This was a match watched by a large crowd, on a lovely early Winter Afternoon.
The teams, separated by only 2 points at the beginning of the day, were both a combination of experience and youthful exuberance.

Annadale pushed back and the opening few minutes were even. Gradually Pembroke eased their way into the game and quick interpassing between Elliott, Sothern and finally Elliott again saw Pembroke take the lead in the 4th minute. In the 11th minute Sothern reversed over the bar. A green card to Elliott, the first of three for Pembroke, saw a 2 minute suspension. The end of the Quarter the score remained 1-0 to Pembroke. Annadale had defended well and managed occasional sorties into the Pembroke 22 but nothing resulted.

The opening minute of the 2nd Quarter saw the first of 6 Penalty Corners to Annadale but all were cleared. Just afterwards a long ball saw an Annadale shot from the edge of the circle and the keeper’s kick was deflected off a Pembroke player to Andrew Williamson to force over the line for the equaliser. The half time score remained 1-1.

Annadale had two penalty corners in succession midway through the 3rd Quarter and from the second a penalty stroke emerged following a save off a foot on the line which Hamilton converted low to the ‘keepers left. This made it 2-1 to Annadale at the end of the 3rdQuarter. Their defence and midfield had absorbed anything that Pembroke tried and increasingly Pembroke chose to run rather than pass their way through a resolute defence with Moore, Smyth and Hamilton to the fore.

In the last Quarter started with another penalty corner to Annadale which was again cleared. Pembroke continued to press and finally in the 31st minute a shot was blocked on the line. The resulting stroke was coolly converted by Alan Sothern to make it 2-2.

The final minutes of the game saw plenty of action!
Pembroke twice left with ‘keeper Williamson completely exposed. Whilst he was equal to the challenge of at least two counter attacks finally, in the 33 and 34th minutes, International Caruth took him on and netted twice to ensure an Annadale win and to deny a losing bonus point to Pembroke.

Full IHL roundup »
Despite the loss on Saturday Pembroke still have it all to play for, with only 1 point separating the top 4 teams. The top 2 teams in each Pool will go through to the IHL Finals next May.


Other news

Ladies Roundup
The Ladies 7ths continued their unbeaten streak, with a 2-2 draw on Saturday against Railway, they lie in 2nd place in Div 9. The Ladies 6ths had a great Cup win away to Clontarf late on Saturday evening, a super result for Roisin Watson’s Darina Errity’s girls. The 3rds fought back for a draw against a very useful Trinity 2nds side, Fiona Keenan picking up the goal following a surging run from Lorraine Horgan. The 8ths faced a tough Cup date away to Newbridge and lost out 2-0.

IHA Player Survey
The IHA are running a Player Participation Survey – The IHA wants to take the information from this survey and use it to make our sport better and stronger so it’s very important to hear your honest opinion. Please click here » to complete the survey.

Match reports & Photos
Captains, it’s up to you to spread the word about your team this season. Send us your match reports, photos and stories and we’ll do the rest!
web@pembrokewanderers.ie

The Ladies 7ths remain unbeaten this season, following their 2-2 draw on Saturday

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They got off to a dream start, Alan Sothern whipping home his side’s second penalty corner in the fourth minute. Mick O’Connor made it two when he bounced the ball into the circle and crashed home a spectacular volley from the circle’s edge.

With just ten minutes gone, the signs were ominous as Craig Wilson dinged the post and Matt Brown crashed the bar before the South African got on the mark just before the break from another corner.
Rovers struggled badly in the first period but stepped up in the second, Colin Huet’s impudent tackle opening the door for Peter Blakeney to roof a reverse-stick shot.

Pembroke got back into bonus territory when Tim Hill scored against his former club as the Rovers’ defence stopped, waiting for a corner to be given again. The livewire forward played on and snapped in a brilliant effort.

And it looked like that was the way it would stay until 90 seconds from time when Paddy O’Connor won a contested corner which Blakeney fired low past Davey Williamson, taking a slight sheen off a strong win.

Visit the Irish Hockey League website »

Game 3: Pembroke Wanderers v Annadale, 3pm Serpentine Ave, Sat 5th November.

Full IHL Match Day 3 preview »

IHL update
November 1st: Instonians have been docked 2 points for fielding an ineligable player in their Pool A IHL match against Monkstown on 15th October more IHL news »

 

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You know it makes sense

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Top man for the Cork outfit will be corner specialist John Jermyn, who is enjoying an early season goal-streak, but Pembroke will be confident going into the tie after recent wins over Glenanne and Monkstown in the league.

Pembroke Wanderers v Cork C of I, 15th October, 3pm Serpentine Ave.

Irish Hockey League – Competition Format


 
The Irish Hockey League is made up of 12 participating teams in each of the Men’s & Women’s leagues, split into two pools of six playing five games throughout the season.

The two top teams in each pool qualify for the semi finals where the Winner from Pool A plays the Runner-up from Pool B and the Winner from Pool B plays the Runner-up from Pool A. The winners of which go onto play in the final the next day.

The Irish Hockey League has adopted a number of rule changes from the EHL, to create a more free flowing, exciting and faster game, a full set of rules and regulations aswell as other useful documents are available under the documents section of this website.

