Saturday, September 26: A scintillating second round in the EY Hockey League brought early twists and tense endings with it, as the reigning champions were tested and promoted sides produced notable upsets.
In the Women’s EYHL, Ards stunned title holders Loreto to build on their round 1 draw, opening the door to Railway Union to take an early lead at the top of the table as the Sandymount side secured a confident 5-0 win over Old Alex. Monkstown got themselves off the mark on home soil securing a win over topflight mainstays Pegasus. And there was nothing to separate UCD & Queen’s University, and Portadown & Pembroke Wanderers as the sides shared the spoils in two 0-0 draws, with visitors Queen’s and Pembroke taking home the bonus point from the shootout.
In the Men’s EYHL, Cork Harlequins grabbed their first win of the season over Monkstown, Julian Dale bagging a hattrick to help the Munster side secure a 3-2 victory. Title holders Lisnagarvey snook past a resolute Corinthian side in St Columba’s, Andrew Edgar scoring a last minute penalty corner to keep his side top of the standings. Banbridge made no mistake at home against Portrane to make it two wins from two. Avoca came from a goal behind on two occasions at Grange Road to take a point away from their encounter with Three Rock Rovers, but the hosts secured the bonus point courtesy of some James Coffey heroics in net. And YMCA enjoyed a bonus point draw against nearby rivals Pembroke Wanderers, coming from a goal down before winning their shootout 3-0.
Saturday, September 26
Women’s EY Hockey League Results
UCD 0 [3 – 4] 0 Queen’s University
Railway Union 5 – 0 Old Alex
Loreto 1 – 2 Ards
Monkstown 3 – 2 Pegasus
Portadown 0 [1 – 3] 0 Pembroke Wanderers
Women’s EY Hockey League Standings
Railway Union – 6pt
Ards – 5pts
Queen’s University Belfast – 5pts
Pembroke Wanderers – 5pts
Loreto – 3pts
Monkstown – 3pts
Pegasus – 1pt
Portadown – 1pts
UCD – 1pts
Old Alex – 0pts
Men’s EY Hockey League Results
Banbridge 3 – 1 Portrane
Cork Harlequins 3 – 2 Monkstown
Three Rock Rovers 2 [3 – 2] 2 Avoca
YMCA 1 [3 – 0] 1 Pembroke Wanderers
Corinthian 2 – 3 Lisnagarvey
Men’s EY Hockey League Standings
Lisnagarvey – 6pts
Banbridge – 6pts
Three Rock Rovers – 5pts
Pembroke Wanderers – 4pts
Avoca – 3pts
Cork Harlequins – 3pts
YMCA – 2pts
Monkstown – 1pt
Corinthian – 0pts
Portrane – 0pts