Shannon Boucher leads Glenanne to victory over Railway

Glenanne will take the major impetus into the final round of the men's EY Hockey League in the battle for the fourth and final Champions Trophy playoff place as they somehow ran out 3-1 winners over Railway Union.

As so often this season, their South African import Shannon Boucher was the key man, living off scraps but he still managed to rip home a hat trick – his second treble of the season against Railway.

He gave the Tallaght side a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute but they had to survive a sustained onslaught from Railway, running up 10 penalty corners. They could find no way past the immaculate Lukasz Domachowski until 10 minutes from the end when Richard Forrest netted.

But, direct from tip off, Stu Ronan latched on to a long overhead and squared for Boucher to score. He added another for good measure at the death for a hugely important win that gives them a one-point buffer over Pembroke.

Missed chances

It sees them move ahead of Three Rock Rovers who dropped out of the top four due to their 2-1 loss at Banbridge on Sunday. They will rue a series of missed chances in their Saturday game against Pembroke when they drew 1-1 at Grange Road, opening the door for the Glens.

Bann and Monkstown confirmed their place in the playoffs with their respective results from the double weekend, the latter edging out Cookstown 2-1 on Saturday.

Cork C of I gave themselves a massive boost in their bid to beat the drop after their 2-1 win against Bann on Saturday.