Garvey’s double delight
The northern side, cup winners last month, secured the Howard Holdings All-Ireland club championships at Garryduff with a 4-0 victory over debutants Aer Lingus, which followed a weekend win over Cork Harlequins (3-1) and a draw with Anndale (1-1).
Indeed the latter could have secured the title with victory over Harlequins but a 2-2 draw meant the title was heading north.
Lisnagarvey captain Errol Lutton afterwards described their victory as "a magnificent achievement," adding that it was very rare for a club to win both competitions in one season.
"This is probably more satisfying than winning the cup because the format means that you have to beat all the top teams in the country all in the space of three days, whereas in the cup you can get the odd easy tie here and there," said Lutton.
"We did not have it easy against any of them. We beat Harlequins 3-1 on Saturday, but that was not an easy game by any means. The draw against Annadale on Sunday was a tough match too, but it at least opened the door for us to go out and win the competition by beating Aer Lingus."
Lutton described yesterday's victory as being "a lot tougher than the scoreline might suggest" and said his men had to dig deep mentally to secure the title.
"A competition like this has obvious physical demands, but the real problem is keeping your mental focus and sharpness. Thankfully, we were able to do that today."
Though Instonians achieved the double last year, Lutton believes his side's achievement was greater, as they had to adjust to water based pitches in Belfield and Garryduff for the finals, after a season on a sand based surface. "Those factors made winning the competition all the more pleasurable for us," he said.
Three first-half goals from Ivan Steen, Kevin Lunn and Tim Cockram laid the foundations for the win and, in truth the Lisnagarvey lead probably would have been greater had it not been for Nigel Grothier in the Aer Lingus goal. The fact he won the 'goalkeeper of the tournament' award was testament to his endeavours.
The fourth, scored in the 69th minute by Mark Tumilty, meant that Annadale had to put five unanswered goals past Harlequins if they were to capture the title.
Nevertheless, Annadale started their game against the local outfit in a bright fashion and unlocked the Harlequins defence in the 29th minute with a goal credited to Ian Hamilton, although there was a suspicion that Ian McKeown may have got the final touch.
Six minutes after the restart Harlequins were back in it when David Eakins scored a memorable solo goal. Right at the death he thought he'd won it for them with a cracking second set up by Richard Gash. However, Annadale were awarded a penalty corner right on the final hooter and Ian Hamilton finished it spectacularly to secure the draw and second place overall. Harlequins, unhappy with some of yesterday's umpiring decisions, finished third with Aer Lingus fourth.
In the ladies competition, Pegasus scored a 2-1 win over Hermes in the final game to ensure that both club titles go north this year.
This was a winner-take-all affair as the earlier 3-3 draw between Railway Union and Randalstown was meaningless, even though it was a terrific game of hockey.
Goals by captain Arlene Boyle in the seventh minute and Jill Orbinson (57) set Pegasus up for the victory, while Carol Devine's 69th minute reply for Hermes was a mere consolation.
Pegasus thus took the title while Hermes finished second, with Railway Union third and Randalstown fourth.
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