Points allocation for the IHL:

• 3 points for a win
• 2 points for a draw
• 1 additional point for a win by 3 goals or more
• 1 point for a loss by 1 goal

Read the full preview on Irish Hockey League website »

Follow IHL action this season in real time on Twitter #ihlmen and @irishhockey

Elsewhere…Irish Cups News
 
Irish Junior Cup

The Men’s and Ladies 2nds earned two away fixtures up north in the 1st round of the Irish Junior Cup (thanks to Paddy Deering, assisting with draw!) The Men will face Instonians in Belfast while the Ladies 2nds will travel to Hillsborough to face Lisnargarvey, last season’s beaten finalists. Both ties Saturday, December 3rd.

Irish Senior Cup #iscmen #iscwomen

Following their comprehensive win over Clontarf in Round 1, the Men face a mouth-watering tie against Monkstown, in Rathdown on November 12th. The Ladies were knocked out by Alex last weekend in the Ladies competition.

 

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Pembroke’s own two year reign as Club Champions came to end on Saturday following a 2-1 loss to ‘Garvey – official match report here:

Lisnagarvey 2 Pembroke Wanderers 1

Lisnagarvey ended Pembroke’s two-year reign as Irish Hockey League champions as Timmy Cockram led the Ulster champions to victory on home turf on the Comber Road. It means the province will have two places in the 2011/12 EuroHockey League, too, as either ’Garvey or Bann will now join Cookstown – Irish Senior Cup champions – in the continent’s flagship club event.

Bitty and scrappy, neither side managed to get much rhythm going at any point but the northern side probably shaded proceedings though they were twice thankful to the crossbar to keep them ahead.

Pembroke welcomed back Colin Kelly, Gordon Elliott and Paddy Conlon to their panel following their European exertions but were rocked in the seventh minute when Timmy Cockram rounded the impressive Simon Thornton and reversed home.

Gordon Elliott cracked the bar four minutes later while a corner was deflected wide. Patrick Good, however, did find the net in the 31st minute following a right-wing move to make it 1-1 at the break. Cockram restored the lead very early into the second period from the penalty spot, a heavily debated decision by Pembroke who felt it was stick rather than body which prevented the ball crossing the line. It brought the ’Garvey man to within two of Shane O’Donoghue at the top of the goalscorer’s charts for this term. Chances were of the half-cooked nature, thereafter. Mick O’Connor ghosted past a couple but his slip pass got only half a touch from Kirk Shimmins while Arbuthnot had a cut from a difficult angle – it whizzed high and handsome.

Ronan Flannery drew a fine low stick save from Alex McRoberts before Thornton kept the tie just about alive with a double save from Arbuthnot and Daniel. Cockram ran out time and Lisnagarvey have a shot of their first national title since 2005.

Pembroke Wanderers: Simon Thornton, Ronan Flannery, Alan Giles (c), Karl Lynch, Maurice Elliott, Colin Kelly, Paddy Conlon, Craig Wilson, Michael O’Connor, Patrick Good, Mairtin Cronin. Subs: Keith Crawford, Gordon Elliott, Kirk Shimmins, Ken Treacy, Scott Furlong.

Lisnagarvey: Alex McRoberts, Brian Waring, Johnny Bell, Richard Arneill, Jason Lynch, Mark Raphael, Timmy Cockram, Steven Arbuthnot, John Gray (c), Andy Forrest, Greg Thompson. Subs: Patrick Martin, Glen Whitten, Mark Daniel, Daniel Buser, Michael Harte.

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Pembroke line up before last month's IHL match against Monkstown. Photo Adrian Boehm

“Last season, I think there was kind of an unspoken expectation that we would win. We were the holders and we’d done quite a good performance in the EHL just a couple of weeks before the IHL finals.

“We felt we were on the up and up and it would take a very good performance from another club to beat us. It sounds arrogant but there was a lot of confidence in that side. Now we come into this weekend and it’s much more low-key. I don’t think anyone else expects a lot from us but at the same time there is a lot of belief within the team that if we get things right, we can go a long way”

“In a way, the same belief is there but it isn’t so outwardly visible. There’s a lot of onus on the guys that have been there before to make sure the new guys, especially the likes of Eric Foy and Kirk Shimmins, to make sure they believe we have the ability in the team rather than if we go out with a defeatist attitude, we’re not going to get anywhere.”

His side face Lisnagarvey at 5pm on Saturday just a week after a rough 11-0 defeat to Club de Campo in the EuroHockey League. Drawing solace from that wreckage is tough but the Munster man says there are a few things which can be learned from.

“That’s the key word, challenge. Friday was a bit of a depressing one. No one likes to lose that heavily but it’s up to us to bounce back.

“If we can take any positives from that defeat and use them as building block. As a learning experience, how Campo played and how we approached the game was a contrast. Everything they did was one-twos, slick, guys moving off the ball.

“Anyone who was watching the game will have seen we were much more, maybe naive; thinking we could beat two or three players and that kind of stuff. Hopefully, we can learn the lessons from that.”

Read the full interview by Stephen Findlater here

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The best 16 teams in Europe gather in a little place called Bloemendaal, Amsterdam, this weekend to slog it out for the EHL trophy. We are one of these teams.

Follow every minute of action on the EHL website

Pedigree, courage, skill, effort, and character. We’ll need all of these on Friday. The good thing is that we have them all in abundance! It’s a must win game and so is the quarter-final.
Underdogs? Yes. Tall order? Yes. Fear? Hell no. Let’s enjoy being on centre stage as a club in Europe’s elite competition and rocking the boat!!
Hope to see an awful lot of you there in Purple. We may even switch to “Ireland’s” Green for the Glens match later the same day.
Mens 1st XI

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Ireland dominated the second half and equalised in the 52nd minute from a penalty stroke scored by John Jermyn. Canada took the lead for the second time in the match as Mathew Guest scored on the hooter to finish 1-2.
Well done Ronan, and best of luck this weekend in Bloemendaal.

