Saturday, May 9 – Lisnagarvey: A stunning day of semi-finals, set against the backdrop of Lisnagarvey Hockey Club gave fans from far and wide plenty to revel in, as four sides, two women’s and two men’s, booked their place in Sunday’s EY Champions Trophy Finals.
Loreto and Pembroke Wanderers opened the day with an entertaining contest that saw the league winners secure a 4-0 win. Pembroke, however, enjoyed arguably the lion’s share of the chances in the opening half, with multiple penalty corners providing them efforts at goal, but the chances went begging.
A goal inside the first minute of the second half settled Loreto immediately with Mollie Lennon finding the back of the net. Seizing on their momentum, Loreto added a second through Emily Kealy five minutes later, with the third coming before the end of Q3, a fortuitous deflection from an Anna Horan drag flick taking the ball past Aoife Glennon in the Pembroke net. Despite fighting tirelessly, Pembroke would eventually concede a fourth when Yasmin Pratt latched onto an inch perfect through ball to go one on one with Glennon and flick home, booking Loreto their place in Sunday’s final.
Railway Union and Portadown followed in the second women’s semi-final of the day. Railway made an ideal start to their title defence, Katie Mullan scoring inside the first minute to take the lead. It remained all square until the break, but Railway began their second half in the same form as their first, with Sarah Patton finding the net this time to double their lead. Portadown, however, showed no signs of letting up, pulling a goal back through Emily Adamson to set up a tense final quarter.
A third for Railway Union almost sealed their place in the final when Saoirse Griffin provided the vital final touch from a penalty corner, but Portadown once again responded with four minutes still to play. Railway Union, however, managed to hold out to set up an encounter with Loreto in Sunday’s final.
Hosts Lisnagarvey went head-to-head with Pembroke to kick off the day’s Men’s Semi-Finals. Matthew Nelson gave Lisnagarvey the ideal start when he fired into the back of the net from close range to break the deadlock. Lisnagarvey remained in control for the remainder of the first half, but Pembroke’s defensive shape limited their chances. A late yellow card for Harry Morris in the first half reduced Garvey by a player for the opening ten minutes of the second half, stifling their efforts of extending their lead.
When back to their full compliment they wasted no time in extending their lead, Mark McNellis flicking home from a penalty corner. Daniel Nelson added their third just a minute later when Andrew Williamson played Ben Nelson in who found brother Daniel with a superb first time past leaving him through on goal to lift into the back of the net.
Ben Nelson made it a trio of Nelson goals just before the end of quarter three, fining into the net to all but guarantee their place in the finals. A late consolation for Pembroke completed the scoring with Jake Fulton completing a well worked move.
The day came to a thrilling end as Banbridge and Three Rock Rovers faced off in the last Semi-Final of the day. Reigning champions Banbridge were quick out of the blocks winning an early penalty corner which Johnny McKee dispatched.
A tactical battle followed as the two sides tried to pick each other apart, but chances on goal remained few and far between, and the sides went into the break separated by just a single goal.
The game remained a tense affair through quarter three, but Banbridge came out the better of the sides as Johnny McKee got his second, firing into the net on his reverse stick to help his side take another step closer to a place in the final. Banbridge almost had a third from a well worked Penalty Corner but were denied from close range thanks to some smart goalkeeping.
A late penalty stroke gave Three Rock a lifeline, Ben Johnson flicking past the imperious Luke Roleston to set up a thrilling finale. Three Rock withdrew their keeper and threw every ounce of energy they had left at their Ulster opposition, but Banbridge performed their defensive duties perfectly to set up a bout with Lisnagarvey in tomorrow’s EY Champions Trophy Final.
Loreto 4 – 0 Pembroke Wanderers
Railway Union 3 – 2 Portadown
Lisnagarvey 4 – 1 Pembroke Wanderers
Banbridge 2 – 1 Three Rock Rovers 1
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