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Mullan’s troops looking to finish World Cup on a high

Katie Mullan says there is still a “burning desire” within the Irish women’s team to show what they are capable of as they prepare for two classification matches to close out their World Cup campaign in Amsterdam.
On Sunday at 12pm (Irish time), they will face either Germany or South Africa – who meet on Saturday evening – in the first phase of the 9th to 16th place qualifiers with Ireland hoping to outdo their pre-tournament ranking of 12th.
“We didn’t want things to go like this but the difference between this and the last World Cup is that there’s still something very important to play for,” Katie Mullan said of these fixtures.
“I really do still believe in this group and there is a lot more to show. It’s important we come out in the next two games and show that.
“It’s important we stay switched on and everyone has a burning desire to still play the hockey we are capable of playing at this World Cup. We are grateful to still be here and competing.”
In the wider context, the fixtures will give Ireland’s young players a chance to get more time together to build cohesion and understanding with a number of big tournaments on the horizon.
In August, Ireland will play in the European Championship qualifiers in Dublin and then will face the inaugural FIH Nations Cup in December in Spain, all important milestones along the road to a push for Paris 2024.
And while Ireland did bow out of the main competition in the World Cup group stages, Ellen Curran says it can be used as part of the team’s growth.
“Personally, despite the results, I have really enjoyed the tournament. I finally feel like I fit in within the team and am getting comfortable in that right back position.
“We did have fun against Germany; we did have really good periods of play; it’s just not connecting in the final 25. We still have games to go and we will try and prove a point in those and we have the makings of a really good side.”
Women’s Hockey World Cup
9th to 16th place playoffs
Sunday: Ireland vs Germany/South Africa, Wagener Stadium, 12pm (Irish time)
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U18 Girls Squad Selection for 8 Nations in Spain

The U-18 team will be competing alongside the U16 girl’s team from July 11 to 17, in the “8 Nations U16 & U18” in Terrassa, Spain.

They have been put into Group B of the competition along with the Netherlands, Spain and the Czech Republic.

The first two classified teams of each group will go directly to the semifinals.

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Volunteer Supports Programme 2022

The Hockey Ireland ‘Volunteer Supports’ programme offers volunteers an exciting opportunity to access free relevant courses and training to support their personal development.

This might be a good option for someone who…..

  • Wishes to develop their confidence by upskilling through courses
  • Is actively involved in their club but has yet to take up any training
  • Is interested in getting involved in supporting their club
  • Is currently unemployed / is on a career break
  • Has completed their Young Hockey Leader Award and wishes to further develop themselves

Examples of the courses funded through this programme include Fundamentals of Coaching Hockey, Disability Awareness Training, Autism Awareness as well as the new Hockey Ireland Online Rules Test and Fundamentals of Umpiring courses

To apply for this programme, click here. Closing dates for applications is 27th July 2022.

  • Applicants must be aged 18 or over.
  • Priority will be given to those involved in clubs from educationally, economically, and socially disadvantaged areas
  • Priority will be given to those clubs that have either expressed and interest in, or are already running a Hockey4All, Young Hockey Leader Award, Tricks4Sticks or PickupaStick programme within their club

This programme is funded by the Dormant Accounts Fund and Sport Ireland.

 

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U16 Girls 8 Nations Squad Selection

The U-16 team will be competing from July 11 to 17, in the “8 Nations U16 & U18” in Terrassa.

Ireland will play against Spain, Netherlands and Austria in Group B. The first two classified teams of each group will go directly to the semifinals. 

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Mullan and Dancer reflect on World Cup group stage exit

Women’s Hockey World Cup – Pool A

Ireland 0 Germany 3 (N Lorenz, C Stapenhorst, S Zimmerman)

Ireland were unable to summon the victory required to reach the knock-out stages of the women’s World Cup and must now regroup for the classification matches which start next Sunday in Amsterdam.

 

Coming into the tie, Ireland required a three-goal victory to be guaranteed a place in the knock-out stages while anything other than a win would send them into the 9th to 16th place playoffs.

 

And while they put in a performance full of endeavour and fight, Germany’s accuracy yielded goals from Nike Lorenz in the first half and a close range killer from Charlotte Stapenhorst. Sonja Zimmerman completed the win from a 57th minute penalty stroke.

