MEN'S HOCKEY MILLS CUP FINAL: Corinthian 3 Pembroke 2: ROWLAND RIXON-Fuller's silver goal meant Corinthian will celebrate the club's 75th anniversary in style, as they beat Pembroke 3-2 at Grange Road yesterday to claim the Leinster Senior Mills Cup.
The Zimbabwean tapped in from close-in, rounding off the final’s best piece of individual action just 25 seconds into extra-time of a high-tempo affair.
Hard-hitting midfielder Andrew Sutton’s long break-out down the right flank to the baseline was garnished with a delightful feint to entice goalkeeper David Harte a few inches off his line. Sutton duly rolled the ball between the goalkeeper and his near-post to the waiting Rixon-Fuller.
The silver-goal ruling meant seven more fraught minutes needed to be negotiated, especially when Davy Carson was sin-binned for protesting.
Brian Doherty charged down an Alan Sothern corner as Pembroke laid siege to the Corinthian goal.
They camped in opposition territory – as they had done for long periods of the second half – but could create little in the way of goalmouth openings.
Indeed, the reds had the better chances to close the game out with Darren Kimfley hitting the side-netting twice.
Early on, Pembroke had taken the lead when Alan Sothern netted a drag-flick in the 15th minute.
With Conor Harte in the sin-bin, Doherty equalised in similar fashion from Corinthian’s first corner seven minutes before the break and the Ireland A squad member was instrumental in putting his side ahead.
Again from a corner, he dragged low for Andrew Cronje to slide in and deflect over David Harte.
Pembroke pressed forward at high speed to rein in the deficit, their speed of free-taking leading to John McInroy’s key sin-binning.
The Corinthian player-coach had a fractious afternoon all round against his former club mates, starting with a first-minute dust-up with Conor Harte.
He was yellow-carded for not retreating quickly enough. Cronje, the linchpin in the Corinthian defence, followed him to the sidelines two minutes later with a second recurrence of cramp. He had been out injured since early February but his departure left the embattled side missing two strong leaders on the park.
Sothern duly levelled to force extra-time with yet another drag-flick but within minutes Corinthian had the vital goal to pick up their first senior title since 2005, when they also needed extra-time to gain the Mills Cup.
It gives tangible reward to a side on the up since last December after a tricky opening to the season. The turning point for the multi-cultural side came when South African internationals Cronje and Kimfley joined the club.
Since the pairs arrival, the club have jumped back into contention for an Irish Hockey League qualifying place, though that issue took a mighty blow on the morning of the game.
Just hours before tip-off, the Leinster Hockey website announced a three-point penalty for the Reds for playing an unregistered player against Fingal on December 13th – the first game Kimfley and Cronje played for the club.
CORINTHIAN: Murray, Cronje, Williams, A Blennerhassett, Doherty, Sutton, Pelow, Warren, McInroy, Kimfley, Rixon-Fuller. Subs: Lobsey, Micks, Carson, Holmes, Motyer.
PEMBROKE:Harte, Giles, Fulton, Elliott, Conlon, Loughrey, Furlong, Sherriff, Sothern, Lewis, Harte. Subs: Elliott, Erasmus, O'Connor, Treacy
