Sport

Pembroke foiled of bronze in shoot out

IT WAS a frustrating day for Irish hockey when the European club championships were fought out to a conclusion yesterday

Tue May 28 1996 - 01:00

IT WAS a frustrating day for Irish hockey when the European club championships were fought out to a conclusion yesterday. Muckross, the country's top women's team, lost their A division status as a result of a controversial 1-0 defeat by the Lithuanian side Siauliai in Russelsheim, Germany, while Pembroke Wanderers had to be satisfied with fourth place in the men's B division tournament in Prague. They held Teddington to a 2-2 draw but lost the shoot out, by 5-4.

As was the case against the hosts, Slavia, on Sunday, Pembroke - with Devin Donnelly much to the fore - twice fought back after falling behind to the English side. Jamie McBride made it 1-1 at the interval and Ross McMullen again brought the scores level, only for the Irish representatives to be foiled of the bronze medals in the test of nerves from the penalty spot.

Overall, it was a case of so near and yet so far for Pembroke, for the team they had handsomely beaten (3-1) in their opening game - Samara of Russia - went on to win the final, 3-1 against Grammarians of Gibraltar.

In Russelsheim, the Muckross campaign in the first flight came to an unsatisfactory ending as they finished joint seventh and were relegated to the B division next year. Siauliai stole a hotly disputed winner 10 minutes from the end when Christine Tedvillene collected a long ball out of defence and scored from what looked suspiciously like an offside position.

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Muckross protests went unheeded by the Spanish umpire who declined to defuse the situation by consulting her Italian colleague.

Muckross coach Ian Steepe, not withstanding that controversial incident, felt again that his sided should have won but the Irish attackers missed too many chances in front of the goal.

"We scored only once in the tournament and that's not, enough," he said. "There are many weak teams in Leinster and we don't get enough tough opposition and aren't properly prepared for difficult matches in Europe."

Kampong, from Holland, retained the gold medals after defeating Slough 3-0 in a penalty shoot out after 70 minutes' play in the final had resulted in four goals being shared.