 

“The scoreline doesn’t really tell the tale of the game,” said captain Katie Mullan post-match. “We really threw everything at Germany today but we needed to be a little bit more clinical and take our chances and that’s across the full attacking line.

 

“We showed a lot of character over the last 24 hours [since the defeat to Chile]. We turned it around and we showed a lot more hockey that we like to play. In tournament hockey you have to execute those pressure moments and we know that from 2018 and today we didn’t do that as we needed.”

 

In a lively start, Mullan’s strong running caused Germany plenty of discomfort and a lovely slip pass through from Deirdre Duke gave her a strong shooting opportunity. She cracked goalwards but Nathalie Kubalski calmly batted it away.

 

Germany, meanwhile, were working the ball through their star turn Nike Lorenz who pulled the strings for Elisa Gräve to first a dangerous shot which Ayeisha McFerran blocked.

 

Lorenz again was the creator for Charlotte Stapenhorst’s sharp chance, McFerran again getting a crucial pad on it.

 

And the world number four side took the lead in the 23rd minute from a clever switch to the left where Lorenz was on hand to flick across goal and find the net.

 

The Green Army stepped up quickly, Katie McKee and Michelle Carey both firing efforts on goal before the main break and they carried the momentum into the second half, winning their first penalty corner after the resumption.

 

Mullan’s through pass was inches from getting the perfect connection from Naomi Carroll but they were rocked once more in the 35th minute. Kira Horn’s driving run put Ireland on the back foot and while Sarah McAuley got a vital intervention, Stapenhorst pounced on the loose ball to sweep into the net.

 

Needing a huge comeback, they continued to make inroads with Mullan’s pass just evading a final touch from Naomi Carroll. And Sean Dancer threw caution to the wind in the closing quarter, swapping out goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran for an extra outfielder.

 

It led to Zara Malseed drawing the best save of the day from Kubalski, diving full length to repel the shot on the turn.

 

They bravely kept out two penalty corners with no recognised goalkeeper but Germany did get eventually another when Sonja Zimmerman netted a penalty stroke after Sarah McAuley blocked a shot on the empty goal with her body.

 

Lorenz had another stroke chance with 20 seconds to go but McFerran produced a magnificent save down low to limit the damage to three.

 

Reflecting on missing out on a playoff spot, coach Sean Dancer said it was a steep learning curve for this side featuring four uncapped players prior to the event and just five with experience from 2018.

 

“We knew coming into the tournament, it is a new and young group. We are certainly going to have some ups and downs and have to progress. When we review the tournament, we will have to take a lot of lessons out of the game but last night wasn’t the time to do it.

 

“We did bounce back and got ourselves into a good space to compete today. Sometimes that is not always the case in a tournament when you haven’t won the game you should have won.

 

“We knew it was a game we had to win and anything else would push us out. That was the mindset; we were going hell for leather to get something out of it. I was proud of how we played today; we are making some real progress.”

 

It means Ireland will now play their next fixture on Sunday with the opponent to be confirmed on Saturday in Amsterdam and Mullan says there is something still on the line.

 

“We didn’t want things to go like this but the difference between this and the last World Cup is that there’s still something very important to play for and I really do still believe in this group and there is a lot more to show. It’s important we come out in the next two [classification] games and show that.”

Ireland: A McFerran, R Upton, L Tice, E Curran, H McLoughlin, M Carey, C Perdue, S Hawkshaw, K Mullan, N Carroll, D Duke

Subs: S McAuley, Z Malseed, S Torrans, C Beggs, K McKee, C Hamill, L Murphy

 

Germany: N Kubalski, K Horn, A Wortmann, N Lorenz, A Schröder, L Michell, C Stapenhorst, S Zimmermann, C Pieper, V Huse, H Granitzki

Subs: S Oruz, E Gräve, P Heinz, P Maertens, L Weidemann, B Wenzel, J Sonntag

 

Umpires: M Giddens (USA), A Rostron (RSA)

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Irish eyes quickly turn to Germany after tough World Cup defeat to Chile

Women’s Hockey World Cup – Pool A

Ireland 0 Chile 1 (D Krimerman Losada)

Ireland will have to produce one of their biggest wins yet on Wednesday if they are to continue their World Cup journey following a 1-0 defeat to debutantes Chile at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen.

