Men's Hockey All-Ireland Championship: An inspirational goal by one of their newest international figures, John Jermyn, set Cork C of I on the way to a 3-1 defeat of Annadale to win the all-Ireland Championship at Belfield yesterday, eclipsing Ulster's top three sides in the process (and not least Harlequins on the home front).
Jermyn scythed into the left of the circle after 14 minutes and unleashed a reverse-stick shot inside the far post, out of Johnny Moore's reach.
Furthermore, Annadale were barely recovering when their hopes received a further blow as their captain and attacking spearhead, Chris Jackson, limped out of the game with a twisted ankle.
This left C of I with the greater driving force, exemplified by their veteran skipper, Alastair Dunne, who sundered the cover twice in the second half to set up the second and third goals. First, he sent Ireland Schools player Richard Arnopp free to elude Moore to make it 2-0 with some elan, and then the captain worked his way to the back line to deliver a brotherly and elated tap-in for Trevor Dunne.
Thus, with no more than 15 minutes remaining, Annadale had virtually no chance of making up the leeway for the draw they needed. Ian Hamilton, having hit the crossbar, reduced the margin from a short corner, but despite the prompting of David Smyth and some pressure from John McDermott and Stephen McClean there was to be no further breakthrough against the best defence in the tournament. It was fortified with notable maturity by Derek Hales and Andrew Chambers.
So, it is with much delight that C of I, after carrying off the Irish Senior Cup in 1999, are set to make a fresh sortie into Europe next year.
Coach Denis Pritchard can take a modest bow and as Ali Dunne pointed out, there was much valuable strapping-up carried out by Mary Dundon.
CORK C of I: M Ruddle; A Chambers, D Hales, K Burns, P Smith (vice-capt); J Jermyn, D Hobbs, N Buttimer; A Dunne (capt), R Dorman, T Dunne. Subs: R Arnopp, A Herbert. Coach: D Pritchard; manager: D Judge; physio: M Dundon.
ANNADALE: J Moore; G Sterritt, D Smyth, N Stewart, M Kendall; P Bland, I Lewers, J McDermott; I McKeown, C Jackson (capt), I Hamilton. Subs: S McClean, P Jackson, G Hayes. Coach: G Francey; manager: S Allison.
Umpires: C Hutchinson, C McConkey.
ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP (at Belfield): Instonians 4 (A Gill 2, C Barnes, C Kennedy) Lisnagarvey 2 (B Waring, T Cockram); Cork C of I 3 (J Jermyn, R Arnopp, T Dunne) Annadale 1 (I Hamilton). Final placings: 1, Cork C of I 5 pts (7-2); 2, Annadale 4 pts (7-5); 3, Instonians 3 pts (4-4); 4, Lisnagarvey 0 (5-12). Player of the tournament: P Brown (Instonians); goalkeeper of the tournament (Anthony O'Neill Trophy): J Moore (Annadale).
