By Jonathan Brown
KILKEEL Men’s captain Mark Stevenson says lifting the Irish Hockey Trophy at Lisnagarvey on Saturday was an “unbelievable” feeling.
The Mourne side eased past North Down 6-2 to win the club’s first ever Irish cup.
“It just makes all the training worthwhile at the end of the day. It’s been a long season and to finish it off with an Irish Trophy is unbelievable to add to the success that we’ve had over the years”, he said.
For Stevenson, who joined Kilkeel at the age of 15, it was a special moment and shows the progress the club have made over the years.
“These are the things you dream about doing (winning Irish cups). There were never any major trophies lifted by the senior players whenever I was a teenager.
“We saw the likes of the bigger teams like Banbridge and Lisnagarvey lift trophies, you always wanted to be in their shoes and to lift one of those trophies yourself and thankfully I’ve done that now.”
The skipper said the performance of the team on the day was the best he’s seen his side play this season.
“I can’t fault anyone’s performance, it was the best we’ve played all season.
“Everybody was willing to work for each other, on and off the ball, and everything just clicked on the day.”
The final was in the balance, with the score at 2-1 at the end of the second quarter.
However, Gordon Cracknell’s side pulled away from North Down, never looking back after Stevenson himself made it 3-1 just six minutes into the third quarter of the game.
Read the full report and further reaction in the current issue.
