 

“Through the tournament, we improved from match to match which is all you can ask for. We are playing teams who play a lot of indoor hockey and, all in all, it was a successful tournament. 

“This team was about getting a team out there and competing with all the logistical difficulties and the preparation time. We couldn’t get indoors until October [due to Covid-19 restrictions].

“We had no issues with Covid which is great coming over and back. It will definitely make these players better and raise the standard locally. We have to start somewhere, our first ever Under-21 indoor team.

“We have another chance next year and should more and more preparation time with more younger players doing indoor hockey, they will get more experience going into the national setup. “

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Muckross land big three points before Christmas

Women’s EY Hockey League
Cork Harlequins 0 Muckross 3 (J O’Brien, S McFarland, R McMullen)
Muckross landed a big win to boost their hopes of getting out of the women’s EY Hockey League relegation places in the new year as they saw off Cork Harlequins 3-0 at Farmers’ Cross on Saturday.

The result leaves them two points off eighth place Belfast Harlequins with Cork now five points off safety with eight fixtures to be played in 2022.

In the driving wind and rain, the Dubliners got off to a perfect start when Emma Mathews nicked possession on the Quins’ 23 and fired the perfect pass to Jane O’Brien in the danger zone and she calmly slotted in a second minute opening goal.

Muckross thought they had a second when Laura Hanlon volleyed in from close range but a corner for an earlier infringement was called instead. No matter, Julia Balcerzak’s hit was never fully cleared and Sarah McFarland scooped in her side’s second from the third rebound for 2-0.

The hosts’ main chances in the first half came from a couple of corners while goalkeeper Katie O’Donnell was alert to block both Beatrice O’Hare and Rachel O’Shea. For the most part, Muckross held sway in that first half and they built on that advantage in the 38th minute when Rebecca McMullen scored an excellent individual effort.

She dribbled right to draw in a couple of tacklers before turning behind her back, broke a tackle and then slipped in for 3-0.

From there, Harlequins threw everything forward but could not get on the scoreboard. Cliodhna Sargent’s cross from the left got no attacking touch before ending in the goal while Katie Moore and Michelle Barry both tested O’Donnell with strikes from the edge.

On the counter, Katie Fitzgerald was denied by Lorna Bateman while the home goalkeeper did well to hold up Kim Baker when through one-on-one. No further goals, though, meant Muckross had a vital win and a strong outlook for what they can do in 2022.

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Ulster impress on bumper day of interprovincial action

Seven interpro matches were played out across three venues – Cookstown, Rosbrien and Grange Road – as the new format of underage interprovincial championships enjoyed its busiest day of action to date.

In the Under-16 girls competition, Ulster and Leinster South played out a highly competitive battle at Grange Road. Scarlett Taylor scored a thumping penalty corner shot to put Ulster ahead in the third quarter before Molly Finley equalised for 1-1 at the final whistle.

South earned a bonus point when they won the shoot-out; it adds to their opening day draw with Munster while Ulster remain unbeaten in normal time following a success against Connacht last time out.

Munster were too strong for Connacht with a 6-0 success with Anna Campbell scoring twice. Ulster and Leinster lead the way with two wins out of two thus far.

At Under-18 girls level, Ulster came from a goal down to beat Leinster South and make it two wins from two. Isobel Collins’ superb pick-up and strike put South in front at half-time but Ulster made their move in Q3 with Emma Uprichard and Gabriella Scott netting and Darcy McGall put them out of sight to make it two from two.

Munster were 3-0 winners against Connacht. Rachel O’Shea grabbed an early goal at Rosbrien; Katie Moore put more distance between the sides and Sarah Fitzgerald completed the scoring.

It continues their strong record in the competition, adding to an earlier win over Leinster and a bonus point draw against Leinster South.

Fiona Kelly’s fourth quarter goal saw Connacht win 1-0 over Munster in the Under-21 championship to finish second overall in this three-team competition. Leinster had won against both of the other sides earlier in the season.

On the boys side, Ulster made it two big wins from two in the Under-16s with a 4-1 win at Cookstown against Leinster to back up November’s success against Munster.

The northern province are also two from two in the Under-18 boys competition courtesy of a 5-1 success against Leinster in the second game of the day at the Co Tyrone venue.

The competition continues with the return fixtures starting on January 30 with Munster against Leinster.

