4 months ago
Having beaten Suttonians 6-5 with an extra time golden goal in the first round, Clontarf men's seconds advanced to the second round of the Railway Challenge Cup against a youthful Monkstown second team at the Bull Ring on Saturday.
From the push back division-three Monkstown looked to dominate the game, and the gap between division-three and division-four hockey was apparent with the continual Monkstown possession alternating with sporadic Clontarf breaks.
With pressure building, and constant short corners being conceded, a heroic rearguard action was fought by Claude Mollard and the Clontarf back four, but eventually a misfiring Monkstown short-corner team took advantage of one of their many chances and scored.
Beginning to wilt under the constant pressure of Monkstown attacks, the red mist descended on Andrew Gardner resulting in a torrent of umpire abuse, a yellow card, and a large prospective end-of-season fine. Down to ten men, Clontarf managed to hold firm until halftime, even managing to manufacture a couple of on-the-break chances coming up to the interval.
Back to a full compliment of eleven for the start of the second half, and at only 0-1 down despite the constant Monkstown pressure, Clontarf were still firmly in the game.
Eventually though, the visitor's forwards began to find their range, and despite a number of excellent saves and off-the-line clearances, a short-corner and a penalty-stroke saw Clontarf go to 0-3 down. Opportunities were still very much available against an overconfident Monkstown defense, and finally a Clontarf break got the desired result, with Cain Cooney expertly slotting Clontarf's sole goal for the game, bringing the score to 1-3.
The Monkstown riposte wasn't long in coming, but even at 1-4 Clontarf weren't without chances, and as the clock ticked down late efforts from Andrew Gardner, Stu Miller and Gareth McKenna agonisingly failing to produce goals.
A creditable performance against a higher division side sets the seconds up nicely for the vital upcoming league fixtures, beginning with Monkstown thirds next weekend.