Four goal Garvey see off Civil Service with ease

Lisnagarvey improved their Premier League position with a dour but valuable 4-0 win over Civil Service at Stormont last Saturday.
Jason Lynch, who netted a superb solo effort during Saturdays 4-0 victory. Pic: Rowland White / Presseye.Jason Lynch, who netted a superb solo effort during Saturdays 4-0 victory. Pic: Rowland White / Presseye.
Jason Lynch, who netted a superb solo effort during Saturdays 4-0 victory. Pic: Rowland White / Presseye.

The game was played once again in heavy rain but Garvey started well with a Johnny Quigley run down the right which finished with a reverse shot narrowly wide.

Constant pressure caused panic in the Civil Service defence in the 10th minute but after three attempts to find the net, the home side somehow survived.

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Garvey’s first penalty corner came in the 17th minute but following a switch round the circle, the scoring chance was wasted when James Lorimer’s shot also went wide.

Mandatory Credit: Rowland White/Presseye
Men's Hockey: Kirk Cup Final
Teams: Cookstown (red) v Lisnagarvey (blue)
Venue: Banbridge
Date: 26th December 2012
Caption: Greg Thompson, LisnagarveyMandatory Credit: Rowland White/Presseye
Men's Hockey: Kirk Cup Final
Teams: Cookstown (red) v Lisnagarvey (blue)
Venue: Banbridge
Date: 26th December 2012
Caption: Greg Thompson, Lisnagarvey
Mandatory Credit: Rowland White/Presseye Men's Hockey: Kirk Cup Final Teams: Cookstown (red) v Lisnagarvey (blue) Venue: Banbridge Date: 26th December 2012 Caption: Greg Thompson, Lisnagarvey

A second set-piece was forced in the 21st minute and after the initial shot was saved by the Service keeper, Peter MacDonnell was on the spot to knock the ball over the line for the opening goal.

Johnny Bell was finding a lot of room in the centre of the pitch seemingly without a marker and in the 23rd minute he took advantage of the space with a great run and shot that was well saved but his team only had to wait another two minutes before they added to their goal tally.

Andy Williamson did some good work on the right and after his shot was blocked, Greg Thompson was on hand to finish.

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Daniel Buser could have scored a third in the 33rd minute but the visitors had to be content with a 2-0 lead at the interval having dominated possession for much of the 35 minutes.

Garvey playing without the strike power of Timmy Cockram who was absent celebrating the birth of his twin sons and midfielder Sean Murray, had to work hard to open up the home side’s bunched defence but in the 38th minute, Garvey scored their third and vital goal.

This time it was Jason Lynch who set himself up on the reverse just right of the goal and simply blasted the ball past the Service keeper who hardly flinched as it tore into the roof of the net.

Civil Service did manage a penalty corner amongst their grim defending. It came in the 34th minute but the once lethal Chris Barnes was well off target with his drag flick.

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Garvey introduced two more debutants to the Premier League in the shape of Andrew O’Hare and Johnny Beckett and neither looked out of place during the 10 minutes they were on the pitch.

Andy Williamson finished off the Garvey scoring in the 67th minute when he found room close to goal on the right and slotted the ball on his reverse side to give Garvey a comfortable but unattractive 4-0 win over a team which obviously was totally intent on defending and giving away as few goals as possible.