Dry run

Ah, Lisnagarvey. Don't you just love their style. The defeated finalists in this year's Irish Senior Cup hockey final have a certain knack of shaping people's opinion of them.

Take last weekend when Dublin's Pembroke Wanderers beat them after a close match and a penalty shoot-out at Belfield. Not one player went to the bar afterwards for a drink or sandwich. Not one player returned to Pembroke for a drink or cup of tea. So the champions drank alone.

It appears that the club had arranged something in Lisburn so pressing as to necessitate them jumping on the bus and whizzing back up to their own ground Blaris in Lisburn.

Fair enough you might think, but why didn't the club arrange something in Blaris three years ago when they played in the same cup final? Why, Pembroke are still restocking the bar after the "Garvey" celebrations. That year of course, Lisnagarvey won the match. As they used to say in the game, Hip . . . Hip . . . Hurray. .