 

It means they need to win against world number five side Germany on Wednesday (3.30pm, Irish time) and then hope goal difference works in their favour later when Chile meet the Netherlands.

 

It was a day in which Ireland could not get the best out of their penalty corner attack as 10 set pieces went unconverted while the South American side whipped home the winner with 12 minutes to go via Denise Krimerman Losada.

 

Coach Sean Dancer was left to lament 10 penalty corner chances as the crucial goal would not fall their way.

 

“Really disappointed,” he said afterwards. “We dominated the first half and couldn’t score; Chile had the best of the second half, particularly the third quarter so tough to concede and lose 1-0.

 

“Chile ran pretty good lines at the penalty corners and took away some of the things we wanted to do. We have to give them credit for closing it down. They did a good job.”

 

Hannah McLoughlin concurred, adding: “It is definitely a game we targeted for three points and obviously haven’t got them. We have a 24-hour turnaround to our game against Germany so we need to park this one quickly, learn from it and get ready for tomorrow as quick as possible.”

 

The first three quarters were scoreless with Ireland unable to make full use of six corners while Chile were indisciplined, spending a third of the first half short-handed due to cards.

 

Sarah Torrans deflected a first minute chance into the bottom corner but Katie Mullan’s cross from the left was deemed to have hit her back-stick.

 

Mullan then had a backhand shot test Claudia Schuler before the South American side endured their first sin-binnings with less than 10 minutes gone as passions threatened to boil over.

 

The first quarter break allowed things settle and Chile did pick off a few strong counters with Domenica Ananias’ cross almost turned in by a diving Paula Valdivia.

 

But Hannah McLoughlin went closest to breaking the deadlock before the first half when she turned on her reverse-side and clipped a shot that nicked the outside of the left post.

 

With so much at stake, the third quarter became scrappier and increasingly tense with the play more and more fractious. Chile had two corners fall their way but Ayeisha McFerran and her defensive numbers closed the angles while Francisca Tala’s mid-circle shot on the turn was just wide.

 

But the game turned with 12 minutes to go when Chile picked off yet another set piece and this time, Denise Krimerman Losada slapped hard and true down the left channel to hit the backboard.

 

The Green Army responded immediately, winning three more corners to no avail while Zara Malseed had a trio of shots on goal, all defended by desperate defensive sticks.

 

Life got harder still when Lena Tice was shown a yellow card for a foul on halfway and Róisín Upton took a blow to the head and, in the staccato finish, Chile held on.

 

It means the focus turns quickly to their game with Germany on Wednesday: “We do need to let it sink in for a while, take some lessons, look back on the video but two matches in 24 hours is pretty quick. There has to come a point where we do park this one mentally and put all our focus on Germany.”

 

“We have a moment of disappointment and then we have to look at tomorrow,” Sarah Hawkshaw added. “We have to switch our mind to recovery and we have a huge opportunity against the Germans who we always give a good game.

 

“It is a huge [all-or-nothing] opportunity for us to put something away against them and I really believe we can.”

 

Ireland: A McFerran, M Carey, R Upton, S Hawkshaw, K Mullan, H McLoughlin, S Torrans, L Tice, C Perdue, D Duke, E Curran

Subs: S McAuley, Z Malseed, N Carroll, C Beggs, K McKee, C Hamill, L Murphy

 

Chile: C Shuler, D Ananias, F Villagran, D Krimerman F Flores, M Urroz, C Caram, F Tala, A Solano, M Maldonado, J Khamis

Subs: S Filipek, J Salas, C Palma, F Parra, P Valdivia, F Arrieta, N Salvador

 

Umpires: W Venter (RSA), I Makar (CRO)

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Ireland’s women face a hugely important date with Chile

Ireland’s women return to action in the women’s World Cup as they look to get their first win of the campaign against Chile (world ranked 17) and boost their chances of reaching the knock-out stages.

It is a big contrast from the opening tie of the competition against the world number one Netherlands, facing a south American outfit who are the lowest ranked nation in the competition, playing in their first World Cup.

As such, they offer a very different challenge but one that is vastly experienced and ready to make the most of this unique chance on the elite stage.

