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SPORT
TRINITY NEWS February 10, 2009
ALL THE ACTION FROM HOCKEY COLOURS 2009: UCD 6 TRINITY 2 SCORE
UCD LADIES 2NDS TRINITY LADIES 2NDS
1 3
IN A game that was surely the highlight of the Trinity effort, the Second XI went ahead early on the sand-based pitch. With a small knot of supporters in attendance to boost the team’s spirits, a team that was expected to struggle against strong UCD opposition took the initiative, giving the Trinity faithful hope that this could be their year. Good defensive work from Rebecca Tyrrell and Anna Egan in goal kept UCD out, and their teammates up front were in similarly ruthless form. An up-field raid left Anne Cunningham in a good position; her shot came off the UCD goalie and went in to give Trinity a lead they never looked like giving up before halftime. After the break, UCD came back strong with the aid of a few players from the First XI, who didn’t even bother to hide their unsporting appearances in second-string jerseys, instead running on in the white-and-blue of the UCD Firsts. It took them several short corners before a breakthrough came – thanks in large part to the sterling work of the passionate Darina Errity and her teammates in defence – but eventually the dam wall burst and one of the whiteshirted interlopers pulled a goal back. UCD piled on the pressure, and Trinity seemed to be losing the plot a little, frustration setting in as they conceded a host of frees. In a remarkably experienced Trinity Second XI, fresher Clara Coakley provided the new blood, and it was she who finally put the matter beyond doubt right at the end. The UCD siege miraculously lifted, and Coakley, who
Aengus Stanley in action at Belfield. Photo: Jessica Packenham-Money had had a decent chance blocked on the line earlier in the game, was in no mood to pass up a second opportunity. Trinity swept upfield, and Coakley ignored the ball to Cunningham in favour of a thundering shot from a fair distance out. There was no stopping its passage into the right hand corner; just desserts for all concerned.
LADIES SECOND XI Anna Egan, Alice Delahunt (c), Aoife Freyne, Ashley Cantrell, Darina Errity, Megan Duffy, Fiona Burke, Helen Taaffe, Juiliette Gilligan, Anne Cunningham, Kate Stewart, Lucy Dockerell, Martha Purcell, Clara Coakley*, Nicola Costigan, Rebecca Tyrrell *Denotes Colours debut
SCORE
UCD LADIES 1STS TRINITY LADIES 1STS
2 0
AS THE players went to warm up on the main pitch, one could follow their progress around the pitch by the footprints in the snow. “This is madness”, muttered one DUHC player as he watched the ladies struggle through the slush. “Madness? THIS… IS… COLOURS!!” came the retort, to general satisfaction. Thankfully the spectators were doing their collective best to support in the spirit of Sparta undeterred by the weather – not least because most of them had just finished playing in it. Unfortunately the standard of play wasn’t up to much. Trinity showed early promise as Rachel Scott, the hero of the weekend’s victory of Glenanne, won a short corner, and Meabh Horan
was doing her best to bully UCD into submission in the midfield. But there was simply no disguising the gulf in quality between the sides which led all to soon to the telling scores; a sustained bout of UCD pressure led to the opener; a sideline ball bobbled awkwardly and Elliott was beaten at the second attempt. The second goal came from the set piece. The short corner was sent hard and low by Orla O’Shea with the onrushing Horan and Elliott unable to cope. The rest of the game was even, if a little dull, as UCD took their foot of the pedal and Trinity proved unable to break them down. Elliott pulled off a couple of blinding saves to keep them in it, but at the other end there was little to report. Claire Hearnden was their most effective player, with the normally threatening Horan and Gorman nullified by either the opposition or the conditions. Hearnden got the ball in the net midway through the second half, but had succumbed to the temptation to raise her stick illegally in order to do so and was awarded a green card instead of a goal. The only other decent chance fell to Danielle Costigan, to whom the ball fell kindly in the circle, but she was just unable to get it out from under her feet before the defence swallowed her up. Two-nil was the final score.
