One more win for Garvey

Garvey have the chance to wrap up the IHL title with a win at Lough Moss, with three points taking them out of reach of arch rivals Monkstown, who are 11 points behind.

With the local side having suffered the disappointment of a penalty stroke defeat to Monkstown in the Irish Senior Cup final last time out, they will be hoping to get their hands on the silver ware sooner rather than later.

Head Coach Errol Lutton said he was looking forward to getting back to action after a break over Easter, but warned that the title was not guaranteed, despite Garvey’s current position.

“It’s going to be tough, as all games are tough at this level,” he said.

“If you look at Annadale’s results they have played very very well. They have lost a lot of tight games.

“We have worked our way into the position that we can win the IHL, with one win from four remaining matches.

“The guys have been fantastic from the start of the season,” he said.

“We still have to win one game and it won’t be easy,” Lutton warned. “There is not much to separate any of the sides, even those at the bottom.

“Mathematically most teams can aim for fourth and get into a play-off place. Teams are looking to win to get fourth or to avoid relegation down at the bottom.

“This is our first year in the IHL and that was always the target.

“To win it over the course of a season and earn a place in Europe, that was always our main target.

“Obviously the Irish Cup is a fantastic one to win, but to win the IHL, against all of the major teams, playing every week, that was our main target.”

Lutton said he and his team had an enormous sense of pride, as well as disappointment, in their Irish Senior Cup final result against Monkstown.

The match went to penalty strokes after a 2-2 draw in the 70 minutes, with Monkstown taking the title 6-5 on penalty strokes.

“I can’t ask any more of the players,” Lutton commented. “To get to penalties and go so close against great oppostion was fantastic.

“There are very fine margins,” he said. “In the previous round we managed to squeeze through on penalties, unfortunately this time they didn’t go for us.

“Monkstown are a side who have been in lots of Irish Cup finals. It was two top teams against each other and there was a very fine line between us.

“Going forward I’d like to say thanks for the fantastic amount of support that came down there for us. There were all ages there with us. It was fantastic of the club to organise for so many to come down and I hope they can can continue to do that for our remaining matches.

“At some stage we hope to deliver silverware,” he added.

“We’re looking forward to the next run of games, where we hope to get to the play-off’s for Europe in Banbridge.”