Men’s Irish Hockey League, final
YMCA 1 (Jamie Tobin) Lisnagarvey 3 (Timmy Cockram 2, Stevie Arbuthnot)
For a club with Lisnagarvey’s impeccable record, seven years is a lengthy wait for a national title but, after two consecutive final losses, the Ulster kingpins eased to their first IHL crown.
With it comes a first trip to the EuroHockey League as they got the better of YMCA – themselves hoping to end a 33-year wait for a top tier trophy – with plenty to spare.
Timmy Cockram was the class act, ripping home a penalty corner and nicking another off the line from Stuart McNeice to earn a share of the IHL’s top scorer’s crystalware.
He was later honoured with the Jimmy O’Connor Cup as tournament MVP with a superlative solo show.
Just two minutes had elapsed when the Irish international drove a low bullet at the bottom right corner, seemingly denied only by Ian McHugh’s foot.
No penalty stroke ensued but it was a warning shot and, after a number of other set pieces, Cockram found the route past the outstanding Graham Woods – only playing due to Iain Walker’s debilitating shoulder injury – in the 47th minute.
It was richly deserved for a dominant performance, the Dublin opposition offering only fleeting moments in attack with Johnny Bell and Brian Waring – one of just a couple of links to the 2005 vintage – untroubled at the back for the most part.
An elaborate switch move saw Steven Arbuthnot double the difference before Jamie Tobin got the Y back into the tie near the close of the third quarter.
It was a peach of a finish from the former UCD man, ghosting down the left and sliding past John Tormey, setting the move in motion before Marcus Richardson and Rob Whelan teed up the goal. But the hope was extinguished quickly.
Greg Thompson was left unattended on the right baseline and the finishers queued up at the back post with McNeice getting a goal-bound touch that Cockram poached from a matter of centimetres.
Sin-binnings for Stephen Walker and Dash Hewett further dimmed YM hopes and even the replacement of Woods with an extra outfielder for the closing five minutes could offer little more momentum.
YM still have a slight hope of reaching a rare European place should Lisnagarvey emulate their 2005 double-winning next weekend.
There, they play Railway Union in the semi-finals of the Irish Senior Cup and look the stand-out candidates in that competition after a dominant showing this weekend. If they do, YM take the second European club championship place on offer.
YMCA: G Woods, G Walker, S Walker, D Hewett, J Tobin, J Bruton, A Walker, M Richardson, W Powderly, D Robinson, I McHugh
Subs: S Parker, R Pedreschi, R Whelan, P Powderly, B Chadwick
Lisnagarvey: J Tormey, B Waring, J Bell, R Arneill, P MacDonnell, M Raphael, A Forrest, T Cockram, S Arbuthnot, D Buser, G Thompson
Subs: G Bittle, A Fallis, A McCann, S McNeice, M Harte
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| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Pembroke | 18 | 43 |
| 2 | • | Monkstown | 18 | 38 |
| 3 | • | TRR | 18 | 35 |
| 4 | • | UCD | 18 | 34 |
| 5 | • | Corinthian | 18 | 29 |
| 6 | • | Railway Union | 18 | 28 |
| 7 | • | YMCA | 18 | 24 |
| 8 | • | Glenanne | 18 | 14 |
| 9 | • | Fingal | 18 | 13 |
| 10 | • | Avoca | 18 | 2 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | UCD | 18 | 43 |
| 2 | • | Loreto | 18 | 42 |
| 3 | • | Railway Union | 18 | 40 |
| 4 | • | Hermes | 18 | 36 |
| 5 | • | Old Alex | 18 | 34 |
| 6 | • | Pembroke | 18 | 16 |
| 7 | ↑ | Glenanne | 18 | 14 |
| 8 | ↓ | Corinthian | 18 | 11 |
| 9 | • | North Kildare | 18 | 11 |
| 10 | • | Trinity College | 18 | 7 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Rathgar | 15 | 37 |
| 2 | • | Clontarf | 15 | 24 |
| 3 | • | Suttonians | 15 | 22 |
| 4 | • | Dublin University | 15 | 19 |
| 5 | • | Kilkenny | 15 | 15 |
| 6 | • | Weston | 15 | 10 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | • | Loreto II | 18 | 44 |
| 2 | • | Pembroke II | 18 | 41 |
| 3 | • | Genesis | 18 | 32 |
| 4 | • | Old Alex II | 18 | 30 |
| 5 | • | Three Rock | 18 | 27 |
| 6 | • | Hermes II | 18 | 25 |
| 7 | • | Railway Union II | 18 | 19 |
| 8 | • | Trinity II | 18 | 13 |
| 9 | • | Bray | 18 | 10 |
| 10 | • | Newbridge | 18 | 7 |
May 7, 2012 1:23 pm
Tom dunne says
Was I bang on with my predictions or what?