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Pembroke and Banbridge qualify from Pool B in a day of high drama in the Irish Hockey League. The Lads finish top of the Pool, with Monkstown being edged out on goal difference. Super results lads and well deserved – IHL Finals weekend will be on the May Bank Holiday weekend!

Official match report from the Irish Hockey League website:
This was a vital match for both teams, Pembroke, current All Ireland Champions, needing to win but a draw being sufficient for Monkstown to progress to the IHL Semi Finals in April.

Pembroke's Simon Thornton reaches for a high ball. Photo Adrian Boehm

In the first attack, in the 2nd minute, Maurice Elliott converted a close range opportunity into a goal. Monkstown pressed and for a second stick challenge Michael O’Connor in the 4th minute received a green card and spent two minutes in the “sin bin”. In the 9th minute, using a ploy they repeated several times, in hitting the ball hard into the circle from outside the 22 Monkstown had a penalty corner from a foot infringement by Colin Kelly. This resulted in a fine full length sticksave to his right by Thornton from Ewington.
In the 13th minute another foot resulted in a second penalty corner to Monkstown and this time Ewington put the drag flick under the crossbar and Thornton was comprehensively beaten. Controversy followed in the 18th minute the TO’s Bench tried to operate the “hooter” to end the Quarter at precisely the same time as Maurice Elliot converted his close range effort to make in 2-1 to Pembroke. The Pitch clock, counting down, recorded 17-43mins to play. The Umpire indicated a goal and the players left the pitch. However the goal did not stand due the attempted sounding of the “hooter” and the quarter ended 1-1.

The 2nd Quarter commenced and the game moved from end to without any clear cut chances to either side. In the 29th minute Stephen Cole beat the ‘keeper from the edge of the circle but although a goal was awarded by Umpire Clarke the other Umpire, Colvin Beatty, had spotted the ball had caught the player on the body before shooting. The score remained at 1-1 with a good Pembroke attack well cleared by ‘Keeper Fitzgerald from Paddy Good in the 35th minute. No Penalty Corners to Pembroke and two to Monkstown in 1st Half.

Monkstown pushed back in 3rd Quarter and quickly Pembroke attacked the defence for whom Groves and Ewington were prominent but held firm. Several Monkstown attacks through Brian Groves and Kyle Good broke through but their passes across goal were not finished off. A quicksilver attack in the 44th minute through Gordon Elliott, O’Connor and Good led to Pembroke’s one penalty corner of the game. This was charged down and cleared successfully by Monkstown. There was a melee in the 49th minute in the Monkstown goal mouth following which Paddy Good left the pitch with a shoulder injury.

The 4th Quarter started and in the 55th minute from a Pritchard mistake a quick shot was saved. Shortly after Ewington was green carded and temporarily ‘Town were reduced to 10 men. The game was moving quickly up and down and in the 65th minute from a Pembroke counterattack Paddy Good from play bundled the ball over the line to the satisfaction of both Umpires to give a 2-1 lead to the home team.

Monkstown pressed but Pembroke for whom Colin Kelly in his 17th season of Senior Hockey, Karl Lynch first season with Pembroke and Ronan Flannery were outstanding and held on to claim top spot in Pool B and face the runners up in Pool A.

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Regards
Deirdre Mackay
President

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Official Match report
Instonians 1 – 3 Pembroke Wanderers
Imitaz Pannu       Scott Furlong, Patrick Good, Michael O’Connor
06 February 2011 | Shawsbridge | 2.30pm

Prior to the IHL tie between Instonians and Pembroke a number of Youth U12 games took place which provided fun for all.
The IHL fixture took off with a quick place from one end to the other. From the start Pembroke looked more threatening however with just 9 minutes gone Instonians took the lead when Imitaz Pannu scored from a short corner.

Instonians continued to press and on 14 minutes Chris Kirk took a good shot which was saved but Thornton in the Pembroke goal. 1st quarter ended with Instonians 1-0 in front.

Pembroke had a period of sustained pressure and with 26 minutes on the clock Scott Furlong got the equaliser from a penalty corner. On 30 minutes Nigel Skillan, the Instonian goalkeeper made two good saves from Pembroke corners.

Pembroke dominated the remainder of the second quarter with Instonians relying on counter attack play but in the last minute of the half Patrick Good scored from close range to put Pembroke 2-1 in front at the break.

The second half started as the first with fast paced end to end play. Instonians had a series of penalty corners with Mark Irwin having the best chance on 45 minutes but the shot strayed wide.

Pembroke immediately countered and after an impressive move down the right Michael O’Connor made it 3-1 to Pembroke.
While Instonians took the game to Pembroke the resilient defense stood strong and Pembroke ran out worthy 3-1 victors.
Instonians awarded man of the match prizes to Pembroke’s Patrick Conlon and Nigel Skillin of the Instonians goal.
A good crowd saw an enjoyable game of hockey.