LADIES FIRST XI Jessie Elliott, Ailbhe Coyle, Vanessa Buckley, Caroline Murphy, Katie O’Byrne, Caoimhe Costigan, Nadia Douglas*, Rachel Scott*, Maebh Horan, Claire Hearnden (c), Danielle Costigan, Lucy Small, Irene Gorman*
MEN’S SECOND XI
A. O’Reilly, H. Jones, A. McGuinness*, S. O’Donohue, J. Burns, A. Raftery, A. Murphy, J. Cooper, A. O’Reilly*, L. Godfrey*, L. Symonds*, A. Lim, L. Cawley*, S. Reynolds*, Z. McElligott, S. Sheerin, R. Foley, J. Fair*
A. Jolley (c), J. Bryan, S. McKechnie, D. Montgomery*, H. Butler, W. Wilshere, H. Sutherland, T. Humphreys*, L. Jamieson*, A. Beverland, C. Nairn*, C. O’Reilly
LADIES FIFTH XI C. Coakley, L. Ferguson, O. Flanagan*, R. Gregg*, C. Hall*, C. Kennedy*, A. Larkin, D. McCollum (c), S. Moran, M. O’Dea, M. Ozaki, J. Pakenham-Money, S. Quinn
THE FIFTH XI were hard pressed from the off due not only to the weather conditions but also to the prevailing economic climate, which left the majority of the forward line unwilling to skive off work in order to attend the mid-morning fixture. An emergency goalkeeper had to be drafted in from the Fourths, while key defender Niamh Fox was also unavailable. A goal down at halftime, a lack of substitutes meant that a bare eleven were worn out by the middle of the second half, when a further two goals were notched up in the face of a brave but hopeless defensive effort. The Thirds had already succumed over on the new
pitch, their opponents sealing a 2-1 win in the final minutes of the game. Coach Jack Hegarty was in rumbustious mood ahead of the Fourth’s encounter, going so far as to claim that his charges were “going to absolutely destroy UCD” in his pre-match comments. A spirited display from his side, staffed primarily with girls making their first appearances at Colours, saw them stick it to their outlandishly clad opponents in the first half, putting in a goal courtesy of Eavanna Mills. Rookie goalkeeper Suzanne Buckley and her defensive line ensured a clean sheet to keep it 1-0 at the break, giving the Trinity some hope that they could cancel out the
MEN’S RUGBY
AIL DIVISION 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
Team Lansdowne UCC Ballynahinch Bruff Bective Rangers Old Crescent Greystones Malone Dublin University Belfast Harlequins Highfield DLSP Thomond Wanderers Clonakilty Instonians
P 10 9 9 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 8 10 10 8 8 10
W 8 7 6 9 5 5 5 4 3 4 4 3 2 2 2 1
D 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 2
L 1 1 3 2 3 3 4 5 4 5 3 6 7 5 6 7
F 195 188 247 120 155 128 152 106 130 118 86 132 109 82 86 135
A 101 110 111 88 143 113 181 102 125 141 120 159 160 137 105 227
TB 2 2 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
LB 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 5 3 2 0 2 4 3 2 1
Pts 37 33 30 29 26 22 22 21 19 18 18 17 14 13 11 10
No change from last week in the rugby team’s standing, since the match with Highfield was called off. Not now in action until the end of the month, the First XV will make do with a friendly game against Clontarf on Saturday. 31/01/09 Dublin University 21/02/09 Malone
P P v
Highfield Dublin University
BADMINTON Congratulations to Andrew Hogg and Aoife Aherne, who won the Mixed Doubles title at the 2009 Leinster Badminton Open. MEN’S SQUASH
LADIES SQUASH
Team Fitzwilliam A Fitzwillam B Sutton A Westwood A Curragh A Mt. Pleasant A Old Belvedere A Trinity A
P 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8
Pts 127 119 114 98 79 78 62 12
11/02/09 Curragh A v Trinity A 18/02/09 Trinity A v Mt. Pleas A
Pos 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Team Total Fitness Trinity A Mt. Pleasant A Fitzwilliam B Westwood B Aer Lingus A
P 10 10 10 10 10 10
Pts 109 101 76 69 67 35
11/02/09 Westwood B v Trinity A 18/02/09 Trinity A v Mt. Pleasant A
2 1
BY THE time the Firsts were put through their paces there was only pride to play for, with UCD winning five out of the opening six matches to seal Colours by lunchtime. Still, the idea of beating the hosts in the fixture at the top of the billing was enticing for players vocal supporters alike. Those latter did their part with some good natured heckling of whatever UCD player came within range. Onfield, however, Trinity were in trouble, finding it hard to work the ball out of the corners. Big Jack Hegarty had to be alert to keep UCD out from a couple of early short corners, one of which was the result of a long ball that left Glavey and Odlum at a loss. Brian Cleere prevented an immediate goal at the price of the shortie, which looked goal-bound before Hegarty got his left glove to it in a stop born of pure reaction. It was assuredly the save of the afternoon, but life being profoundly unfair the goalie’s heroics were soon to be undone. A ball into the circle was angled wickedly at goal by a UCD forward, and although Hegarty got a boot to it he was powerless to stop the rebound being buried by expert poacher Robbie McFarland. There was similarly nothing that could have been done about the second goal less than a minute laster (although better defence might have helped). UCD drove up the right flank and the cross crashed off the near stick and Hegarty’s helmet before dropping at the feet of Luke McSharry at the far post, who didn’t have to be told twice.
