Harlequins Mens Hockey Match Report

Harlequins(B) 3 - 2 C of I(B)

Munster Junior Cup Final

Sunday 10th April 2005

Scorers: C Harte 2, P O'Driscoll

Harlequins 2nds finally won some silverware this after a hard-fought win over rivals C of I 2nds. It was the third match between the teams this year and the previous 2 had ended in wins for Quins after 2 high scoring matches. So Quins were confident that a good display and the cup would be coming back to Farmers cross.

The game started brightly and Quins were well on top for the first 20 minutes. Some good movement and passing led to a number of short corners, but the problems of the Irish Junior Cup final came back to haunt us and there was still no score after 20 minutes. Then C of I started coming into the game and from their first short corner, a drag flick finished over the line after deflecting of goalkeeper and defender on the line. Even though the goal was against the run of play, it led to 15 minutes of domination by C of I, where we were lucky to still be only 1 down at half-time.

Quins again started strongly in the second half, but again were off target with a couple of corners. But finally 10 minutes in, Conor Harte's drag flick found the net and we were back level. It was all Quins at this stage and it was no surprise when 5 minutes later, another Conor Harte drag flick found the bottom corner of the C I goal and we had turned the game around. But even though we tried to finish the game off, we couldn't get the third goal, with the penalty corners routine still struggling.

Then with 10 minutes to go, a CI break caused havoc in the Quins circle and eventually the umpire had no choice but to award a penalty flick when one of their players was fouled in the act of shooting. The flick was duly scored and the sides were level again. This spurred us on to again get the lead and another couple of corners were won. And from one of these the umpire awarded us a dubious penalty flick for a foul on Steve Teap. It was harsh on CI but Phil O'Driscoll stepped up and scored after putting the keeper the wron way. In the last 5 minutes, we still had chances to secure the game, but more importantly CI didn't have any clearcut chances. So, it was a relief when the final whistle went and the 2nds had some silverware to show for a great season.

Squad: C Daunt, P O'Driscoll, R Hobbs, P Chambers, B Hayes-Curtin, C Harte, K Deasy, R Leonard, D Deady, P Dawson, P McLaughlin, S teap, I Bateman, S Egner, E Kenneddy.