Men
Under-16: Leinster 1 (Hugo Faulkner) Ulster 4 (George Palmer, Robbie Brown, Lukas Moles, Tom Archbold)
Under-18: Leinster 1 (Mark Smyth) Ulster 5 (Daniel Murray 2, Ben Pollock, Ewan Cruickshank, Louis Rowe)

Women
Under-16: Connacht 0 Munster 6 (Anna Campbell 2, Caoimhe Gaffney, Maya Dullea, Miah Bourke, Aoife Kavanagh); Ulster 1 (Scarlett Taylor) Leinster South 1 (Molly Finley), Leinster South win shoot-out
Under-18: Connacht 0 Munster 3 (Rachel O’Shea, Katie Moore, Sarah Fitzgerald); Ulster 3 (Emma Uprichard, Gabriella Scott, Darcy McGall) Leinster South 1 (Isobel Collins)
Under-21: Connacht 1 (Fiona Kelly) Munster 0

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Men’s EYHL set for final pre-Christmas twist

The men’s EY Hockey League is set for its last pre-Christmas twist with four of the top five meeting each other on week ten of the competition.

Third hosts first as Lisnagarvey welcome Glenanne to Comber Road with the latter returning to the top last weekend courtesy of Shane O’Donoghue’s 15th goal of the campaign on the buzzer against Annadale. Remarkably, he has scored their last five goals across league and Irish Senior Cup.

Garvey left St Andrew’s empty-handed on the opening day of the season as David Lawless produced a fine debut between the posts and they had a goal ruled out. The Glens used that result to kickstart a run of five successive wins and while they had a stumble, they have ground out three wins in succession by a single goal.

The Ulster side, meanwhile, took out their scoring touch on Newry in midweek in the Kirk Cup with hat tricks for Ben Nelson and Troy Chambers in an 11-0 success. Ollie Kidd is in Portugal for the U-21 Euro indoors.

Banbridge host Monkstown in a contest between fifth and fourth. Louis and Charlie Rowe both picked up the McCullough Cup this week with Banbridge Academy to add to their impressive seasons to date with their club on a good run of 10 points from the last 12 on offer.

On day one, Town grabbed a late equaliser through Geoff Cole’s cracking goal to make it 1-1. The south Dublin side have only lost once this season on the national stage but four draws has kept them just off the top three thus far.

At Serpentine Avenue, Pembroke meet YMCA having won two of their last three games. While the Dublin 4 side remain in the relegation zone on goal difference, they are back in the frame and a win here would lift them level on points with sixth-placed Annadale. Player-coach Alan Sothern is still under assessment over an injury which will keep him out of this one.

YM won the first meeting 5-3 as they regularly found the highest forward in behind the back; they had to wait until last weekend for the second win of the campaign. Ross Henderson was a key influence that day and he returned last week after a month out. The Y will be without Harry McCarthy and Ben O’Grady on Irish Under-21 indoor duty.

Three Rock Rovers meet UCD for a third time this season in a meeting between the top scorers and the highest conceders with the former scoring 13 times in the previous two ties across the Mills Cup and EYHL. They will, however, be without the emerging Ben Ryder while Mark Samuel and Ben Johnson are injury concerns.

Annadale’s match against Corinthian has been pushed back to late January.

There is also a series of Irish Hockey Challenge fixtures with Galway hosting Limerick in Group 1, Midleton face Naas and Waterford against Wicklow in Group 2 and Saintfield playing Armagh in Group 3.

On the women’s side, Cork Harlequins and Muckross face off in the one EYHL game on the agenda, a huge battle with both sides needing to get their first win on the board if they are to have a chance at bridging the gap to the safety of eighth place.

Harlequins welcomed back Cliodhna Sargent for their tie against Pembroke to the fold last Saturday and she brings a wealth of experience to their young side.

The two sides drew on day one of the season with both sides scoring near identical goals from penalty corners from the injection area, Michelle Barry and Laura Hanlon hitting the net.

Since then, Muckross have had the tighter defence but both sides have found the going tough in front of goal, scoring five goals between them since that contest.

It is the last 16 phase of the women’s Irish Hockey Challenge from nine different counties aiming to make it through to the final eight line-up.