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The Ladies 2nds had a trickier tie in Antrim against reigning champs Randalstown. An early goal for Mick O’ Connor’s side came from Captain Eimear McCarthy’s corner strike, but Randalstown were back into the game 10 mins later to level, also from a short corner. Pembroke upped the ante in the second half, Fiona Keenan and Alison Pigot slotting into the side seamlessly, while Eimear McCarthy and the rest of the defence were trojan-like keeping out Randalstown’s young pacey attackers. Extra-time came and it took Pembroke only a few minutes to wrap up the win with the killer goal, Claire Picard started off the move, which eventually led Mary Gamble to square a ball to Susan Ryan who converted from the centre of the D to give the visitors a golden goal win and a very happy journey home back down the M1. The Ladies will face Loreto II’s on February 5th in Serpentine in the last 16.
>> Full details for the Ladies’ IJC draw are here

The Ladies 2nds with Mick and Robbie following their IJC win over Randalstown at the Antrim Forum

It was an extremely busy weekend all round, the Mens and Ladies 1sts both took 3 points from their league games on Saturday – Jilly Collins wrapping up her final appearance for Pembroke this season with a classy finish against Corinthians. The game also saw Julie Delany make a long overdue appearance for the 1sts where she showed touches of class up front when called on to replace Anna O’ Neill last minute.

Jill Collins marked her last game of the season with a goal on Saturday against Corinthians

The Men scored 4 with no reply against Weston in Lucan to stay 3 points off the top of Division 1. The Men’s 3rds and 4ths also enjoyed league wins on Saturday while the Men’s 6ths lost out in the Cup away to Athy.
On Sunday the Ladies 1sts beat Railway Union II’s 4-2 to advance in the Jaqcui Potter Cup – Shona Doyle netting a hatrick. A good weekend for Justin and Alec Barrett’s side.

Elsewhere in the Cup the Ladies 6ths advanced, Jude Hayward (you guessed it) with the vital goal, while the Ladies 3rds had a nervy Cup win over Botanic in Glasnevin on Sunday, Katie England benefiting from a great run by schoolgirl Joanna McDonald to grab the win. The Ladies 2nds could be forgiven for loosing 2-0 in Glenanne Pk to Glenanne 1sts (also in the JP Cup) following their exploits up north the previous day – with injury and unavailability the 2nds were missing 6 players, once again Julie Delany ably stepped up while schoolgirl Sarah Twomey, Alison Brannigan Eleanor Rattigan and the versatile Sue Williams also lined out in a very encouraging performance against the Div 1 side.

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EHL KO16
22nd – 25th April 2011 in Bloemendaal, The Netherlands.
Friday 22nd Pembroke Wanderers v Club de Campo, 12.00

Pembroke are playing at 12.00 against Club de Campo from Spain (see full schedule below). This is a wonderfull opportunity to see four days of top class hockey and of course our main purpose to travel is to support our Men’s 1st Team squad.

The Hotel we have selected is the Van der Valk Hotel Haarlem – Zuid which is one of the official EHL Team Hotels. Bloemendaal Hockey Club is not a convenient place to get to so hopefully we may be able to get some seats on the the Team buses.
The following are the prices which include breakfast and local taxes.

Triple Room €56 per person per night.
Twin Room €69 per person per night.
Single Room €125 per person per night.

A provisional booking has been made but we will need to firm up numbers asap. so I would appreciate if you would email me your requirements.

As in previous tournaments we are leaving the flight arrangements to you so as it’s at Easter the prices will go up the nearer we get to the date.

The EHL – What’s it all about?

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Pembroke Wanderers 3 YMCA 2
06 November 2010 | Serpentine Avenue | 3pm

On what started as a lovely afternoon, the calm before the predicted storm, Pembroke welcomed YM for their first visit to Serpentine Avenue in the IHL. This “top of the table” clash between old rivals held forth a potentially fine game of attacking hockey.

Pembroke tipped off and there was an early thrust by Alan Giles. The game settled down with midfields cancelling each other out. A quick one between Panther and Maurice Elliot left the latter with a one on one with Walker who forced the attacker wide and his shot lobbed out over the side line. There were no corners and only two shots in the 1st Quarter. Unfortunately a protracted, heavy and quite cold shower made conditions unpleasant for the decent sized crowd, players and umpires.

Mossie, Paddy Conlon and Alan Giles line up for a penalty corner. Photo Eleni Henry

In the 19th minute from YM’s first penalty corner a switch right left Jonny Bruton with a clear shot which found the net. Maybe the defence would not be pleased conceding the opening goal. Immediately afterwards Pembroke equalised, also from their first Penalty Corner when Walker could parry but not stop a drag flick from Jethro Eustace entering his net. 1-1. Shortly later from a Pembroke attack which was cleared YM had a one on one with Jones but the shot from Marcus Richardson was over the bar.

In the 25th minute from a failed Pembroke overhead YM built up a concerted attack down the left. The attacker forced his way into the circle but the ball escaped several defenders going across the circle where Andy Walker was on hand to finish, coolly by hitting into the net from just outside the stroke spot and to his right. Pembroke raised the tempo and Walker was called upon to clear from first an Alan Giles reverse shot and then from Paddy Good from the rebound. Immediately afterwards another Pembroke attack was halted at the edge of the circle and from the clearance YM had a one on one but the shot from Marcus Richardson was over the bar. In the final minute of the Quarter Paddy Good earned a Penalty Corner but this was cleared following a fine save from the ‘keeper and his defenders.

