MENS HOCKEY: Monkstown made up for two defeats in three days for the senior team when the juniors carried off the Leinster Under-21 Cup with a 3-1 victory over the Derek Price Trophy holders, Trinity, at Serpentine Avenue yesterday.
It was a pity that the game had to go ahead without three leading figures - Gareth Watkins of Monkstown and the Trinity pair, Phelie Maguire and Peter Blakeney - who were training on David Passmore's new National panel.
Nevertheless, it was a skilful contest in which Monkstown, commanded by Colin Black at the back, mounted the more fluent start to gain a 3-0 lead at the interval. Robbie Burke opened the scoring, Paul Hammond added the second following a short corner and a finely-struck set-piece goal by Richie O'Malley left his side in a comfortable position.
In a relaxed second half, Trinity, prompted notably by Alec Barrett, rallied encouragingly but were rewarded only at the end when the captain, David Needham, opened the way for Umar Ahmed to reduce the deficit.
In the Leinster Senior League on Saturday, Monkstown lost some ground in their challenge for the title as they went under 2-0 at Booterstown to Pembroke Wanderers who thus stayed clear at the top of the table with Glenanne.
Pembroke largely showed championship form, boosted by an early goal when Gordon Eliott broke free before the home cover had settled, allowing Alan Sothern to seize the chance.
With Brian Groves leading the way, Monkstown sought an equaliser with typical resolve, but with Nigel Henderson back in action for Pembroke and Ronan Gormley and Stephen Smith lending effective support, the visitors gained sufficient control.
David Fitzgerald, though, made a confident senior debut between the Monkstown posts and it was only in the closing stages, following a short-corner scramble, that Gormley put away the second goal.
Glenanne were not particularly troubled by being 2-1 in arrears to Railway Union at Park Avenue, for they could rely on John Goulding to poach several finishing touches in the second half for a 4-2 win.
Aer Lingus, for whom Adrian Sweeney notched a last-minute "golden goal" in the 3-2 defeat of Monkstown in Thursday's Neville Cup semi-final, enjoyed a free-flowing 6-1 victory over Clontarf in the north Dublin derby. The airport side, with Trevor Parsons marking his return from injury by scoring twice, remain just two points behind the leaders.
Aer Lingus, in the Neville Cup final for the first time, will relish their assignment on St Stephen's Day against Pembroke, having been the only team to beat the champions in this season's league.
