Top two continue to set the pace

Men's Hockey: It was a weekend of the top teams reasserting their supremacy as if they ever needed to do it in the first place…

Men's Hockey: It was a weekend of the top teams reasserting their supremacy as if they ever needed to do it in the first place.

The top two sides, Glenanne and Pembroke Wanderers, stretched their lead at the top of the table with varying degrees of ease, Glenanne snatching their victory in the dying minutes against YMCA to keep their perfect record intact.

Pembroke meanwhile demonstrated to Avoca the gulf between the top of the first division and being the best in the second.

At St Mark's, Andrew Walker and Trevor Dagg got on the scoresheet to give YMCA a comfortable lead before international set-piece specialist Stephen Butler grabbed one back before the break for Glenanne.

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The home side then trailed in the match and when it looked as YMCA might pull off the shock of the weekend up pops John Goulding to help himself to two goals in the closing seven minutes. It leaves Glenanne with 15 points from five games but with Pembroke keeping the pace behind with some degree of authority.

Avoca will hopefully learn from their 10-goal mauling while Trinity, too, will have to develop a sound defensive strategy as much as a flair for scoring.

One former international player, as of last week, Gordon Elliott and current striker Justin Sherriff, helped themselves to four goals each in Pembroke's 10-2 victory.

Stephen Stewart and Dan Carter knocked in one a piece for Avoca, but it was an expensive outing for the Blackrock club and a scoreline that suggests Pembroke at their strongest will be a serious threat to Glenanne's current dominance.

Corinthians spread the scoring around with their 4-1 win over Railway Union while Monkstown gratefully shared the points with Three Rock Rovers at Rathdown in a six-goal match.

Finally, David Bane was the third player of the weekend to notch up four goals in Fingal's 4-2 win over the students, Peter Blackeney again on the mark for Trinity, this time with two goals.

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is a sports writer with The Irish Times