The second half saw Craig Wilson give away a Penalty Corner which was slipped left and blocked only for a further Pembroke mistake and another Penalty Corner awarded again this was switched left but cleared. This was the signal for Pembroke to take the game vigorously to YM and constant attaching prompted by Giles, Eustace Lynch and Conlon set up shots from Elliott, Good and O’Connor. ‘Keeper Walker, Simon Walker and Hewett were under pressure and it was not a surprise when Michael O’Connor was clear of his marker and pushed in a ball in the 42nd minute for the equaliser. Umpire Alistair Shute was by far the busier of the two in this Quarter and incurred the wrath of YM players and Bench on more than one occasion. Several Pembroke corners were saved but the Quarter finished2-2.

Just after the restart a lovely YM move down the right resulted in a pull back but Rob Whelan shot well wide. This was YM’s best chance of the half with both teams looking for their third goal. There were opportunities for both teams although YM’s were mostly on the break. Finally, in the 64th minute Paddy Conlon, ghosting in on the far post, from an attack down Pembroke’s inside right channel, coolly tucked the ball into the net despite the scrambling efforts of Walker; 3-2. In the 66th minute YM had a last chance but neither Jones the Pembroke ‘Keeper or the YM forward could follow the flight of a cross from the left and the ball was forced away. In the 68th Maurice Elliot was unlucky to have been adjudged by Umpire McConkey not to have retreated 5 metres and was given the only Green Card of the match.

A win for the defending Champions against the current Leinster League leaders sees them top of the table ahead of the 3rd Series of matches away to Banbridge on the 4th December.

Goals: Jethro Eustace, Paddy Conlon, Michael O’Connor (Pembroke), Johnny Bruton, Andy Walker (YMCA)

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Alan Giles captains the Mens 1sts again this year. Photo Adrian Boehm

Men 1sts v YMCA, 3pm
No doubting the biggest game of the weekend – the Men take on Leinster rivals YMCA in the second round of matches in this year’s IHL at Serpentine Avenue at 3pm. Both outfits have recorded victories in their respective first round of matches, with Pembroke beating Cork Harlequins 5-2 and YMCA beating Monkstown 2-1. Spectators can look forward to two teams committed to attacking hockey in Saturday’s battle for precious IHL points. Pembroke are on a roll after a 3-2 win over Monkstown in the league last Saturday, while YM are the current league leaders, on maximum points after 4 games, so it should be a great encounter.

Ladies Cups in full swing, 4ths look to go second
Elsewhere the Ladies 1sts travel to Milltown to take on Alex in the league. With both teams likely to be vying for IHL placings at the end of the season, this fixture is one of the most crucial in the ladies calendar. Anna O Neill returns while Aoife Sherriff will be hoping to return from a hamstring injury which saw her sidelined last weekend.

Katherine Duff captains the Ladies 1sts this season Photo Adrian Boehm

The Ladies 6ths are 8ths are the first teams to be involved in Cup action – the 8ths face Trinity in the early game, while Baz Cromer’s 6ths, with Bernie Barry captaining travel to UCD. With the Ladies 2nds and 3rds on a weekend off, focus elsewhere will shift to the 4ths who take on Muckross at home, a win for the girls will put them into second place in the league, so in between all the rugby be sure to stick your head out onto the balcony to give Becks and her girls some raucous encouragement..

Well done lads!
Elsewhere, the Leinster boys U16 panel has been named – the tournament takes place in Newpark next weekend, and Pembroke are pleased to confirm 8 players on the panel. Well done lads and good luck next weekend. Mark Bergin (Sutton Park/Pembroke), George Dagg (Sandford Park/Pembroke), Cillian Hynes (St Andrew’s/Pembroke), David Kane (St Killians/Pembroke), Hugh Lavery (Sandford Park/Pembroke), Mark Loughrey (St Andrew’s/Pembroke), Jack Ryan (St Andrew’s/Pembroke), Alex Serviss (St Andrew’s/Pembroke).  More info and squad details can be found on The Hook.

Hallowe’eeeeeen Party!

Last but not least – don’t put those Hallowe’en costumes away just yet! This Saturday night is party night in Pembroke, Happy Hour from 6.30PM. Ireland v South Africa on the big screen from 5pm. Music, games, Saffer Hooch from our South African friends – all are welcome, please bring your friends, it’s going to be an epic night.

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Qualification was secured when the Ukrainians were hammered 9-2 and failed to take any points from HGC on Saturday. In yesterday’s final group game many wouldn’t have given the lads a chance against a hugely experienced and successful dutch HGC side, but Pembroke fought back from 3-0 down to take a bonus point from the 4-2 defeat. Craig Wilson got the vital second goal to give Pembroke their best ever tally from the Group stages in EHL competition. A great fightback again, this time against the 2008 EHL finalists. Getting to the last 16 is a huge achievement for Irish hockey and Pembroke Wanderers – the Club are very proud of the lads achievements so far this season. Well done fellas you have deserved it.

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Pembroke had enjoyed a dream start, taking an early 2-0 lead through Craig Wilson’s deflected short corner followed up by a sliding finish from Paddy Good after great work down the wing from Mick O’ Connor.

Click above for the official EHL match report

However with just 6 minutes remaining on the clock Pembroke were 3-2 down, having earlier let the Ukrainians back into the tie with goals either side of half time, but amazingly the lads still found time to take the win and the full 5 points. Brandon Panther was chief architect of the fight-back, from a Penalty Corner he dodged the first runner and slapped home passed the advancing Ukrainian keeper. Queue massive relief for the Pembroke supporters, who probably would have settled for a draw at that point.

But with 3 minutes to go Panther wasn’t finished yet, taking the ball cooly on his reverse he smashed in from near the edge of the D. There was no time for a response from the Ukrainians and Pembroke now take pole position in the group ahead of their tie on Sunday against dutch outfit HGC.