Saturday 11th December 2021
Men
EYHL Division 1: Banbridge v Monkstown, Havelock Park, 4pm; Lisnagarvey v Glenanne, Comber Road, 2.30pm; Pembroke v YMCA, Serpentine Avenue, 4pm; Three Rock Rovers v UCD, Grange Road, 1pm

Irish Hockey Challenge
Group 1: Galway v Limerick, Dangan Sports Ground
Group 2: Midleton v Naas, Midleton College, 3.30pm; Waterford v Wicklow, Newtown, 2pm
Group 3: Saintfield v Armagh, Saintfield Cricket Club, 2.30pm

Women
EYHL Division 1: Cork Harlequins v Muckross, Farmers’ Cross, 12.45pm

Irish Hockey Challenge – Round 2: Athlone v Weston, Athlone RC, 1pm; Blackrock v Wicklow, Blackrock 2.30pm; Clonakilty v Gorey, Clonakilty, 2.30pm; Enniscorthy v Cork Wanderers, Astro Active, 12.30pm; Greenfields 2 v Bangor, Dangan, 2.15pm; NICS v Mullingar, Stormont, 1pm; NUIG v Portrane, Dangan; Wexford v Kilkenny, Loreto Wexford, 2pm

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Performance Coach Development Programme for female coaches relaunched

Hockey Ireland is delighted to announce the relaunch of our Performance Coach Development Programme (PCD) for female coaches. The programme, which was originally due to run in 2020, was suspended due to Covid-19.

The aim of this pilot programme is to support and develop more female coaches to coach at performance and high-performance levels within Ireland.

The programme, funded by Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Programme, will run for 2022 and is open to female coaches who are coaching at senior club or interprovincial level. Coaches will work with a team of experienced mentors across the 12-month period with a focus on developing key aspects of performance coaching both on and off the field.

Hockey Ireland is looking to engage an initial 6-10 female coaches for this mentoring programme with options to further develop through our core coach education programmes and potentially through EHF-led programmes such as Coaches 4 Europe and the Top Coaches Programme.

Phil Oakley, HI’s national coach education manager, said “Traditionally, we have seen very few female coaches working at performance level. Within EYHL 1, there have been seasons with only been one female club head coach. Within a sport with over two thirds female participation, this should be significantly higher. Our aim is to provide mentoring support and development opportunities and create a pathway for increased numbers of female coaches at performance level.”

Applications are being sought from female coaches who are coaching competitive hockey regularly at senior club or interprovincial levels. Coaches must hold a minimum of a Hockey Ireland Level 1 coaching qualification and be Safeguarding certified.

If you would like to apply, please contact Phil Oakley on phil.oakley@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com and include a detailed description of your coaching experience to date and outline your future coaching ambitions. The deadline to register your interest is Wednesday January 5th 2022.

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C of I fightback as Cookstown and Bandon keep perfect records

Men’s EYHL Division Two round-up
Cork C of I came back from 2-0 in the closing quarter to land what could be a vital draw against Instonians in the hotly contested Pool A of the men’s EY Hockey League Division 2.

For a long time, they tailed to Ben Palmer’s second quarter drag-flick and they were in further trouble when the experienced Chris Kirk popped up with a second in the fourth quarter for a 2-0 Inst lead.

But Ian Balding and Jonny Bruton nabbed late goals to make it 2-2 and add it to their 5-0 opening day win over Rathgar to sit on seven points at the head of the group.

Inst are on seven as well with Railway Union one point worse off on six thanks to their 4-1 success against Rathgar at Park Avenue. All four goals came from the stick of Mark English, bringing his tally in all competitions so far this season to 39 goals.

Pool B is shaping up to be an incredibly tight one with Kilkeel entering the fray with a 0-0 draw against Cork Harlequins. Quins had drawn with Clontarf on the first day of this three-team pool to leave the win column blank for everyone so far.

The Mourne men survived a couple of early corners before going on to have a trio of their own before half-time, one of which hit the post. Into the second half, neither side were able to nail one of their set pieces and so the laurels were shared.

In Pool C, Bandon and Cookstown have two wins from two but both were pushed all the way by Mossley and Portrane, respectively.

In west Cork, Bandon eventually shook off the Newtownabbey side’s challenge 5-3. Captain Fionn O’Leary had them two to the good at half-time only for Simon Todd and Jordan Robinson to level the game by the end of Q3.

