Ian Stewart’s brilliant goal propelled Corinthian to their first win of the season as they got the better of Monkstown at Rathdown.
He latched onto a mammoth overhead from the back and applied a delicious finish from a tight angle to give the reds their second successive win having previously had to wait 18 months for their previous three-pointer.
It has them in a three-way share of second place at this early stage of the campaign alongside Three Rock Rovers – who were in European action over the weekend – and Monkstown.
Glenanne moved five points clear thanks to a 6-0 win over UCD with Shane O’Donoghue scoring a hat-trick, bringing his personal tally to eight goals in four games. The Glens have a perfect record to be the runaway leaders thus far.
Pembroke got their first point of the season following a Julian Dale-inspired performance, going up to Banbridge and grabbing a 4-4 draw. Bann led three times but Dale ultimately slapped home a fourth quarter equaliser for his hat trick, cancelling out strikes from Jonny McKee, Louis Rowe, Sam Farson and Mark Cowan.
YMCA were another side to leave it late to grab a point as they tied 2-2 with Annadale courtesy of Grant Glutz’s corner goal two minutes from the end.
They had trailed 1-0 for a long time to Robbie Davidson’s goal only to equalise in the closing quarter. Dale, however, replied through Adam McAllister in the last few minutes but it was not enough to take all the points.
In Europe, meanwhile, Three Rock’s Euro Hockey League Ranking Cup campaign ended with a share of 17th place overall. On Saturday, they scored some tasty goals against HC Minsk but showed a lack of composure at times and fell 5-4.
It led to a Sunday morning showdown with leading English club Hampstead & Westminster – featuring Olympians from Great Britain, South Africa and Ireland’s Chris Cargo as well as USA and Wales internationals – proving too strong in a 4-1 final score.
