It may not have been noticed by the saturated attendance at Grange Road yesterday but there were some Asian touches generated by Glenanne coach Nasir Munir in his side's latest success, the capture of the Cable & Wireless Leinster Senior Cup from Pembroke Wanderers.
"Yes, we are blending our styles to some degree," he said after this season's unbeaten run was extended to 28 matches as Pembroke's four-year grip on the Mills Cup was broken and Glenanne regained the trophy for the first time since they first won it six seasons ago at the start of their surge to top spot in the land.
There will still be a challenge, of course, from Pembroke in next Saturday's Irish Senior Cup semi-final at Tallaght. If the sun's on their backs, perhaps Pembroke will feel more motivated than they were yesterday.
They had the encouragement of taking the lead through Alan Giles from a weaving thrust in the sixth minute but Glenanne drove into the rain and showed their intentions.
Devin Kehoe got a touch to a free to equalise and Pembroke were surprised when Stephen Butler switched a short corner to Joe Brennan, who assertively made it 2-1 at the interval.
Although Stephen Stewart levelled matters from a set-piece early in the second half, Glenanne forced their way back in front as Butler scored at the second attempt from a corner.
The margin would have been extended in the closing stages if Nigel Henderson had been less attentive to John Goulding's desire to figure on the scoresheet, yet a last-minute charge by Justin Sherriff went close to prolonging the struggle.
In the Under-16 Cup final, a second-half goal by Stephen Macken following a short corner earned Three Rock Rovers a 1-0 win over Corinthians, holders of the Benny Atkinson trophy.
Rovers, off to Holland at Easter, were more dominant after a testing first period. Andrew McConnell and Stewart McDonnell put on a good deal of pressure but there was notable resistance from Andrew Sutton, Barry Glavey, Eoin O'Connor and Ross Gribben.
GLENANNE: I Clarke, P Fitzpatrick, D Shaw, K Bolger, J Brennan; G Shaw, S Butler, A Browne (capt); M Lambe, J Goulding, D Kehoe. Sub: A Goulding.
PEMBROKE WANDERERS: N Henderson; K Treacy, A Kershaw, R Gormley; P Carley; F de Rosa, D Donnelly, S Stewart (capt); J Sherriff, G Elliott, A Giles. Subs: P Good, M Tijs.
Umpires: T Goode, K McGinley.
THREE ROCK ROVERS: R Irvine; S Macken, M Maguire, S Roche, J Bryan, R McFarland, A McConnell (capt), R Meredith, S McDonnell, O Goodman. A Haughton. Subs: D Good, M Pearson, J Sargeant, C Aylmer, D Fox.
CORINTHIANS: R Gribben; R Osman, D Harkin, E O'Connor, J Ellis King, I Slattery, B Glavey, A Sutton (capt), A Stanley, S Evans, C Cahill. Subs: C Pelow, I Billfalk-Kelly.
Umpires: D MacNally, N Mackay