Ian Perrott added a pair for Bandon to keep their noses in front but a second from Todd kept the game up for grabs at 4-3 with time running out. Bandon, though, got the vital clinching goal from Ethan Hamilton Foott in the last three minutes to lift them to 10 points.

At Portrane, Ryan Millar got the only goal for Cookstown in the final throes of the third quarter for a 1-0 success for the Co Tyrone side. Portrane take a losing bonus point for their efforts.

Men’ s EYHL Division 2 results
Pool A: Cork C of I 2 (I Balding, J Bruton) Instonians 2 (B Palmer, C Kirk); Railway Union 4 (M English 4) Rathgar 1 (S Madeley)
Pool B: Kilkeel 0 Cork Harlequins 0
Pool C: Bandon 5 (F O’Leary 2, I Perrott 2, E Hamilton-Foott) Mossley 3 (S Todd 2, J Robinson); Portrane 0 Cookstown 1 (R Millar)

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Glens back on top as O’Donoghue strikes at the last against Dale

Men’s EY Hockey League – day nine round-up
Three Rock Rovers 1 (R Canning) Monkstown 1 (G Sarratt)
For a third time this season, a Monkstown performance has knocked the current first placed side off top as they drew 1-1 with Three Rock Rovers at Grange Road.

It followed wins over Lisnagarvey and Glenanne and they were within a couple of minutes of repeating the trick only for Ross Canning’s corner deflection to level it in the 67th minute. On the flip side, James Walker almost won the day when he clipped the underside of the bar moments later but a draw was probably a fair result.

Both sides were understrength with Town missing David Nolan, Jazze Henry, Nick Dee and Andrew Fogarty for the tie while Ben Johnson was missing for Rovers with Ben Ryder and Mark Samuel not lasting the half due to injuries.

Rovers had the best of the first half hour with Dave Fitzgerald producing a fine performance, the pick of the early interventions a scramble away a chance from Evan Jennings who also shot inches wide.

Town survived 12 minutes of suspensions before returning to 11 players with devastating effect just before half-time with a pitch-length move, starting with a turnover in their own defensive left corner which was transferred out to Rory Nichols charging at pace. His cross found Guy Sarratt on the left of the D and he shot home.

The Rathdown club carried that upper hand into the third quarter with a couple of near misses from Sarratt and Jeremy Duncan. Rovers, though, threw everything forward in the last 10 minutes with Fitzgerald producing the pick of his saves from Ali Haughton before Canning equalised with a touch to Jody Hosking’s corner power-slap to share the spoils.

Monkstown’s Dave FItzgerald makes a key block. Pic: Adrian Boehm

UCD 2 (J Menelaou, S Byrne) Pembroke 3 (J Dale 2, G Chambers)
Pembroke picked up a vital 3-2 win over UCD in their tussle with UCD at the bottom of the table. They built a healthy 3-0 lead and while the Belfielders fought back with two goals in the last 10 minutes, the result gives Pembroke a six-point buffer between them and bottom place but they remain in the relegation places on goal difference.

The Ballsbridge club were in control in the first half with Matthew O’Brien Holohan needing to be sharp to deny Harry Spain’s drag-flick. The goalkeeper was unfortunate to be beaten from the third phase of one attack as he blocked Julian Dale’s deflection and a Cillian Hynes follow-up shot but Greg Chambers picked off the third attack.

Dale dragged in Pembroke’s third corner in the minutes before half-time for a deserved 2-0 lead. He drew a brilliant glove save from O’Brien Holohan who also denied Chambers a second with a low-down block.

The third came from a peach of a strike from Dale after Scott Sullivan’s show and go opened up the chance. UCD struggled to create much prior to that phase but they finished strong. Peter Lynch deflected a crash ball into the path of Jay Menelaou and the former Avoca man controlled it perfectly to evade the last defender and goalkeeper. Sam Byrne then batted in a corner rebound in the last minute but Pembroke had done enough and closed the gap significantly to the sides above them.

Annadale 2 (T Cross, A McAllister) Glenanne 3 (S O’Donoghue 3)
Shane O’Donoghue’s final second goal saw Glenanne return to the top of the table, completing his hat trick to make it 3-2 with the very last play of the contest.