May 7, 2012 4:34 pm
Congratulations Tom says
Well done Tom. Good for you. Medal in the post for you
May 7, 2012 9:57 pm
Tom dunne says
Have u got the right address?
May 8, 2012 11:27 am
hockey neutral says
unbelieveable prediction Tom – - imagine, who would have thought it. Garvey winning a competition on their own patch. Especially as Y had to play their semi on the other pitch which has a different pace, different ball reaction to aerials and then play the final on the pitch that Garvey use 2/3 times per week. Fair play to you – - give yourself sn onion !!
May 8, 2012 12:11 pm
hockey neutral says
Was the YM semi not changed by the IHA because YM and Monkstown had players with exams on saturday evening? So they made the game earlier to give those players a chance to get to the exam?
Maybe the hockey neutral above didnt know that.
May 8, 2012 12:11 pm
@hockey neutral says
all a bit harsh surely!?
why do people feel the need to always be so negative with comments on the hook? just say well done or leave it, nobody wants to read childish comments like the above!
May 8, 2012 12:15 pm
Paddy Power says
re Hockey Neutral
Lisnagarvey won fair and square, irrespective of the points you are making re pitch. Ultimately, Lisnagarvey had the same advantage last year and didn’t win it! It’s not their fault they bid for the tournament and the IHA gave it to them. Lisnagarvey have lost players this season and haven’t brought in 1/2/3 overseas players like YM. They were the best team because quite simply they have they best players. What defeated YM was the fact they wouldn’t (or couldn’t) get out of their own half. Totally outplayed from start to finish. Nothing to do with bounce of the pitch, pace. You could have played the final in the car park and you would have got the same result.
May 8, 2012 12:47 pm
Tobafemi Martins says
Tobafemi gets it DONE, size of him
May 8, 2012 1:47 pm
Hockey neutral says
YM should not be so negative towards Garvey who beat them fair and square, they should really get behind them for next weekend. If Garvey win that too then YM will be in Europe! (A shocking thought)
To be honest I think the reason Garvey won the IHL was due to the stupid IHL bonus point rule. They should have topped the group and faced Monkstown in the semi final, setting up the likely match up of a Cookstown v Garvey final, which would have been a better spectacle! With the extra match under their belts Cookstown, who in my opinion are a much better team, would have beaten Garvey. The league never lies…
May 8, 2012 2:05 pm
Watcher says
Guess all these hockey neutrals are not actually the same person or there;s some serious mental issues to be addressed. The one at 1.47pm is probably the most humourous comment to appear on this site this week.
Cookstown (which I’m guessing you’re a fan of) offered so little against Garvey – a side that beat them four of five one and then drew. A couple of crash balls which got lucky did not show them offering more to the game. They were outplayed massively but got seriosuly lucky.
Suggesting the bonus point system was the fault of them not winning the thing is laughable. Anyway, think people had the same worries when Cookstown went to the EHL last year as they might have about YM. Fact is, Irish teams are not at the level of two/three years ago when Pembroke, glenanne and Three rock were able to call on top players and progress. We don’t have that now and each team will find it much tougher.
May 8, 2012 2:16 pm
Pointing out the obvious says
The league doesn’t lie, Garvey did win the Irish Hockey League!!
May 8, 2012 2:28 pm
@Hockey Neutral Number 2 says
I think Hockey Neutral No.2 has made a number of huge statements here which have to be address. He/she seems to have some sort of mystical ball wich can predict what could have been if their team (Cookstown) had actually topped the group and then gone on to beat YM. I think thats a whole lot of Ifs and unfortunately Cookstown did neither!
He also mentions that YM are being negative towards Garvey. One comment above mentions that Garvey had home advantage. While the comment may not be the most unbiased- the point stands- Garvey had the home advantage! The 1 comment above does not suggest that YM are ‘negative towards Garvey’(whatever that actually means)it just gives 1 persons opinion. Your not dealing with an onslaught of unhappy YM fans giving out that the IHL Final was in Garvey…so maybe just relax and rather then making rash over arching statements.
