HOCKEY Men's Hockey: One of the most competitive games of the weekend, and one which raised over 1,200 for the tsunami relief fund, was the Peard Cup final in Cork on Saturday when C of I beat Harlequins 3-2 at Farmers Cross.
Both sides would have had next Saturday's Irish Senior Cup ties in mind, with C of I - well served by Jason Lynch among their up-an-coming players - gaining considerable encouragement for the visit of Banbridge.
After a scoreless first half, C of I surged into a 3-1 lead, capped by a vintage goal by Ali Dunne, but Harlequins went close to forcing extra-time as they put much concentration into honing short-corner routines in preparation for a familiar clash with Glenanne at all-Ireland level.
Glenanne tuned up for the visit to Cork with two wins against Trinity, playing assertively yesterday to beat the students 5-1 in their Mills Cup tie at Santry after a closer game (3-2) in the Leinster Senior League.
Colin Cunningham added a goal to two strikes by John Goulding to put Glenanne three up at St Mark's on Saturday when Trinity rallied to reduce the margin at the end. Glenanne, though, pulled clear yesterday with Goulding getting a hat-trick.
While Pembroke Wanderers eased to a 4-0 league win over Clontarf at Serpentine Avenue they and fellow joint leaders Glenanne will be aware of the constant challenge of Aer Lingus, who reversed an earlier defeat by Three Rock Rovers with a handsome 4-1 victory at the airport.
Aer Lingus stay just two points off the pace and, furthermore, they could well trouble Annadale in the Irish Senior Cup.
Monkstown, who visit Kilkeel in the all-Ireland competition, showed their battling qualities to recover from being 2-1 down to repeat a 3-2 victory against Corinthians at Whitechurch Park, where Alan Lewis scored the winner.
YMCA and Railway Union's 3-3 draw at Claremont Road leaves both teams in the lower half of the table. They have, however, reached the quarter-finals of the Mills Cup, with Neil Lyons registering a hat-trick in YMCA's 10-0 defeat of St James's Gate yesterday and Railway beating Clontarf 4-0. Robbie Byrnes was three times on target in Corinthians' 8-0 scoreline against Skerries.
Overall, with first-division sides rampant, there was a glut of goals in the second-round cup games, notably at Grange Road, though Three Rock Rovers only edged out Suttonians 6-5, Neil Denham scoring the winner.
By far the closest match was Monkstown's 1-0 elimination of UCD, Cliff Bailey deciding the issue with 10 minutes to go.
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