Pembroke Wanderers came off second best against Montrouge in the final of the B division of the European Cup Winners' Cup in Rome yesterday. The French side emerged 1-0 victors but the Dubliners had opportunities late in the game to keep the issue alive.
The Irish players were very tense and despite winning four penalty corners in rapid succession, Pembroke couldn't get into their familiar groove. Then the match took a dramatic turn in the 24th minute. The Parisians won a corner and the tournament's top marksman Patrice Daleton gave them a decisive advantage.
Pembroke became somewhat subdued after that and it was only in the final quarter that they made a serious impact when Simon Kershaw began to get the better of the French defenders. He put in two superb solo runs but each time was sent crashing to the ground, yet the umpire turned down penalty claims. 9922315 John Flack dm Unfortunately, Lisnagarvey were unable to preserve top-flight status for next year's Irish representatives in the champion clubs championship after being overpowered 6-1 by Bremins Brest in Terrassa.
Relegation looked inevitable as the Belarussian champions surged into a 3-0 interval lead. Gregg Lavery created the opportunity for Mark Raphael to reduce the deficit shortly after the re-start but Bremins responded with three more goals.
There was disappointment, too, in women's circles, as Hermes went under, 4-1, to Hightown in the Cup Winners' Cup A division play-offs in Belgium.
The accomplished Merseyside club put their three pool B defeats behind them to produce a clinical performance. English international striker Tina Cullen put them ahead from a short and Lynsey Naylor added a second. Dawn Kelly gave Hermes some hope on the stroke of half-time when she got a touch on a free to score.
By the time Hightown scored their third, through Michelle Morton in the 51st minute, Hermes had thrown caution to the wind in a desperate attempt to get back into the game. Another of Hightown's English internationals, Lucy Newcombe, sealed the Irish side's fate with the final goal four minutes from time.
Meanwhile at the A division club championship in Southgate, Irish international Sarah Kelleher missed out on a gold medal after her Slough team lost 3-2 in a shoot-out to Russelheim of Germany, after the final had ended 1-1. Kelleher had given Slough the lead in the 11th minute.
St Andrew's, the Leinster schoolboys cup and league winners, completed their five-match tour of South Africa with another prestigious victory, beating Eastern Province under-18s, 5-1, in Port Elizabeth.
After Justin Sherriff and Ian Allen, aided by Stuart Hammond, had been foiled by exceptional saves by Ati Bakwena, it was the home side who took the lead with a reverse-stick shot by Lloyd. But with Paul Spencer, Jamie Plower, Alun Evans and Daniel Beere absorbing further pressure, Allen opened the way for an equaliser by Sherriff in the 25th minute. Then the captain Richard Beere put the Dubliners in front from a short corner.
With coach David Jenkins opting for a four-man midfield in the second half, St Andrew's gained complete control. Brilliant approach play by Allen and Sherriff, with assistance from Graham O'Neill, yielded goals for Ciaran Nolan and Simon Groves before James Kemp had a hand in the final score by Alun Lewis, with Nicky Kenny snuffing out any threat of a response from the home side.