The Ukrainians on the other hand will need to pull off a major upset against the Dutch favourites tomorrow, if they fail to win Pembroke take one of the two spots up for grabs to go through to last 16 and importantly secure Ireland vital raking points for next season’s competition.

Pool F remaining fixtures All times Irish
Sat 16th Olympia Kolos Sekvoia v HGC, 13:30
Sun 17th HGC v Pembroke Wanderers 11.00

All matches can be watched LIVE online on the official EHL website or on Eurosport.

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Pembroke celebrate a goal against Cork Harlequins in the IHL last weekend. Photo Eleni Henry

Click above to download the official EHL Round 1.1 Program

Only two sides will go through to the KO16s’ – the match against the Ukrainians on Friday morning will prove to be the pivotal fixture. HGC are a top dutch side and were finalists in the first EHL competition back in 2008, indeed they are a side littered with full internationals and several dutch U21 internationals.

Like Pembroke, the Ukrainian side are national champions, with plenty of experience amongst their many Ukrainian internationals. Pembroke have enjoyed a good build up to the tournament though, following wins over Three Rock and Cork Harlequins. A great display away to Glenanne two weeks ago should also stand to the lads.

Pembroke Wanderers
Karl Lynch, Ronan Flannery, Ken Treacy, Alan Giles, Gowan Jones, Brandon Panther, Jethro Eustice, Paddy Conlon, Keith Crawford, Paddy Good, Maurice Elliot, Mick O’ Connor, Simon Thornton, Craig Wilson, Scott Furlong. Coach Brendon Carolan

Weekend Details (all times Irish)
Friday 15th Oct Pembroke Wanderers (IRL) v Olympia Kolos Sekvoia (UKR) 08.30
Sunday 17th Oct HGC(Hol) v Pembroke Wanderers (IRL) 11.00

Preview of HGC’s competition prospects here.

Wish the lads well on our Club Facebook page.

Matches take place at Oranje Zwart HC, Eindhoven – get travel info here

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On a beautiful day under a clear blue sky the first of this season’s IHL matches got underway with Umpires, Geoff Conn and Kris Cholewa.  The two teams each showing significant changes, particularly the two times League champions Pembroke following the departure of 7 of last years winning squad and welcoming a new Coach, Brendon Carolan from South Africa. In addition they have several additions to their squad including Keith Crawford, Ronan Flannery and Karl Lynch from C.I. Harlequins welcome back David Eakins from London and also have a new Coach, Philip Oakley. There is rarely much between these two teams and that is how it turned out in the first half.

Mick O'Connor on the ball. Photo: Adrian Boehm, Irish Hockey Photographers

Pembroke pressed and had control of the ball for the better part of the half. Pembroke earned two penalty corners in the first quarter which here well saved by Chris Daunt the second being deflected off the crossbar and cleared. 0-0 at the end of the quarter although Quins picked up their pace strongly towards the end with John Hobbs and Jason Black defending resolutely.

Pembroke resumed their attacks with Karl Lynch, Gordon Elliott and Paddy Conlon to the fore and their pressure earned a green card for Paul Lombard for not retreating inside the 25. Whilst off the field a third penalty corned earned by Pembroke was converted by Jethro Eustace low to the ‘keeper’s left in the 24th minute. A further green card at the end of the half was awarded to David Lombard and the half time finished 1-0 to Pembroke.

The start of the second half saw a flurry of green cards for Keith Crawford and Maurice Elliott but Quins could not take advantage of the disparity of numbers. Pembroke were very dangerous from he left and deflected goals in the 49th and 50th minutes from Brandon Panther and Maurice Elliott saw Pembroke take a 3-0 lead. Jethro Eustace earned a yellow card in the 51st minute but in spite of this in the 52nd minute Karl Lynch initiated an attack from inside his own on the left and with an interchange of passes finished off by netting and the quarter ended a Quins penalty corner, their first which was well saved by Gowan Jones. The score at the end of the quarter was 4-0.

The action did not stop there and in the 55th and 60th minutes Quins had two more penalty corners and David Eakins netted the latter to close the gap. A lovely flowing series of passes between the Elliott brothers left Michael O’Connor to finish off from close-in to restore Pembroke’s four goal advantage.

In the last few minutes of the game as Pembroke pressed there were a couple of breakaways by Quins and in the 64th minute Philip McLoughlin pulled a further goal back for Quins. There were a few ruffled feathers in the by now congested areas in midfield and players became a little excited. However Pembroke were able to run down the clock and the final score was 5-2 to Pembroke.

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Mossie scores against Glenanne in the IHL semi-finals

Pembroke Wanderers Men and Ladies both start the season this weekend with tough fixtures against Glenanne and Hermes respectively. For both teams it’s a new era which brings new coaching teams. The Men will be hoping to get off to a flying start under coach Brendon Carolan, following on from their Cup win over Three Rock last weekend. Getting a first taste of league action at Glenanne Park will be the new trio of  Jethro Eustice, Gowan Jones, and Brandon Panther.

Paddy Good notes ahead of the big clash – ” Every year ‘Glenanne Away’ is the one away fixture that we look at to see where it falls – this year it’s first up. There’s a bit of an added extra now as for the first time in a long time, with so many changes, we’re a bit of an unknown quantity. This can definitely work in our favour as without a doubt there are a number of teams in the league who will be thinking that perhaps we won’t be at the races this year. I think we showed against Rovers that we can still play and dominate against good teams and get results. Glenanne is a place where you need to front up to the physical challenge, stick to the game-plan, and take your chances. We can do all three. The last match we played against the Glens was the IHL semi-final which was an epic encounter – this match could be just as big for us.”

