HOCKEY/YMCA 1 Lisnagarvey 3: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 waltzed to their first IHL crown.
With it comes a first trip to the EuroHockey League as they got the better of YMCA 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.
Cockram found the route past the outstanding Graham Woods – only playing due to Iain Walker’s debilitating shoulder injury – in the 47th minute.
An elaborate switch move saw Steven Arbuthnot double the score before Jamie Tobin got YMCA back into the tie near the close of the third quarter.
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.
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 Â
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.