Chile pushed Germany hard in their first group match, Denise Krimerman’s thunderbolt corner goal keeping them in contention at half-time before the European side pulled away in the last 16 minutes.

With the Netherlands beating Germany 3-1 on Sunday evening, it means that both Ireland and Chile need a victory to stay in the hunt in the group with second and third place going through to a playoff game.

In terms of a head-to-head, Ireland have won six of their nine meetings with two draws but Chile’s only win coming during a shared series in Santiago in 2019.

The vast majority of their panel is still in situ but just six Irish players from their most recent battle are still around, showing the diverse paths in the intervening three years.

“They are where we were four years ago at a first major tournament,” Róisín Upton said. “They will take a lot from their opening game against Germany as well, do their homework on us.

“There isn’t too much footage out there on them so we will see what we can work out from them and then focus on ourselves and the little things we can learn from.”

Deirdre Duke added: “We have been thinking about this Chile game for quite a while but I think it’s important we got out and play our own game and don’t build it up too much. They are a good side but it is about us tomorrow and doing our basics right.”

The crowd presence will also be a fraction of Saturday with no Dutch match on the agenda on the day and the 2pm start time ruling out a sea of schoolkids amping up the decibel level.

The hope is the travelling support have not been inconvenienced by flight cancellations to Schiphol to make their presence felt.

Women’s Hockey World Cup
Tuesday, July 5th: Ireland v Chile, Wagener Stadium, 1pm (Irish time)
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Senior Men defeat Scotland to win the 4-Nations in Uddingston

Four Nations Invitational tournament

Ireland 5 (L Madeley 3, C Robson, T Cross) Scotland 3 (C Golden, J Golden, A Forsyth)

A Luke Madeley hat trick saw Ireland’s men win the Four Nations Invitational tournament in Uddingston as they beat hosts Scotland in the final 5-3.

Callum Robson opened the scoring when he picked out the top corner 12 minutes into the contest but the hosts bounced back to lead 2-1 with brothers Cameron and Jamie Golden both netting.

Tim Cross, however, levelled it at 2-2 at half-time and Ireland took control in the third quarter with Madeley firing carbon copy corner goals.

Alan Forsyth hit back with 11 minutes to go but the Green Machine finished off strong with Madeley completing his hat trick.

It is their second series win of the summer thus far as they continue to build to August’s target event, the EuroHockey qualifiers in Calais.

Prior to that, Mark Tumilty’s side will face Austria and Chile at the National Sports Campus in four weeks time.

 

Ireland: J Carr, L Madeley, T Cross, J McKee, D Walsh, K O’Dea, K Marshall, S Murray, B walker, S Hyland, N Page

Subs: L Witherow, C Robson, N Glassey, J Duncan, M Robson, B Johnson, M Ingram

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Mullan, Dancer and Perdue reflect on World Cup opening night against Netherlands

Women’s World Cup

Ireland 1 (R Upton) Netherlands 5 (F Matla 2, Y Jansen, S Plonissen, M Verschoor)

Ireland’s new look side put in a fearless performance but ultimately came unstuck against the Netherlands at a rocking Wagener Stadium, putting it up to the reigning World Cup, Olympic and European champions.

 

In the end, the Dutch ran out healthy winners with their set piece work – two corner goals, two from strokes – proving pivotal.

 

But Ireland were right in the contest in the third quarter when Róisín Upton’s long drag found the net. It was their first goal in their last eight meetings with the Oranje, dating back to 2005, cutting the gap to 2-1 for a spell.

 

“The scoreline doesn’t necessarily tell the tale of the game,” said captain Katie Mullan afterwards.

 

“We had them at 2-1 and were under their skin. We dominated in patches and I am extremely proud of the defensive effort out there and there are so many positives for us to take from it into the next one.

 

“There’s obviously moments we didn’t win but there were moments we did win and those are the ones to go away and learn from.

 

“Right now, it’s back to the drawing board but I am extremely proud of the girls. We have four debuts today and what a spectacle to do it in. they should be so proud of their performances. They were fantastic and played as if they had far more than zero!”

AMSTERDAM 2022 Women’s World Cup Spain & Netherlands
05 Netherlands v Ireland (Pool A)
Picture: Katie Mullan
WORLDSPORTPICS COPYRIGHT FRANK UIJLENBROEK

 

Indeed, coach Sean Dancer can take plenty of heart from a tie which saw Caoimhe Perdue, Charlotte Beggs, Katie McKee and Christina Hamill all make their international debuts in an orange cauldron.