UCD MEN’S 2NDS TRINITY MEN’S 2NDS
2 0
THE MEN’S Seconds got things rolling on the main pitch, with the full misery of the day yet to reveal itself. With the XI just about assembling themselves in time for the strict 10am tip-off, it didn’t take long for them to make hard work of their task. Veteran Jason Bryan put in an animated performance, if a little too passionate for the umpires at times, but his defence was under enormous pressure for long periods. UCD had what looked like a perfectly good goal
defeat simultaneously being inflicted on the First XI on the adjacent pitch. Dave Adley called it right during halftime: “It’s a tight match, we’ve got to give it everything we’ve got”, but despite all the advice stressing the dangers of complacency, the team eventually went down in a similar manner to the 3rds just an hour before. UCD pegged one back before netting a late winner to rapturous applause.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Pos 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
MEN’S SOCCER
SAT MAJOR 1D Team DUAFC Brendanville FC Templeogue United Swords Celtic Clonee United Garda FC Verona FC Dunboyne AFC Confey FC Rush Athletic Boyne Rovers Rathcoole Boys Greenhills AFC Loughshinny United
14/02/09 Swords Celtic
P 15 13 13 12 10 14 14 13 12 14 13 13 12 12
W 13 9 8 8 7 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 1
D 1 1 3 1 2 2 1 3 3 4 4 3 4 4
L 1 3 2 3 1 7 8 6 5 7 7 8 7 7
F 64 34 35 34 39 27 27 25 14 31 19 17 19 15
v (Joe Tynan Cup)
ULTIMATE FRISBEE
Takes place over the weekend of February 14/15. TENNIS
WINTER LEAGUE Ladies: 15/02/09 22/02/09 Men’s: 01/02/09 15/02/09 22/02/09
Sutton 1 Leopardstown 1 Brookfield 1 Glasnevin 1 Trinity 1
v v 1 2 v v
MEN’S FIRST XI Jack Hegarty, Brian Cleere, Barry Glavey, Daire Coady, Nick Odlum, Aengus Stanley, Ian Gorman, Andy Gray*, Stuart Cinnamond, Johnny Orr (c), Ben Hewitt, Chris Tyrrell
disallowed and replaced with a short corner, much to the bemusement of the forwards. Club captain Aaron Jolley did his bit for club and country with a smart double save. He couldn’t keep them at bay forever, not with all the pressure being exerted by the home side. A nice bit of skill to evade Montgomery allowed a UCD attacker time in the box to wind up, and a blunderbuss of a shot nearly fractured the backboard and put UCD in the lead. The Seconds couldn’t seem to gel as a side, never getting their passing game going. Sutherland had a couple of half chances but never seemed likely to trouble the blackclad UCD goalie, Darth Vader-like in his unflappable and somehow menacing clam under pressure. An effort from Will Wilshere, hauled off the tennis courts to make his contribution, was swallowed up and UCD went for the sting operation, rattling down the pitch to scramble in a second goal with the ball beating Jolley close to the body. Then the hail started. It didn’t relent, and nor did UCD. A Humphreys reverse from range was all Trinity could muster by way of reply and 0-2 was the final scoreline. “What’s disappointing is the fact that we played a very similar side earlier in the year and beat them 8-1”, said Jolley. “We lost to an inferior side”.
MEN’S THIRD/ FOURTH XI
LEINSTER DIVISION 2
Results and fixtures to February 24
Pos 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 9. 11. 12. 13. 14.
The floodlights came on during the second half – it must have been all of 2pm – but unexpectedly it was Trinity who lit up the stadium with a stunning goal out of nowhere. Beginning with Cleere, seven or eight pinpoint passes swept the ball from right to left and almost the full length of the pitch before Andy Gray gave it the finishing touch from close range. It was wonderful hockey, and set the game alight. Ben Hewitt came to life up front, embarrassing his marker time and again as Trinity pressed for the equaliser. A typically powerful Glavey free from the edge of the circle lacked only a touch to send it in, and a short corner opportunity was wasted as Gorman failed to control at first instance. Chris Tyrrell hurled his stick at the dugout as he was substituted, evidence of the frustration sweeping through the ranks. Aengus Stanley, making a penetrating run up the wing, set up Orr for yet another missed chance, and when Hewitt left his man sprawling in the snow and rounded the keeper only to be illegally denied one felt the game was surely up, especially when the resulting set piece came to nothing. But there was one more sting in the tail: a short corner heralded the last play of the game. Crowd buzzing, ten men around the circle, Trinity looked for a famous equaliser. They didn’t get it. Well, there’s always next year.
