Having deprived Lisnagarvey of the Irish Senior Cup last season, Pembroke Wanderers yesterday won the All-Ireland Championship, again to the chagrin of Ulster's most illustrious club, winning a pulsating deciding match 3-2 at Belfield yesterday.
So Pembroke will again join Glenanne in European competition next year. It had looked as if Lisnagarvey, through the guile of Dan Clarke and the tenacity of Colin Clarke, allied to the short-corner marksmanship of Jonathan Bloomfield, would earn at least the point which would have landed the title.
Lisnagarvey, indeed, twice seized the lead as Bloomfield put away drag flicks in the eight and 33rd minutes. But, in between, Justin Sherriff had left his calling card with a stunning reverse-stick equaliser, as Pembroke swept up-field while Lisnagarvey skipper Brian Waring was questioning a disallowed goal.
All-out Pembroke pressure yielded a short corner 13 minutes into the second half for Sherriff to extract a save from Kyle Lunn and Francis de Rosa snapped up the second-phase ball to make it 2-2.
There was then some marvellous waves of attacking play by both sides, resulting in some equally fine defending, with Duncan McKeen excelling as the Pembroke bulwark. Then Pembroke mounted a counter-thrust for Peter Priestley (son of Eric) to deliver a cross from the right, from which Sherriff slipped a pass to Alan Giles, who deftly slotted his side into the lead.
There were still eight minutes left but two more Lisnagarvey short corners (it was 9-2 overall) yielded nothing more, and it remained for Paudie Carley to hoist aloft the President's Trophy.
The victory was all the more commendable as Pembroke were without one of their most incisive attackers, Gordon Elliott, who damaged ligaments in the early stages of the game against Annadale, which finished 2-2.
Lisnagarvey went a goal down to a Richard Gash goal for Cork Harlequins on Saturday in the first half, but Kevin Lunn and Bloomfield each scored twice to secure a 4-2 victory.
Harlequins beat Annadale 2-1 for third place yesterday. John Ahern and Eddie Gash scored for the Cork men with David Yule replying.
Pembroke Wanderers: N Henderson, K Treacy, D McKeen, R Gormley; P Carley (Capt); F de Rosa, D Donnelly, A Kershaw; T Dunne, J Sherriff, A Giles. Subs: S Stewart, P Priestley, D Good.
Lisnagarvey: Kyle Lunn; B Waring (Capt); J Bloomfield, C Clarke, P Fleming; J Stevenson, D Clarke, J Gray; M Lappin, M Raphael, G Bittle. Subs: Kevin Lunn, P Stirling, B Liggett.
Umpires: R O'Connor, C Hutchinson.