Dale have proven a strong competitor this season and they had the half-time lead when Tim Cross banged in a straight hit from a penalty corner. O’Donoghue levelled from the penalty spot and his drag-flick made it 2-1 going into the final quarter.

Adam McAllister equalised with time running out but a last-ditch corner was nailed once more by O’Donoghue for a seventh win from the first half of the season.

Lisnagarvey 2 (B Nelson, O Kidd) Banbridge 2 (C Curry, L Rowe)
Lisnagarvey and Banbridge drew in a high octane, late afternoon tussle at Comber Road which sees Garvey drop to third place with Bann consolidate their fifth place a little bit more.

It was a tie brought forward by an hour to allow the game to go ahead as six Covid cases in the top umpire panel’s ranks along with an injury meant a number of hastily rearranged appointments. It is a testament to the ingenuity of the Irish Hockey Umpires Association to rejig their placments along with the agreement of the teams to allow the change at short notice to allow the game to go ahead.

On the field, Garvey went in front in the first quarter from the first clear-cut opportunity which fell the way of Ben Nelson. He spun well and found a perfect angle to shoot past Luke Roleston.

Banbridge, though, enjoyed a strong portion of the play of a tight first half to suggest they could cause problems after the break with Philip Brown a regular feature. Bann were level with six minutes remaining in the third quarter via Chris Curry and he went close to putting his side in front soon after.

The pendulum swung back the hosts way for a brief spell with Troy Chambers turning on the after-burners but Banbridge went in front on the counter as the action heated up, Louis Rowe scoring the breakaway goal.

Garvey pressed on and were back on terms at 2-2 with 10 minutes to go when Ollie Kidd fired across goal and his action took a defensive stick to rebound into the backboard. Daniel Nelson and Chambers went extremely close to winning it but they had to settle for a point which sees them drop two points behind new leaders Glenanne at the halfway stage.

YMCA 1 (G Glutz) Corinthian 0
YMCA picked up their first win since the opening day of the season as they won their derby date with Corinthian courtesy of Grant Glutz’s single goal. It lifts them to seventh place in the table and remain two points above the relegation places.

Early on, reds’ player-coach Peter Caruth went close to breaking the deadlock but his volley was sent over the clubhouse by goalkeeper Jakim Bernsden while his side also ran up a series of penalty corners but to no avail in the first half.

YM, meanwhile, started the second half on the up with Harry McCarthy setting up Glutz and he powered home an upright reverse-stick shot for what proved the only goal of the day.

Ross Henderson fizzed a reverse just over as the Y stepped things up significantly before Corinthian replied with a couple of big chances going incomplete. They won further corners in the closing quarter but they were repelled too and YM had a crucial three points to their name.

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Ards and Monkstown make big moves in women’s EYHL2

Ards saw off Trinity 4-0 in their final EYHL2 game of 2021 at Londonderry Park, making it 12 points from a possible 15 to head the Pool A table after week three of the competition. Frankie Brown opened the scoreline early on for Ards with youngster Erin McKinley making it 2-0 before the end of the first half.

Trinity looked stronger in the second half, finding some success with aerials from their defensive line and winning a series of short corners, but the Trinity strikers were unable to get anything past the Ards goalkeeper Naomi McKnight.

In the final quarter, after missing a stroke, Brown got her second of the game after showing off some nice 3D skills along the byline and managing to get the final touch on a rebound in front of goal.

The final Ards goal came from Ellen Robinson who deflected a shot from Ards midfielder Amy Benson, over the Trinity goalkeeper to make the score 4-0 in favour of the Oranges.

Elsewhere in the group, UCC landed an important 3-0 win over debutantes Galway in front of a healthy crowd at Dangan. Abi O’Mahony put the Cork side in front in the 20th minute from play before Emma O’Sullivan added another on the half-hour.

Caoimhe Perdue stretched out the lead to three to lift UCC to seven points and second spot going into the winter pause.

In Pool B, Monkstown are very much proving the team to beat as they came back from a goal down to beat Queen’s 4-1 at Rathdown with Anna O’Flanagan adding another double to her tally for the season with Emily Kealy in outstanding form.

After waves of Town attacks, they were caught cold when Alyssa Jebb intercepted a free in her own half and set Jessica McMaster off on a run. She fed the ball back to Jebb who had time to wind up a shot as the ball crossed the circle line and then smacked into the bottom corner.