 

“It’s really special for the four girls to get their first cap against the Olympic and world champions. What an opportunity; I was really proud of them. They stood up and showed they can handle themselves on the big stage.

 

“It’s great when you can see young kids come in and make an impact from the start against world class players. I am really excited about the future ahead for them.”

 

As for Perdue, the Tipp woman was able to reflect on a special moment despite the scoreline: “It was incredible. A packed stadium like that, I have never experienced anything like it before and the atmosphere was electric.

 

“They are an amazing team and that is the standard we want to be at. Playing the best, we worked hard on our defence and we want to build on that for our next performances.

 

“The music was pretty loud in the stadium! It is really difficult and you have to be switched on the whole time. We are yelling at each other; it is hard to hear but we are getting those messages across!”

 

In the early phases, the world number one side – buoyed by a full house, buzzing on happy hardcore pre-match music – set their stall out early with Felice Albers and Lidewij Welten going close.

 

They were denied by the outstanding work of Ayeisha McFerran who made numerous full length saves while she was back up by Sarah Torrans’ brave running down the barrel at corner time. Sarah McAuley coolly cleared a number of dangerous moments while, at the far end, Torrans fired into the side-netting from Ireland’s best moment.

 

As such, the Netherlands were unable to make any of their seven first half corners count due to the compact lines being run. They did, however, eke out a stroke from an intricate move with Yibbi Jansen slipping the ball under her arm to Maria Verschoor who was upended.

 

Frédérique Matla stepped up and while her shot was not the cleanest, it found the left corner. It remained that way through to the second half when the Dutch stepped up the pressure.

 

Yibbi Jansen doubled the lead in the 35th minute from a ripping drag-flick down the glove-side before Ireland got right back into the contest. Michelle Carey’s driving runs were a feature throughout and she won the set piece from which Upton added another to her international scrapbook.

 

But just as they sniffed an upset, the Dutch broke again and won a corner which Sabine Plonissen swept home from the top of the D.

 

Matla converted another stroke with seconds to go in the third quarter after Albers was felled for 4-1. And the victory was completed when Verschoor unleashed a perfect backhand shot to the bottom left corner seconds into the final quarter.

 

Ireland now have two rest days before their vital Tuesday meeting against Chile. The South American side lost 4-1 to Germany.

 

Ireland: A McFerran, R Upton, H McLoughlin, E Curran, L Tice, C Perdue, M Carey, S Hawkshaw, K Mullan, S Torrans, D Duke

Subs: S McAuley, Z Malseed, N Carroll, C Beggs, K McKee, C Hamill, L Murphy

 

Netherlands: A Veenendaal, S Koolen, L Leurink, X de Waard, F Albers, L Welten, F Matla, P Sanders, L Nunnink, M van Geffen, R van Laarhoven

Subs: F Moes, M Keetels, M Verschoor, E de Goede, S Plonissen, Y Jansen, J Koning

 

Umpires: H Y Kang (KOR), M Giddens (USA)

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FIH Women’s World Cup – Where To Watch.

Hockey Ireland is delighted to confirm the broadcast schedule for the women’s World Cup which begins on Saturday evening in Amsterdam.

 

On Thursday evening, RTE have announced they will carry the Green Army’s games against Chile and Germany while all games are available via BT Sport and Now TV.

 

Saturday, July 2nd – Ireland vs Netherlands (6.30pm, Irish time)

  • BT Sport ESPN – live match coverage

  • Now TV – live match coverage (via Sports Extra subscription)

 

Tuesday, July 5th – Ireland vs Chile (1pm, Irish time)

  • RTE News Now – live match coverage

  • BT Sport 1 (HD) – live match coverage

  • Now TV – live match coverage (via Sports Extra subscription)

 

Wednesday, July 6th – Ireland v Germany (3.30pm, Irish time)

  • RTE News Now – live match coverage

  • BT Sport 1 (HD) – live match coverage

  • Now TV – live match coverage (via Sports Extra subscription)

 

Further broadcast details will be posted once Ireland’s playoffs and crossover fixtures are confirmed.

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