Shona Doyle in action against Hermes in last year's Cup semi win

For the Ladies they don’t come much tougher than Hermes, but Pembroke have home advantage after the match had to be switched from St Andrews and the girls will be well up for the tie having worked hard and enjoyed a good preseason under new coaches Justin Sherriff and Alec Barrett. New players to the squad include Sharon Carey from Catholic Institute, with youngsters Avril Dooley O’Carroll and Olivia Smartt stepping up, while experienced midfielder Kats Duff (Little) has taken on the captaincy and will no doubt lead with fine example on the pitch as always. Best of Luck to all.

Leinster League Fixtures, Saturday
Glenanne v Men 1sts 14.00, away
Glenanne v Mens 2nds 15.15, away
Ladies 1sts v Hermes 14.30, home

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Only the top two in each Pool go through to the last 16 of the competition – Pembroke beat Scottish outfit Kelbourne to advance to the EHL KO16 stage last year, this time a tricky fixture against the Ukranians should prove to be the decisive fixture – Paddy Good sensibly warning ‘there are no easy fixtures at this level’.

HGC will prove to be tough opponents and have vast experience in the competition – finishing runners up back in 2008. The dutch side from The Hague finished runners up in the dutch Hoofdklasse league in the season just gone to qualify and have clear pedigree. Round 1.1 of the EHL will be hosted by Oranje Zwart of Eindhoven, who along with HGC and HC Bloemendaal complete a trio of dutch teams in this year’s competition.

In the other half of the draw Glenanne have been drawn to play WKS Grunwald Poznan of Poland, and formidable Mannheimer HC of Germany, Round 1.2 taking place in Barcelona from Oct 29th. Full details are on the official EHL website.

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Brendon is a High Performance FIH Qualified coach, and was awarded South African Coach of the year for 2009. Brendon is currently the Men’s Head Coach of the Province of KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa, who were the State winners in 2009, and is Director of Hockey at Glenwood High School in Durban. He has also been Head Coach for South Africa U17, U18 and U19A Teams from 2008 to date.

Brendon Carolan

Brendon brings a wealth of coaching experience with him and he has the calibre to take on the men’s first side as they head into another busy and challenging season, of defending the Leinster Senior League, the Leinster Senior Cup, the Irish Indoor Cup and the Irish Hockey League, and also preparing for the first round of the EHL in the Autumn.

We are delighted that Brendon will be also be taking on the role as Director of Coaching for the club. In our discussions with him, he is very passionate about this role as he has had a lot of experience in this area. We are confident that all of the club, mens and ladies sections and of course the Colts/Fillies section, will all benefit from his wealth of experience.

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It’s shaping up to be another busy year ahead for the lads after probably their most successful season in the Club’s long history. On top of defending their Leinster League title, Pembroke will be looking to once again successfully defend their national title in the Irish Hockey League – the draw for which as paired them up with Banbridge (Ulster); Instonians (Ulster) Monkstown (Leinster); Cork Harlequins (Munster) and YMCA (Leinster, wildcard).

On top of a packed calendar on the domestic front, Pembroke have again qualified for the EHL - Europe’s premier club hockey competition. Last season Pembroke became Ireland’s most successful EHL representative, reaching the K016 in Rotterdam at Easter. The lads await this September’s EHL 1st round draw with plenty of confidence having done so well last time out. Look back on the amazing 2009/2010 season Pembroke enjoyed here >>

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Photos: Adrian Boehm

Winning the IHL means Pembroke will join Glenanne in next season’s EHL as the top seeded Club. The final lacked the drama and contraversy from yesterday’s games but Pembroke were deserving winners on the day.

Full reports…

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Glenanne fought back from 4-0 down to level it 4-4 in a cracker of a tie at Grange Rd today. Indeed the Glens could have taken the tie 5-4, Graham Shaw narrowly missing at the far post from a sliding effort. Pembroke had built their lead through Alan Sothern, Mick O Connor and Gilesy and had looked to have wrapped the game up pretty early, Glenanne never gave up though and goals from Stephen Butler signalled the fightback.

Photos: Adrian Boehm

The winning silver goal came at the end of the first 5 min period of extra time on the hooter. Pembroke won a corner and switched it right, the pull back eventually found Conor Harte in space, and he slapped the ball into the net.

Goals: Alan Sothern x2, Alan Giles, Michael O’Connor, Conor Harte.

Pembroke will face Lisnagarvey tommorrow at 4pm in Grange Rd. Don’t forget your Purple and Yellow!!

Gilsey gives his reaction to the win over Glenanne to ‘The Hook’.

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On a dull afternoon featuring persistent drizzle following initial heavy rain, reigning IHL champions Pembroke Wanderers faced Irish Senior Cup finalists Monkstown in this fifth round pool match. Pembroke having already qualified for the IHL semi final and Monkstown having only a mathematical chance of progressing from the pool, could have made for a low key game. This however was not the case as both teams maintained a high pace and intensity throughout. Despite all the energy expended however, the game finished in a rare scoreless draw.

Pembroke started the sharper and dominated the first quarter, creating several openings, none of which led to any clear shooting chances as Monkstown’s vigilant defence smothered everything. Monkstown were forced to attack on the break but again no shooting chances were created.

