Monkstown and Lisnagarvey have cut themselves clear at the top of the EY Hockey League as both recorded double wins over the weekend.

Town have the slight edge as they snuck a 4-3 win over Cork C of I on Saturday before thumping Cookstown a day later. Against C of I, they trailed 3-1 in the first quarter but two goals from Gareth Watkins – celebrating his return to the Irish senior setup – and one from Josh Gregory and Kyle Good earned them the spoils.

There was much less difficulty a day later as they led 6-0 at half-time in Co Tyrone and never looked overly concerned in the second half – Watkins added three more to his weekend total.

Garvey's tie with Cookstown on Saturday was much tighter, nicking a 2-1 result. They followed up with a gritty 2-0 win in Tallaght. Railway Union salvaged a 4-4 draw against Annadale. They trailed 4-2 with less than five minutes remaining, but Nick Tate scored and Simon McKeever levelled with seconds to go. It leaves Dale adrift at the bottom of the table. A day earlier, they were undone by an improving Glenanne 3-2 with South African Shannon Boucher scoring his second hat trick in as many games.

Teenagers

Three Rock Rovers’ side, featuring eight teenagers over the weekend, continued their fine start to the season. A 0-0 draw on Saturday owed much to goalkeeper Jamie Carr’s heroics while Sunday’s 2-1 win against Pembroke came courtesy of a

Jody Hosking

thunderbolt with 17 minutes to go.

Banbridge ended the weekend with two draws as Stephen Dowds salvaged a late 2-2 tie with Cork C of I in their second game of the weekend.