Glenanne’s dream season kept rolling as their Eddie O’Malley-inspired 3-2 win over Lisnagarvey moved them further clear at the top of the men’s EY Hockey League.
It inflicted a first defeat of the season on Garvey, moving the Glens three points ahead of Three Rock Rovers with a game in hand.
Saturday’s success came in Booterstown, their current makeshift home away from St Mark’s in Tallaght. On that front they also got a massive boost in their bid to upgrade the ageing Glenanne Park turf with the approval of a sports capital grant for €150,000, the only one of seven such hockey clubs’ plans to be approved.
It makes for happy times on all fronts for the Glens who were scarcely on anyone’s shortlist as a contender for national glory at the start of the campaign.
O'Malley notched the first from a clever Stu Ronan first-time pass that deceived the Garvey defence. Sean Murray equalised but another O'Malley effort and a delicious Shane O'Donoghue drag-flick to the top corner made it 3-1 at half-time.
Seven from eight
Paul Gleghorne pulled one back with 17 minutes to go but Glenanne held firm for their seventh win from eight outings.
They were the only side in the top half of the division to win as Pembroke and Three Rock drew 2-2 at Serpentine Avenue. The game featured the rare sight of Alan Sothern missing from the penalty spot with five minutes to go for what a would-be winner for Pembroke, who remain in fourth.
At the bottom, Railway Union’s hopes of a first point of the campaign was snatched from them by Annadale, who scored twice in the last 12 minutes to win 2-1. Railway now sit five points adrift following Cookstown’s dramatic 4-4 Sunday draw with Monkstown.
In midtable, Banbridge ended their four-game losing streak when Philip Brown scored a last second penalty corner in a 2-2 draw at Cork C of I.
