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Match Report · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 128

Volleyball v 1st Portrush
05/06/2009
(Northern Ireland Cup, Final)

1st Knocknamuckley met 1st Portrush in the final of the Northern Ireland Cup at Knocknamuckley halls on Friday. A big crowd gathered for what was a fixture with quite a bit of recent history. Knocknamuckley had beaten Portrush in the semi final on their way to winning the trophy last year, and Portrush had beaten Knocknamuckley in the final the previous year. Between the two companies they had possessed the Northern Ireland Cup for 4 of the last 5 years, with Portrush having won the trophy in 2004, 2006 and 2007 before Knocknamuckley won the competition last year for the first time since 1999, the longest barren spell in Knocknamuckley volleyball history.

There were two changes for Knocknamuckley from their semi-final win with Colin Irwin coming in for Stephen Russell, while strangely the captaincy of the side was changed, Graham Cowan taking over from Seth Mathers. Portrush also had changes in their personnel, with a few of their players being unavailable.

Portrush took the first three points of the game before Colin Irwin hit a fine spike to get Muckley on the board. Muckley clawed their way back to level terms, but appeared to have lost all their composure at 8-6 when the Knocknamuckley coach wisely called a timeout. The timeout worked perfectly, with Gregg Harrison winning the next point with a dump, and then Muckley coming out on top of a marathon rally, with Matthew Kimmons making a great block and a thunderous spike from Graham Cowan, who had an excellent first set, finishing off the point. The scores remained level until 12-12 when Knocknamuckley took charge of the set, moving on to 20-13, with Seth Mathers to the fore for the cup holders. Despite Portrush clawing back some ground Muckley closed out the first set to take a vital lead.

First Set 1st Knocknamuckley 25 v 19 1st Portrush

Having wrapped up the first set, Knocknamuckley suffered from over confidence and relaxed at the start of the second set, and fell 7 points behind, hitting three spikes long in the process. Knocknamuckley called a timeout, which again worked immediately with Harrison hitting a spike for Muckley’s first point in the second set, and then they soon added two more points. They lost their way on the next point and a second timeout was called, which led to Knocknamuckley pulling the score back to 9-10 with some great Seth Mathers serving. Chris Carville played an intelligent shot to the back court, having spotted a gap, and some powerful serving from Carville and a Mathers spike helped Muckley take the lead. Seth Mathers then came up with the spike of the set as he smashed the ball into open court, and puffed the chest out as the set began to heat up. An extensive point, which included some improvised shots was again finished by a Mathers spike and a Cowan block and another Mathers spike allowed Muckley to take control at 23-19, Portrush called a timeout at 24-10, but the set was finished off when the inspirational Mathers dived full length to dig the ball over the net and clinch the second set.

Second Set 1st Knocknamuckley 25 v 20 1st Portrush

The teams traded point for point at the beginning of the second set. Simon Grey hit three magnificent spikes, Carville won a point with a smart touch over the net and Mathers continued his full blooded performance. The first gap in the scores came when Muckley opened up a slight gap at 15-13 but this was soon pegged back. Carville made a great block to take his side to 20 points first and then this was extended to 24-20, another spike from Grey taking his team to match point. Portrush took a timeout and unsettled Muckley as they ran off the next three points, knowing that one set might change the whole momentum of the game. The game was wrapped up in emphatic fashion, a spike from Grey was returned, but Grey again towered over the net, spiked the ball, thumping the ball with such power that when the ball struck the chest of a Portrush player, he just managed to keep his footing as the ball cannoned into the crowd and Knocknamuckley secured the Northern Ireland Cup for the second time in a row with a bang.

Third Set 1st Knocknamuckley 25 v 23 1st Portrush

It was Knocknamuckley who triumphed by three sets to nil despite an impressive performance from Portrush, who could have changed the momentum of the game if they could have capitalised on their lead at the beginning of the second set, or managed to sneak the third set. After Portrush were presented with their runners-up medals, the trophy was presented to Knocknamuckley captain Graham Cowan, to emulate the achievement of 1998 and 1999 in winning the Northern Ireland in back to back seasons, and regain Knocknamuckley’s place as the foremost side in Northern Ireland BB Volleyball.

The team played well from start to finish, with Graham Cowan excelling in the first set with his hitting and his overall play and Seth Mathers began to be the dominant force in the match with a whole hearted performance. Matthew Kimmons directed the game beautifully with continuous well judged sets, and Simon Grey proved the difference in the final set with some ferocious hitting. A big well done to Malcolm Adamson and his squad for another fine achievement, taking Knocknamuckley’s trophy haul for the season to an incredible seven pieces of silverware.

Result 1st Knocknamuckley 0 v 3 1st Portrush

Team: Cowan, Carville, Grey, C.Irwin, Harrison, Kimmons, Mathers.

Match Report · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 128

stephenrussell · Joined: 11 Apr 2009 Posts: 7

Good decision by the coach to make Graham Cowan captain for the final. He proved his worth by leading his team to victory.