Lisnagarvey produced a defensive masterclass to outdo Three Rock Rovers and advance to the final four of the men’s Irish Senior Cup, winning 2-0 at Grange Road.
With Jonny Bell marsahlling things, they gave precious few chances to the current EY Hockey League leaders and eventually took their chances in the second half to win a big battle.
Indeed, they might have been in the clear earlier in the contest but for some outstanding Conor Quinn goalkeeping – not for the first time this season – as he denied Troy Chambers and James Lorimer early on.
Rovers were shy a number of their front line with Ben Johnson, Luke Adams and Evan Jennings out of action and they struggled to get much traction, the pick of their chances flashing just wide from Ross Canning before half-time.
Garvey went in front with half an hour to go when Ben Nelson charged down a couple of attempted clearances and followed up to give his older brother Matthew the chance to swipe home. They looked the more likely to strike again and they were two to the good in the last 10 minutes when Andy Edgar flicked home from the penalty spot after a swift counter-attack.
Peter Blakeney whizzed a corner shot just wide in the dying moments but Lisnagarvey were well worth their win, setting up a semi-final date with Glenanne.
In the men’s Irish Hockey Trophy, the all-Ulster semi-finals yielded a final showdown between North Down and Queen’s after they overcame South Antrim (6-2) and Portadown (3-2), respectively.
In the women’s Irish Senior Cup, Banbridge and Catholic Institute’s quarter-final was postponed for a second time.
Avoca reached the final of the Irish Hockey Trophy with a shoot-out win over YMCA. Orla O’Brien had Avoca 1-0 up until the closing minutes before YMCA withdrew their goalkeeper in favour of an extra outfielder and it paid dividends when Naoise Carraher netted for 1-1.
But they could not carry that momentum into the shoot-out where Avoce won out 3-1 with efforts from Aoife Grogan, Anna Richardson and Sarah Dillon, Joanne O’Grady getting YMCA’s reply.
Men
Irish Senior Cup, quarter-final: Three Rock Rovers 0 Lisnagarvey 2 (M Nelson, A Edgar)
Irish Hockey Trophy, semi-finals: North Down 6 (P Templeton 2, J Orr, G McKeown, A Welsh, J Gilmore) South Antrim 2 (M Taylor, J Brown); Queens University 3 (H Scott 2, C Irwin) Portadown 2
Women
Irish Senior Cup, quarter-final: Banbridge v Catholic Institute – postponed
Irish Hockey Trophy, semi-finals: Avoca 1 (O O’Brien) YMCA 1 (N Carraher), Avoca win shoot-out 3-1; Raphoe v Ashton – postponed