Former Dalefield hockey player Andy Ewington has assumed cult status in Ireland.
Hard on the heels of scoring two vital goals for his Dublin club Monkstown in their Leinster Mills Cup final against Three Rock Rovers comes news that Monkstown now has another trophy in their cabinet, the IrishSenior Cup, and Ewington was again the toast of the after-match celebrations.
And you can wager that they lasted a long time since Monkstown were breaking a 99-year drought in the prestigious competition.
An Irish hockey website tells the story: "Such scripts would be rejected as preposterous by Hollywood studios but 99 years since their last Irish Senior Cup success, the title has returned to Monkstown in the most dramatic fashion.
"Indeed the cult status of Andy Ewington just grows and grows as he fired a third killer goal in as many outings, completing his second hat-trick of the weekend with a second silver goal.
"That the Kiwi had played just three competitive games for the first team before this week makes the story all the more surreal, returning to the fold to become the toast of the town, first winning the Mills Cup for his side and then being their key player in both finals weekend games.
"Once again he showed he had ice in his veins as he bludgeoned home a winning drag-flick for the third goal of an amazing first period of silver goal extra time."
Normal time in Monkstown's final with Pembroke ended at 3-3 with the now famous Ewington drag flick giving them a 2-0 advantage after just eight minutes. Pembroke hit back, however, to even things up at 2-2 and it stayed that way through until halftime.
The early stages of the second half were evenly contested with Ewington's overlapping down the right going unchecked on several occasions and it was he who restored Monkstown's lead in the 51st minute.
Pembroke came back again though with the equaliser and the match went into extra time where Monkstown scored first, only to have Pembroke make it 4-4 with three minutes to play.
It was Monkstown who dominated those closing stanzas and after a series of corners, Ewington made no mistake in "devastatingly clinical fashion", whipping the ball past the Pembroke goalkeeper right on the final hooter.