MEN’S HOCKEY
SIEGE OF LIMERICK
PREMIER DIVISION FIRST DIVISION Pos 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
S. Buckley*, K. Smith (c), L. Hogan*, R. Wood, J. Geraghty, S. Lewis*, N. Barnwell*, L. Headon*, N. O’Donnell*, A. Davidson*, C. Walsh, K. Ryan*, L. Tully*, E. O’Hanrahan*, E. Mills*, E. Flahavan, M. McDonald, C. Mullins*, J. Orr, K. Hogan*
UCD MEN’S 1STS TRINITY MEN’S 1STS
SCORE
LADIES THIRD XI
LADIES FOURTH XI
SCORE
A 11 20 14 18 19 43 38 26 15 36 41 42 36 41
Team Clontarf Skerries Bray Suttonians Dublin University Avoca Weston Navan Naas
P 9 9 8 8 9 7 9 9 8
W 9 6 5 5 4 3 3 1 1
D 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
L 0 3 2 3 5 3 6 8 7
F 53 31 19 42 24 12 14 8 5
A 9 18 12 13 23 12 30 47 44
Pts 27 18 16 15 12 9 9 3 3
Pts 40 A routine win over Naas puts Trinity back in mid table, 28 which their performances this year deserve. Next week’s 27 match against another set of no-hopers will be an easy ride; 25 the target should be a performance against Skerries. 23 17 31/01/09 DUHC 3 1 Naas 16 14/02/09 Navan v Dublin University 15 21/02/09 Skerries v Dublin University 15 13 LADIES HOCKEY 10 9 7 Pos Team P W D L F A Pts 7 1. Railway Union 11 9 2 0 22 3 29 Loreto 12 7 4 1 28 6 25 DUAFC 2. 3. Hermes 11 6 3 2 28 12 21 4. Pembroke 11 6 3 2 22 16 21 5. Old Alexandra 12 5 4 3 23 19 19 6. UCD 11 5 3 3 13 8 18 7. Glennane 12 4 2 5 19 23 15 8. Bray 12 2 3 7 11 20 9 9. Trinity College 13 1 2 10 13 36 5 10. Corinthian 13 0 2 11 10 45 2
LEINSTER DIVISION 1
Victory, no matter long and hard the road may be... It finally arrived for the First XI on the last day of January, Rachel Scott scoring a hat-trick against Glennane. A result against Alex at Santry would keep the momentum going nicely as Trinity 1 the battle to reel in Bray begins. Trinity 1 31/01/09 Trinity College 3 1 Glennane Trinity 1 07/02/09 Bray PP Trinity College Trinity 1 21/02/09 Trinity College v Old Alexandra Shankill 1
D. Hacking*, D. Adley, C. Pearmund*, J. Mills, C. Denham, M. Sexton, R. Murtagh, P. Collings, A. Bell, R. Woods, J. Charlesworth, P. McCutcheon*, S. Kelly, J. Hackett*, A. Stevenson*, C. Gray, D. Ryan*, M. Connellan, M. Muhler*, D. Mangan*
THE FOURTHS match didn’t actually count towards Colours due to UCD, whose strength traditionally lies in the men’s club, deciding that they didn’t actually have a Fourths team, the crafty devils. Loath to be deprived of a chance for at least a moral victory, the Fourth XI demanded satisfaction by means of a duel, or, failing that, penalty strokes. With one stroke to go and UCD one ahead, the goalkeepers were called into action. Moritz Muhler stepped up and buried his to leave things even, then executed an abrupt about-face to try to deny his UCD counterpart. Wrongfooted, the German could only watch in dismay as the shot sailed toward the bottom corner, only to come off the post to leave matters at 2-2. Fittingly, the UCD mob turned out to be unable to master such complex mathematics and heartily congratulated the Trinity XI on their victory. The Men’s thirds were, therefore, the sole side able to boast a proper win. Goals from defender Doug Montgomery and veteran Cian Denham set the Thirds up for victory.