16 teams and 35 games over 3 days; the SuperCup has returned with a bang!
After a 4 year absence, the task of getting the tournament up and running seemed like a tough one, but with the help of many volunteers, the much loved preseason event ran excellently last weekend.
Siobhan Madeley and Joe Brenann did trojan work in getting the project off the ground, and ensuring it ran smoothly. They were helped greatly by Alastair Haughton, Barbara Snow, Shane Madeley and Stephen Findlater. Mandy Bools, John Findlater and Frazer Morris were on hand to keep the matches running on schedule, while Emer Keogh videoed over 13 games on Friday and Saturday. There were too many people carrying out umpiring duty from both our own mens teams and others to mention, but we are truly grateful to everyone that chipped in and played their part this weekend.
On the business side of things our ladies 1sts were narrowly defeated by Genesis in the first game of the tournament, with a controversial single goal being the only thing to separate them. A draw with Bray followed on Saturday before gaining an impressive 2-1 victory over PEmbroke 2nds. Our two young guns Sadie and Aoife shone by knocking in both goals, in their first performances for the senior side since moving up from u16 level. The semi final on Sunday morning proved to be too much as they lost 0-3 to the eventual winners Pembroke. Jody returns this week to carry on with Nathans excellent work as their pre-season continues for a number of weeks.
The mens 2nds had a tough task with Annadale, Corinthians and Monkstown in their group. They fell 2-0 to Corinthians on Friday night, and 3-1 to Annadale on Saturday morning before gaining an exceptionally impressive win over Monkstown in the evening! It wasnt enough to see them through to the semis unfortunately but for a young team ready to take on Division 2 this year, the tournament was an excellent platform from which they can hope to build on.
The mens 1sts meanwhile will be happy as they became overall winners of the tournament on the mens side. They ran out wins against Fingal and Belfast Harlequins before narrowly losing out to Pembroke 1-2 on Saturday night. They were drawn against Monkstown in the semi final which they won 1-0. They then played the final, their 5th game in 72 hours, against Pembroke which they won 4-2. Peter Blakeney was crowned Player of the Tournament, winning a hockey stick which was kindly sponsored by Ed Sports.
in the ladies div 1 competition, results were tight. Ulster Elks finished 4th in the group but won their semi against Hermes before winning the overall competition by beating Pembroke. Canadas most capped player Stephanie Jameson won player of the tournament, which was also kindly sponsored by Ed Sports.
Once again a big thanks to all who made the weekend happen. Below are some of the kind tweets we received:
‘Fantastic well run and respectful tournament – delighted to have been part of a great experience over the last 3 days’
‘Thank you everyone @TRRHC for a great weekend. I hope we are invited again next pre-season!’
‘Thank you to TRRHC for a great weekend!! Great hockey and fun by all involved!!’
‘Huge thanks to all the Rovers for the organisation, food and craic this weekend. Pass on our thanks to all those who umpired as well.’
‘Great weekend of hockey, thanks so much to everyone for having us @TRRHC, great start to the season!!’
