[Back]

Garvey began their Irish Hockey League campaign with a resounding 4-2 win over Annadale at Lough Moss last Sunday.
This match turned out to be Garvey,s best 70 minutes of the season with their first half performance quite scintillating. They started the game at a furious pace with Mark Raphael getting in a fierce shot which Annadale keeper Johnny Moore had to be good to block.
Garvey forced their first penalty corner in the 5th minute but again Moore was alert to Timy Cockram,s drag flick while at the other end Garvey keeper Davey Williamson was also quick to save from Mills after a sharp Annadale break.
A great five man move in the 7th minute led to Garvey,s opening goal. The ball was moved down the left in a series of one touch passes before Daniel Buser got a shot in; the rebound fell to Timmy Cockram who blasted the ball into the roof of the net for a superb goal.

Moore made a good right hand save from Cockram,s second penalty corner in the 12th minute and after a 3rd corner had been averted by Annadale they forced their first set piece and true to form Ian Hamilton found the net with a pile driver of a flick to equalise the score.
Garvey skipper, John Gray, made the running for his team,s 4th penalty corner in the 24th minute but the switch round the circle gave Stephen Arbuthnot the chance to score but he screwed his shot just wide of the left hand post.
Mark Raphael shot over the bar in the 25th minute but a minute later he set Cockram up for Garvey,s second goal after a great run on the left; Cockram finishing with a fierce reverse stick shot.
Garvey were now 2-1 ahead and playing some superb passing hockey and they fully deserved their third goal which came in the 29th minute. Again close a interchange of passes led to the ball falling to Greg Thompson who only had to slap it into the net from 3 yards out and Garvey went into the half time break with a convincing 3-1 lead.
Annadale came out with full intent in the second half and took the game to Garvey and in the 52nd minute had reduced the score to 3-2. Again it was the lethal drag flicking of Ian Hamilton which did the trick beating Davey Williamson with sheer pace.
The game was well and truly on now and Garvey rose to the situation with another burst of great cohesive hockey and a fine break down the right wing led to Greg Thompson adding goal number 4 again from close to the Annadale line and Garvey only had to see out the remaining 10 minutes to secure their first Irish Hockey League victory and this they did with some style even averting a 3rd Annadale penalty corner in the 67th minute.
Outstanding for a Garvey side in top gear were Timmy Cockram who seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, Mark Raphael, Brian Waring and Stephen Arbuthnot at the back and skipper John Gray who turned back the clock with a brilliant performance on the left hand side of the pitch.
Garvey will be aiming for another such performance on Saturday when they take on Banbridge in their second league clash of the season. Bann, in the previous two encounters have had less of the ball but more resolve and this has taken them through to two very close wins. If Garvey start at the same pace as they did last Sunday they could well take the game away from Banbridge at an early stage. A win over the visitors would again throw the league wide open.