Secondly, as if this isnt already obvious but Il mention it in case you had’nt already caught on- the bonus point system is a way to make the IHL league more exciting. It means that teams have to score goals. High scoring games are far more exciting then nil all draws and as such teams are encouraged to do things like take your keeper out for the last 3 in favour of 11 players which makes good watching. YM new the rules (as all other teams did) and played it to their advantage-hence they topped the group!They should be commended for playing smart hockey not written off as you have above. Garvey won because they were a better team on the day and YM deserved their place as their oposition. Cookstown were not present on the day because they didnt perform- End of!!
May 8, 2012 4:39 pm
2020 says
This is pure madness so many negative comments about Garvey winning the IHL title they have worked hard to win the title fair an square. YM couldn’t step up to the plate on Sunday and get the ball out of there 25 and Garvey saw the cracks in YM’s defense. I am hoping that Garvey miss out on win this weekend so YM can be in Europe next season because they don’t deserve to be there.
May 8, 2012 4:55 pm
Cookstown Hockey Club says
Congratulations to Lisnagarvey on winning the Irish Hockey League – and good luck in the EHL next year.
It is great to see a third Ulster team going to experience a fantastic tournament.
Bad luck to Monkstown and YM who like ourselves came up short at the weekend.
Good luck to all four teams playing in the Senior Cup semis.
May 8, 2012 6:02 pm
YMHockey says
Well done to Garvey. They were the better team on the day and every YM person there recognised that. No one in the club has any problem with Garvey hosting the finals. They did a great job and what a great setup.
Team will use this as a learning experience. Sure it took Garvey 3 attempts! Good luck Garvey in ISC. Please do us a favour
May 8, 2012 10:56 pm
blimp says
There should definitely be some sort of play off for the final EHL spot. A losing team shouldn’t be gifted it.
May 8, 2012 11:31 pm
Credit says
Fair play to Tom Dunne and his predictions!
Got YM winning the semi right (just)
and spot on with the final, even the winning margin! Credit where credit’s due.
May 8, 2012 11:36 pm
Tom dunne says
I don’t know if you are aware, but there is a proposal under consideration to remove the bonus point system in IHL for the very reasons mentioned above. Garvey are a superb club with superb players. They will win ISC too. With both Pembroke and glenanne both out of the equation, can’t really see anyone threatening them. Thus….Ym get ehl spot. Not really fair at all and hence they also plan to change this route next year. I hope my predictions are wrong this time…sorry Ym people.
May 8, 2012 11:52 pm
Crowd says
Well done to Garvey on the pitch and well done off it. What an venue, great set up for the tournament. Little tented village. Great food. Sponsors cars. I think the mayor of somewhere was there, forgive me if I am wrong in saying Lisburn?
One huge negative, no fault of the club… But where we’re the supporters?! I can’t help but think that there was half of what would be there if it was in Dublin?
I am not saying it should be held there. It’s no distance up the road now but am I wrong in saying ulster hockey fans simply don’t come out?
May 9, 2012 10:35 am
Queso says
I actually believe that both the IHL finalists should get the EHL places on offer as reaching the IHL final requires a team to play more matches against a consistently higher standard of opponent (Top 4 Ulster + Leinster, Top 2 Munster, Top 2 Wildcards) than even winning the Irish Senior Cup requires.
In addition the entire IHL competition is actually played using the EHL rules whereas the ISC is not.
Over the course of last season (when Garvey & YM qualified for IHL) and this season, they have come out as the two top teams in the country.
However, I can appreciate that offering a European place as the carrot for the open draw ISC competition, really does give every club in the country a chance.
May 9, 2012 2:59 pm
herewegoagain says
Two points re all the above;
1 Home advantage can be lucky,normally goes to club/facilities with the ability to host.In 1979 YM won the Irish Senior Cup without leaving Claremont Rd.
2 The issue regarding the 2nd Irish club could be resolved by the performance of the Irish teams in next years competition a poor performance will see Ireland almost certainly lose the 2nd spot so the argument will be irrelevant.There is a big responsibilty on the clubs qualifying this year to perform in the first round of games in Oct .
