Roberts the Dale hero as Railway run out of steam
ANNADALE have hauled themselves up to sixth place in the EY Irish Hockey League after they came from behind to chalk up a vital 2-1 win over bottom club Railway Union yesterday at Strathearn.
And they turned out to be the only winner from Ulster’s four IHL clubs over the weekend, Banbridge and Cookstown being held to draws and Lisnagarvey losing their unbeaten record to league leaders Glenanne in Dublin on Saturday.
The Dale, missing their inspirational but injured player/coach Peter Caruth, did it the hard way, having to come from behind to snatch the three points thanks to late goals from Connor Roberts and John Taylor.
Eoin McArthur had given Railway the lead but Taylor’s equaliser gave them the incentive to snatch the winner through Roberts with just five minutes left on the clock.
Cookstown’s clash with Monkstown at Steelweld Park was a thriller, with the teams sharing eight goals.
Hero for the the Tyrone club was Keith Black who produced a stunning hat-trick to peg back the Dublin side when it looked like they were going to return south with a win. Banbridge earned their point through Philip Brown who converted a last-gasp penalty corner to make it 2-2 at Cork of I.
They had taken the lead through Neil Gilmore but then trailed to a Philip Brownlow double before their blond defender put away the set piece with the last hit of the game.
However, Bann remain without a win since mid-October and lie in a lowly seventh place.
Garvey, though, went down 3-2 to Glenanne - the sixth odd-goal win for the Dubliners from their opening eight games to date.
They were always trailing after Eddie O’Malley struck twice and Shane O’Donoghue put away a penalty corner to open a 3-1 halftime lead in Dublin.
But the Blues put in a storming finish during which Paul Gleghorne pulled one back and they had sufficient chances to level at least.
But they now trail the leaders by six points, although they have a game in hand against Banbridge.
Meanwhile South Antrim were the only winners from the top five in the Ulster Premier League, after Johnny Brown and Chris Henry each got a brace in a 6-1 win at bottom club Raphoe.
Leaders Bangor squandered a two-goal lead and had to settle for a 2-2 home draw against Belfast Harlequins while Mossley and unbeaten Instonians drew 1-1 at The Glade.
Fifth placed North Down also drew, being held 1-1 by Newry, a game which had a handful of talking points.
Newry weren’t happy when the Comber team were awarded a penalty stroke which Josh Gilmore converted but the border lads levelled when Keith McWilliams scored his seventh goal of the season.
Other talking points saw Lindsay Beck save Gareth McKeown’s penalty stroke, Newry having two yellow carded late on, and then North Down having a James Clarke goal ruled out for being hit marginally outside the circle.
Unbeaten Kilkeel squeezed in their game during midweek, with David Rae knocking in four in a 7-0 win ov er Cliftonville to keep them in the frame.
EY Irish Hockey League: Cookstown
4 (K Black 3, M Kerr) Monkstown 4 (S Nolan 2, K Smyth, G Sarratt); Annadale 2 (C Roberts, J Taylor) Railway Union 1 (E McArthur); Glenanne 3 (E O’Malley 2, S O’Donoghue) Lisnagarvey 2 (S Murray, P Gleghorne); Cork C of I 2 (P Brownlow 2) Banbridge 2 (N Gilmore, P Brown); Pembroke Wanderers 2 (G Chambers, A Sothern) Three Rock Rovers 2 (R Pautz, B Walker)
Ulster Premier League: Bangor 2 (C Campbell, R Burgess) Belfast Harlequins 2 (A Tweed, J Wilson); Mossley 1 (R Lyall) Instonians 1 (S Kelso); Queen’s 0 Portadown 2 ( Winter, J Brown); Civil Service 4 (C Barnes 2, C Bannister, M Willis) Antrim 3 (J Rowe 3); Raphoe 1 (W Kilpatrick) South Antrim 6 (J Brown 2, C Henry 2, A Glass, R Brown); North Down 1 J Gilmore) Newry 1 (K McWilliams)