Garvey win but miss out on IHL semi finals

Lisnagarvey made the long trip to Cork worthwhile when they won their last match in the I.H.L. by 3 goals to 1 at Garryduff.

Knowing they had to win by a large margin and Banbridge had to lose to Three Rock Rovers if they had any chance of qualifying, Garvey made the perfect start on a gloriously sunny day in the hills above Cork city.

After immediate pressure from the push back, Garvey forced their first penalty corner in the 2nd minute. The resulting drag flick by Timmy Cockram was saved by keeper Billy Lynch but the ball fell to Jason Lynch and he drilled it into the Cork net on his reverse side.

Jason Lynch was again in the action just before the end of the first quarter; he made ground through the Cork defence and gave Andy Williamson the chance to score Garvey’s second goal of the game and put them in a commanding position.

Garvey began the second quarter with their second penalty corner but Andy Williamson put his fast drag flick past the post in the 19th minute and a minute later Ryan Getty impressed with a great run which resulted in a third set piece. This time Garvey switched the ball round the circle and eventually skipper Jonny Bell found the net with a shot which was slightly deflected off a Cork defender to take his team into a 3-0 after just 20 minutes of a one-sided game.

At the other end Cork had one of their rare attacks and Richard Sweetman brought a save out of Garvey keeper John Tormey.

Garvey, totally in control of the match after 35 minutes became very frustrated in a second period when they had a multitude of chances to stretch their lead but failed to find the net again.

In the 51st minute, Cork struck back with an unlikely goal. A hesitant piece of defending by Garvey allowed Cork to break into the their circle and Stephen Parker had room and time to beat Tormey from 5 metres out from goal.

This was only a temporary ‘blip’ in the Garvey pressure at the other end with two more penalty corners being forced in the 54th and 57th minutes; both being blocked by the superb Billy Lynch.

Cork did have a penalty corner of their own in the 58th minute but Tormey made a solid save and it was left to Andy Williamson to miss the most simple chance of the second half when he managed to shoot over the bar from just 3 metres out from goal.

A final 9th Garvey penalty corner joined the other missed chances to leave the team disappointed with their second half performance, but for only the second occasion, no place in the semi final stage as Banbridge successfully progressed with a 5-3 win over Three Rock Rovers.