CONTRASTING experiences of the underdogs made up the principal tales of Saturday's hockey activities. For the first time in the Donegal club's history, Raphoe beat illustrious Lisnagarvey in the Ulster Senior League (3-2) and while another gritty side, Skerries, lost only "by 2-1 to Glenanne in the first round of the Leinster Senior Cup, complete outsiders Naas cheerily accepted a 12-0 astroturf defeat by Pembroke Wanderers.
Earlier in the week, Naas realised that they were going to be seriously short of first XI personnel - notably their captain Charlie Hill, former Limerick hurler Pat Herbert and leading marksman John Dunne - but it was too late for a postponement to be granted, so a squad was duly assembled from the newly promoted second division outfit's lesser ranks to face powerful and fully hyped Pembroke.
Steadily the score mounted as Francis de Rosa in a new front running role, Trevor Dunne, Simon Kershaw, Paudie Carley and (last but not least) Ian Battle went a plundering. It was 7-0 by the interval but Naas never let their heads drop and with the number one goalkeeper Wayne Burrell arriving in time to play in the second half the game became a more enjoyable exercise.
The club's president and third XI sweeper, Clive Brownlee, sampled the action before the end. "No, we wouldn't want seeding," said Brownlee, scrum-half on the Old Wesley side which reached the Leinster Senior (rugby) Cup in 1975. "We probably would still have been well beaten even if we were at full strength, but we need to play teams like Pembroke now and again, to see what it's all about at top level."
Pembroke will be a fully-geared squad, with Colin Kelly showing his fitness on Saturday, for the Stephen Doyle Trophy final against Railway Union at Serpentine Avenue today.
Naas, meanwhile, must reassemble for an Irish Senior Cup trip to face Belvedere in Blarney in mid November. Travelling south next Saturday for a first-round tie against Cork C of I will be Skerries, who gained encouragement from their performance at local level in leading Glenanne at half-time before being worn down in the last quarter.
Peter Conway, the home team's coach, manager and short-corner shooter, put them ahead in the 12th minute and with goalkeeper Terry McMahon, sweeper Alan Earley and 18-year-old captain Alistair McMahon being especially defiant, Glenanne were relieved to see two goals fall to John Goulding as they kept plugging away.
It was a strong Lisnagarvey side which went to Raphoe on Saturday with former internationals Peter Richardson and Jimmy Kirkwood finding the target on the shale surface but Johnny Weir and ultimately Jonathan Leckey were decisively incisive for the Donegal men.