Despite plenty of chaos in the Queen’s circle and a plethora of chances for Monkstown, it remained that way to half-time. Chloe Watkins then saw a corner chance tipped off the line while Rebecca Spence made an amazing block from Anna O’Flanagan.

Queen’s were denied a potential stroke for a back-stick at the far end and, within a minute, Town were level with an incredible goal when O’Flanagan put Emily Kealy through on the right. She flipped it onto her reverse and cracked home a tomahawk.

Claire O’Reilly batted in O’Flanagan’s looping shot for 2-1 as Monkstown finally made their pressure pay. Kealy had played an integreal role in that build-up and she did so again for 3-1 in the fourth quarter, dancing through a series of tackles before crossing for O’Flanagan a couple of feet out of goal to turn home.

O’Flanagan then poached another from close range as she showed the most determination to scramble home amid a pile-on on the Queen’s goal line. With five points for a win, the result has Monkstown 10 points clear of second placed Queen’s in the group.

Lurgan, meanwhile, are on two draws from two outings after they were held to a 0-0 draw by a stubborn NUIG who could not be broken down in the second half. It has them in third place on four points with Cork C of I and NUIG on two points.

Women’s EYHL Division 2
Pool 1: Ards 4 (F Brown 2, E McKinley, E Robinson) Trinity 0; Galway 0 UCC 3 (A O’Mahony, E O’Sullivan, C Perdue)
Pool 2: Lurgan 0 NUIG 0; Monkstown 4 (A O’Flanagan 2, E Kealy, C O’Reilly) Queens University 1 (A Jebb)

Action from Galway versus UCC in the women’s EYHL2. Picture: Thomas Hughes

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Pembroke in seventh heaven as Belfast Quins land crucial victory

Women’s EY Hockey League round-up
Pembroke 7 (A Griffin 2, G Pinder, E Horan, R O’Brien, O Macken, C Moroney) Cork Harlequins 0
Pembroke will take a seven-point lead into the new year to put themselves very much in the driving seat for a maiden EY Hockey League title.

Gillian Pinder broke the deadlock in the 11th minute following a composed attack, Ellen Curran dodging into space and then picking a super pass to the high forward behind the last defender who a simple finish. Ciara Moroney made it 2-0 in the second quarter from Pinder’s assist, a smart backhand strike.

Cliodhna Sargent blocked a heavily deflected Orla Macken corner shot off the line but just before half-time, Ali Griffin thumped in from the right of the D from a long corner move.

Eanna Horan cracked in the fourth from a rebound in the third quarter and Rachel O’Brien got the next in the closing period from close range. Macken got her goal from Martha McCready’s cross following a smart run by O’Brien and the tally was complete when Griffin cleaned up a corner rebound.

Belfast Harlequins 2 Muckross 1
Belfast Harlequins edged clearer of the EYHYL relegation zone with this hard-fought win over fellow strugglers Muckross at a bitterly cold Deramore. The hosts were 2-0 up in the second half but the Dubliners set up a grandstand finish after pulling a goal back with 20 minutes to go.

The result ended a six-game losing streak for Quins and, more importantly, saw them open up a five-point gap over their opponents. The Ulster side have six points from 10 matches, Muckross have one as do basement side Cork Harlequins, with the bottom two having played a game less.

However, with several top-line players due to return after the Christmas break and that cushion, the south Belfast side will be confident of avoiding the drop. Irish international twins Beth and Serena Barr will be back in action after suffering cruciate ligament injuries while Julie Dennison is due to return after maternity leave.

In this season’s new signing, Jane Kirkpatrick, Harlequins have compensated for the loss of those key players and the newly-capped Irish international stole the show on Saturday.
Although a defender in name, the former Lisnagarvey and Ards player made a rich contribution all over the pitch.

She set up numerous attacks with her accurate passing causing Muckross problems at the back. Kirkpatrick had a shot blocked in the 25th minute which was the only real chance of a cagey first half.

Quins broke the deadlock three minutes after the break, Katherine Welshman firing home from a penalty corner. Five minutes later, it was 2-0, Jenna Watt scoring from a narrow angle after Kirkpatrick had seen her shot blocked.

In the 50th minute, Muckross pulled one back when Leila O’Byrne finished clinically from mid-circle. Play swung from end to end after that with Quins holding on for a crucial three points.

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