Pembroke hit seven to stay top

HOCKEY:Few surprises at the top of the Leinster Senior League saw the three top sides win over the weekend with only Monkstown taking quite a tumble when they came up against a rampant Pembroke Wanderers.

The 7-0 defeat was quite a rout for the south Dublin side and when they arrived at Serpentine Avenue, they would have known they were in for a tough game against the league leaders but hardly to the tune of seven goals.

Pembroke's Irish striker Justin Sherriff was a familiar name among the goal scorers bagging four for Pembroke with Craig Fulton, Alan Sothern and Gordon Elliott adding one each in the win. The victory keeps Pembroke on top of the table on level points (25) with Glenanne but with a better goal difference.

There is no team scoring at the rate Pembroke have been doing. With 51 goals from 10 games played, that average of over five a game is impressive indeed but not perhaps so good for the competitive nature of the league. Roll on the new structures.

In second place Glenanne also came through shinning, again with a glut of goals against Fingal but not without some resistance from the visitors, who hit two back in their 6-2 loss. Graham Shaw, just back from South Africa from a 10-day training stint with the Irish team put his high level tour experience to good use by bagging a hat-trick for Glenanne.

His Irish colleague, Stephen Butler, was also on the score sheet with two goals, giving a very familiar look all round to the weekend's goal scorers.

While Three Rock Rovers were relatively modest in their goal haul, a hat-trick from Peter Blakeney secured a much valued 3-2 win over Railway Union. Rovers needed the points to keep in touch with the top two and anything other than victories these days is likely to see them drift further back. But just four points adrift of Glenanne's 25 points, they are still very much in touch with the leaders.

The bottom of the table has a largely unchanged look about it. While Bray were not in action, due to their game against Corinthians being postponed, Trinity's defeat to YMCA has them firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. Still looking for their first win of the season after eight matches, Michael Fry and Andrew Walker contributed a goal each for the Clarmont Road side to lift them into a mid-table position.