The second quarter followed suit except that Monkstown created a little more pressure around the Pembroke circle, one incident requiring a double intervention from David Harte. Pembroke’s sharpness through midfield and up front provided several opportunities but these were either not converted or dealt with by the excellent David Fitzgerald.

The third quarter saw a significant increase in Monkstown possession, leading to a number of chances, including their first short corner. Pembroke followed suit and created several chances themselves, including short corners. Again the respective defences were to the fore, with both keepers saving sharply, defenders clearing up and attackers miscuing their attempts.

The fourth quarter continued similarly, chances being created at both ends and being miscued or smothered. Monkstown did however create the two best chances, with an Andy Ewington drag being spectacularly stick saved by the excellent David Harte, before Ian Allen was found behind Pembroke’s defence for a clear run at the circle, only to be foiled by another David Harte intervention. Late Pembroke pressure led to opportunities for several players but came to naught. All in all, it was a day for the defences, particularly the two superb goalkeepers on view.

Photos: Emer Keogh
Report taken from http://www.irishhockeyleague.ie

Pembroke will now meet Glenanne in the IHL Semi Final’s in Grange Rd on Sat 15th May.
Full details of the IHL finals weekend are here.

On a glorious late spring afternoon at Serpentine Avenue the top two teams in Pool A, after three round, were renewing a local rivalry which has seen the same teams finish first and second in the Leinster Senior League in 2009/10.

Cast in bright sunshine the deep green turf and surround of deep sky blue a good crowd saw Pembroke in their purple, amber and black kit defend the Railway End in the first half. Corinthian in red and white took the tip-off.

In the opening five minute the teams settled into the game with Pembroke retaining more of the ball. From a solo attack in the 6th minute into the circle Maurice Elliot was denied a shooting opportunity and from the resultant penalty corner Alan Sothern converted to make it 1-0 to the home team. Probably Ross Murray will feel he should have done better in covering the drag flick in the air and just to the left of the centre of the goal. Pembroke had more of the possession but with few scoring opportunities.

At the start of the second quarter Michael O’Connor had a fine run on the left but none of the onrushing forwards could get a touch which would have converted it into a goal. In the 25th minute a Pembroke mistake resulted in a Corinthian penalty corner but this was charged down by the runners and cleared. Corinthian’s were mostly absorbing pressure and counter attacking. In the 28th minute Darren Kimfley drove into the circle but his final pass was pushed wide. In the last minute of the half Pembroke’s second penalty corner followed from a quick attack and the flick by Conor Harte was pushed wide and the half ended 1-0 to Pembroke.

A series of uncharacteristic slack passes and poor ball retention early in the second half saw the initiative pass to Corinthians. The back four of Cronje, Fuller, Blennerhasset and Pelow moved the ball around but from a counterattack in the 42nd minute Conor Harte pushed forward through the right channel. He delivered a final pass just outside the circle to Gordon Elliott who dispatched it with great skill, on the reverse, for Pembroke’s second goal. His shot gave Murray no chance. Forced to try to use the ball better Corinthian’s had several chances and these were primarily down Pembroke’s right. In the 50th minute Carson hit the post and in the 52nd the final ball was again pushed wide with the goal undefended. Corinthian’s were working hard but not retaining enough of the ball in midfield or up front to force too many errors from Pembroke. The end of the 3rs Quarter saw the score 2-1 to Pembroke.

In the 55 minute a long ball was deflected by a Pembroke defender’s foot and a penalty corner, only Corinthian’s second, from Doherty was saved by David Harte. In the 63rd minute a clear chance from a long ball from the left was put over the bar by Chris Pelow. Time was running out for Corinthian’s. Pembroke were regularly breaking out of defence on their right and from Paddy Good pressurising the defence a move Craig Fulton and Andy McConnell saw the latter get the final touch to secure the victory and bonus point to assure Pembroke of Pool A leadership with one Match, at home to Monkstown, on 1st May to come.

Match report from Irish Hockey League
Photos Adrian Boehm

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The lads were this evening knocked out of the EHL by a much fancied Rot Weiss Koln side who now go on to meet Barcelona in the Qtr Finals on Sunday. For Pembroke it will be along trek back to Dublin, but they can be proud of the way they played here today, without fear and full of confidence from the off.

Facing a side fielding 8 German internationals with Beijing Olympic Gold medals in their trophy cabinets was always going to be a tough assignment but Koln never really looked like racing away with the game – their third goal with 2 minutes to go came from was a Christian Zeller penalty stroke following a contraversial sequence of play where Pembroke felt they should have been awarded a corner themselves.

It was the younger Zeller brother who opened the scoring from a short corner breakdown – despite 2 point blank saves Conor Harte was left helpless as P Zeller roofed the ball from a narrow angle.

Harte went on to have a superb game, and was deservedly rewarded Man of the Match by sponsors ABN AMRO.

Rotterdam KO16 Roundup

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The Lads face Rot-Weiss Koln of Germany on Good Friday, 5pm local time. The Germans contain 8 of the international side who won Olympic gold in Beijing two years ago. If they come through this mammoth challenge they will face either RC Polo Barcelona or Reading HC on Easter Sunday @12 midday.

The tournament finals are being staged again in HC Rotterdam and it will be a fantastic weekend of action.

Go here for more on the EHL, and Pembroke’s journey to the KO16
Go here for the EHL official website – and live coverage from Pembroke v Rot-Weiss Koln
Go here for The Irish Times match preview.

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