HOCKEY: Garvey see off Students

Lisnagarvey are well back '˜in the mix' for the EYHL title after the results of round 10 last week end.
Lisnagarvey's Jenna McQueen gets her pass away before Queen's Anna Hutchinson could challenge.Lisnagarvey's Jenna McQueen gets her pass away before Queen's Anna Hutchinson could challenge.
Lisnagarvey's Jenna McQueen gets her pass away before Queen's Anna Hutchinson could challenge.

They defeated a very defensive UCD at Belfield 2-0, while their two closest rivals, Monkstown and Banbridge were both beaten by Cork Church of Ireland and Three Rock Rovers respectively.

This leaves the point situation closer than ever with a single point separating the top four teams with eight matches left in the programme.

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However, Garvey were totally dominant against their student opponents last Saturday but again suffered from the inability of finishing off the opposition after creating a massive number of scoring chances.

The visitors began the game as they intended, putting the university defence under severe pressure giving first, Sean Murray the opportunity to score after good work on the left by Matthew Nelson and then Neil Glassey who found the U.C.D. keeper Conor Quinn in fine form in the seventh minute.

Garvey forced the first of nine corners in the 8th minute but the routine was wasted and after Murray had a shot scraped off the goal line in the 15th minute, Garvey having pummelled the UCD defence were still goalless at the end of the opening quarter.

Garvey’s third set piece in the 19th minute, taken by Paul Gleghorne, cannoned off the cross bar while Quinn denied Andy Williamson with another great stick save in the 23rd minute of a very one-sided game.

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Williamson shot past the post when well placed in the 27th minute but in the 29th minute,

Garvey broke the seal with a fine move involving Murray and Glassey before Ryan Getty popped up at the far left hand post to open the scoring with a simple finish.

Neil Glassey worked his way through the UCD defence in the 31st minute but could not complete what would have been a move while Garvey’s fourth penalty corner was again ruined by poor execution.

The first half ended with Garvey still totally in control of the game but just a single goal ahead but after more pressure the precious points were secured in the 42nd minute when at last they converted a penalty corner; it was James Lorimer who eventually beat the brave Conor Quinn with a fast drag flick giving his team a vital two goal cushion.

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Another set piece was forced during a period of pressure but this time the switch of the ball led to Andy Williamson deflecting the ball narrowly wide of the post with Quinn flat–footed.

Three minutes later their seventh penalty corner was also directed past the post and at the end of the third quarter Garvey were still well in command with a 2-0 lead.

The final quarter took a similar pattern to the rest of the one-sided match with Garvey striving for a third goal and their opponents seemingly content in soaking up almost constant pressure with James Milliken in the Garvey goal having only one touch of the ball throughout the entire 70 minutes.

Garvey totally deserved their 2-0 victory with their only problem being the lack of finishing power after a great dominating performance in the mid-field department.

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Garvey have one more EYHL match before a three week break for the Irish Cup and an Ireland international tour to South Africa.

They play Railway Union this Saturday at Comber Road and following their 7-0 win in Dublin and with the possible return of Timmy Cockram to the squad, Garvey will be ready to mount a EYHL title charge when they play Pembroke on February 11th.

Meanwhile Queen’s Ladies made amends for their Shield final defeat as they got their first win in four starts with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Lisnagarvey Ladies.

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