Men's Hockey/Round-up: Munster emerged unbeaten from the Under-18 interprovincial championship at Harlequin Park, Cork, to capture the title from the holders, Ulster.
The home team gained two 2-2 draws with Ulster and finished up also with a 2-2 result against Leinster yesterday which was sufficient to clinch the laurels, having swept to a 6-1 victory over the same opponents on Saturday.
In the end, Leinster, who lost 4-2 to Ulster, were relegated to third place in a wide-open, stamina-sapping tournament.
It was in their two games on Saturday that Munster struck decisively, for in the match against Leinster they surged into a three-goal lead in the early stages and in the contest with Ulster they rallied from 2-0 down to gain a point. They also fought back from 2-0 arrears to foil Leinster's hopes of coming back into the reckoning. Outstanding roles for the champions were played by the captain Colin Crowley, Conor Harte, Lee Dalton and JonathaBruton.
There were a few tales of the unexpected in the Leinster Senior League on Saturday, notably when Pembroke Wanderers found themselves without a goalkeeper after Corinthians' opening raid at Whitechurch Park where Nigel Henderson, the Ireland captain, had to leave the field with a recurrence of hamstring trouble.
Fortunately their trim-looking coach Rudi Wortmann had been a goalkeeper in his youth in Holland and he padded up to "do the basic stuff" in helping Wanderers earn a 2-2 draw.
Several fringe players also rose to the occasion, not least Peter Priestley at right-back and Maurice Elliott at centre-forward. Early pressure from the darting Elliott forced Corinthians into yielding a penalty stroke, converted by Ronan Gormley. The home side, though, responded as swiftly as broadband with James Benson serving the connection for his fellow Australian Philip Merriman to equalise.
Benson put his side 2-1 up from a short corner in the second half but despite sturdy resistance from Andrew Sutton and Charlie Henderson, a drag flick by John Jermyn restored parity.
Ultimately, it was a case of all's well that ends well for Pembroke. They extended their lead over Glenanne, who succumbed to a 2-0 defeat by Aer Lingus. The airport side, energised by Derek O'Gorman (player of the month for January), soared clear with two goals by Derek Bane at the start of the second half.
Aer Lingus are now more secure in third place as a result of Monkstown being caught on the break by Trinity's goal-poaching duo, Peter Blakeney and Phelie Maguire, who plundered a 2-2 draw at Booterstown. David Jenkins put a lot of drive into Monkstown's approach play but the students' defence excelled.
