Sherriff has cutting edge

HOCKEY: The important match of the weekend was won on Saturday when Pembroke took another step closer to the title with a 2-1 win over Three Rock Rovers at Grange Road.

Once again it was Ireland striker Justin Sherriff who made the initial difference between the two teams, his goal midway through the second half, after a scoreless first period, giving Pembroke a slight edge.

When Richard Gash added another for Pembroke for 2-0 well into the final 10 minutes, there was little way back for Rovers. A Peter McConnell strike did pull the home side back to 2-1, but Pembroke left with the all-important points.

Not to be outdone, Corinthians also earned themselves a deserved win, against Aer Lingus, and ably kept with the pace at the top of the division, where they now trail Pembroke by four points but continue to keep them under surveillance from second place.

All the Corinthians goals were scored by Adrian Missen, with Paul Fitzpatrick also collecting two goals for Glenanne against Monkstown in their 2-0 win. Glenanne are now in the top four, with Three Rock Rovers occupying third place, while further down the table Trinity's four goals against Railway Union keep them well out of any bottom-place danger.

Not so for UCD. Their position at the foot of the table was emphasised when YMCA hit five past them. Both Railway and UCD look as though they could end up fighting it out in the danger zone, with Monkstown and YMCA also needing to start collecting more points. Both clubs are on nine points each with Railway on six and UCD on five.

Pembroke then made it two out of two for the weekend when they knocked Corinthians out of the Leinster Senior Cup yesterday.

In a tight, fast and physical match, Sherriff was again at the cutting edge, knocking in a first-half goal before Dan Williams equalised for Corinthians. That's the way the sides finished up, which sent the contest into a golden-goal finish. Again Sherriff was at hand, a reverse drill giving Pembroke their place in the next round at the expense of the next-best side in the contest.