May 9, 2012 4:59 pm
Paddy Power says
I think there is still scope to include the winners of the Irish Senior Cup in at least a play-off for an EHL place. If only because the clubs/players/teams/supporters still treat this as a premier competition, as far as I know the international players are available for it thus reducing the chances of a ‘lesser’ team winning it because of weakened teams playing in it, and ultimately there is still a lot of history attached to the Irish Senior Cup. It’s been a while too since a ‘lesser’ team won the Irish senior Cup and going by the winners over the last 20/30 years there doesn’t appear to be a random winner of it, as say you find occasionally with the FA/Carling Cup in football. Winners of Irish Senior Cup v runner up in IHL for second EHL place? If it’s the same team, then they automatically go through, if only becasue if they reach the ISC final and and an IHL semi then they must be a decent team. Haven’t thought this fully through but something along those lines!
May 10, 2012 9:44 am
Ulster man says
Have to agree with ‘crowd’. I was at the finals last weekend and being from Ulster know the superb facilities that Garvey have. However, the IHL is meant to be the biggest tournament in Ireland at the moment and the turn out for the whole weekend was a disgrace. Ulster people do not support hockey well and this was evident by the fact Garvey have 7 Mens teams and 4/5 Womens teams, but yet YM had just as many fans there as Garvey. If it had been in Dublin, you would have easily got double the fans. Now you could make an excuse that it was a Bank Holiday Weekend, but the turn out at these events has to be looked at, not just the facilities.
May 10, 2012 10:50 am
just a query says
is it not the runners up of the ISC who will get the 2nd EHL place should Garevy do the double, as it has always been ??
My understanding is that it is one entrant from IHL (who get teh Ireland ‘A’ spot in EHL ) and one from ISC( who get the ireland ‘B’)?? YM going through would mean two teams from same competition.
Has this changed if so when?
May 10, 2012 6:39 pm
Speedy says
For Just a Query:
The winner of the IHL shall represent the IHA in the senior EHL tournament in the following season.
In the event that the winner also wins the Irish Senior Cup, then the IHL runner-up shall represent the IHA at the second place EHL competition otherwise given to the ISC winner. As per http://www.irishhockeyleague.ie/qualifications.aspx
May 11, 2012 7:28 pm
What problems? says
Not giving YM the second place, should Lisnagarvey win the ISC, because they don’t deserve to be there is a bit of a disgrace? You don’t fluke your way into semi finals weekend of the IHL, all the teams are there on Merit. Yes, they only managed to get past Monkstown on Penalty 1 on 1′s, but considering the standard is so high at the IHL finals weekend, that isn’t something that demerits their final appearance.
What other solution do people propose? Let the ISC runner up go into the EHL because YM “didn’t deserve their place”? The IHL is the premier competition in the country, and one that clubs probably throw the most at the try and win. Therefore the finalists are arguably the best teams in the country when operating at their maximum, and certainly the best teams in the competition that year. Fact is, there is no other criteria to judge the standard of Irish teams other than the IHL and the ISC, so if the winner of both turns out to be the same, it only makes sense for the runner up of the bigger competition to get the second spot. We can’t simply choose to bring in a different team because YM “aren’t up to the standard”, making the IHL final shows by itself they’re up to the standard. The issue doesn’t need to be addressed, they’ve proved themselves to be the second best team in the country, there’s no other viable method for picking a different EHL entrant. You get a champions league place for finishing 4th in the premiership don’t you? It’s not giving a team a pity entry, it’s given them a spot for being the second best the country has to offer.
This of course all being redundant if Lisnagarvey don’t win the ISC this weekend, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was also some dispute about the entrant that brings up. We no longer have the Pembrokes and Glenannes of a few years ago. As it stands, we don’t have many teams that are capable of making a realistic challenge in Europe, and those that apparently are certainly aren’t currently showing it in the national competitions. You’ve got to prove your ability like Lisnagarvey have done before you can claim you’re worthy of an EHL place!
May 12, 2012 9:45 am
blimp says
Getting a champions league spot for finishing 4th is the equivalent of getting an IHL spot for finishing 4th in your league.
YM should play the runner up of the ISC should Garvey win it.
Possibly people are just upset because YM did so poorly in every other competition, and haven’t yet even qualified for IHL next year and they’re possibly the team representing Ireland in the EHL.