Dublin University Hockey Club (DUHC) claimed a second win of the league campaign today with a 2-0 victory away at Weston Hockey Club. After a disappointing intervarsities tournament last weekend, during which the team was forced to forfeit the penultimate stage of its group campaign due after becoming entangled in the traffic of the Dublin City Marathon, Trinity emerged with a point to prove in Lucan.
Trinity began the brighter of the two teams, moving the ball quickly from back to front and posing problems for the Weston defence. However, the hosts’ pace in the frontline meant that DUHC never looked entirely comfortable. Neither side displayed much by way of a finishing touch for most of the half, but Trinity did make its dominance count shortly before the break when a raking pass from Ian Marron found its way into the path of the onrushing Hugo Temperley. The latter did the rest with a clever finish.
Nevertheless, the game was still finely poised when the teams emerged for the second half. The importance of claiming three points was not lost on either team, with nerves perhaps a factor as both sides increasingly struggled to retain possession. Tensions also began to rise, both sides becoming increasingly irate at the decisions of the umpires.
Weston went close on a number of occasions, and DUHC had goalkeeper Hugh Lavery to thank as he made a number of important saves to maintain what was a precious advantage.
However, Trinity came through this sticky period relatively unscathed, and sealed all three points some 15 minutes before the game’s conclusion. A short corner fell into the path of Cillian Hynes, the striker unerring as his shot found the net via a deflection.
The wind now ebbed out of Weston’s sails, and DUHC did not look overly troubled as a scrappy game limped to its conclusion. The team now move up to sixth in Division One of the Leinster Senior League after back-to-back triumphs. Trinity face fifth-placed Dublin North next week, and with both sides level on seven points it will be an important game for a DUHC team seeking to propel themselves out of mid-table and into the upper reaches of the division.
