Kathea Energy Nkosi Cup

The  Ireland Women’s Indoor International Hockey team are returning home on Wednesday from participating in the inaugural Kathea Energy Nkosi Cup which was held in Wynberg, South Africa.

The format of the Women’s competition was that Ireland, South Africa and Namibia would play each other twice with the top two qualifying for the final on Tuesday.

The tournament began on Friday December 15th with the Group phase completed on Monday 18^th December 2023.

 

DAY 1

IRELAND 4  SOUTH AFRICA 5 

Indoor World Cup semi-finalists South Africa were the first opponents for Ireland in the Kathea Energy Nkosi Cup at Wynberg. Cailynn Den Bakker gave the hosts the lead.

Edith Molikoe increased their lead to make it 2-0 and a minute later it was 3-0 thanks to a goal from Bonolo Moabi. Before the half-time  break it was 4 -0, Jess Lordant firing home from a penalty corner.  The Irish got on the score board through Mikayla Power. South Africa made  it 5-1 when Cailynn Den Bakker reacted quickest to a rebound when Malikah Hamza’s effort was saved and rebounded back into play.  Laura Graham scored following a penalty corner to make  the score 5-2. The Irish reduced the deficit to a single goal following two goals in a minute. Chloe Brown popped up on the right to make it 5-3 and then Jenna McCarlie scored on her debut for Ireland indoor to make  the final score 5-4.

 

DAY 2

IRELAND 3 NAMIBIA  5

On the  second day of the Kathea Energy Nkosi Cup Ireland took on Nambia. lt was Namibia who opened the scoring through Kiana Cormack from a penalty corner. Ireland pulled level in the second quarter through Sarah Patton. Kiana Cormack got her second of the game to make it 2-1 to Namibia. And she completed her hat-trick to leave the half-time score 3-1 to Namibia. Kiana Cormack made it 4-1. Ireland pulled a goal back through a penalty corner converted by Orla Patton. Ireland pulled another goal back through Mikayla Power to set up a grandstand finish. Ireland failed to find the leveller and in searching for it were caught on the break with Namibia  finding a late goal through Azaylee Philander while Ireland pulled their goalkeeper in favour of another attacker. It finished 5-3 to Namibia.

The first of the two games between Namibia and South Africa ended in a 3-1 win for South Africa, meaning that two wins for Ireland and a second win for South Africa over Namibia would have made  it possible for Ireland to reach the final

 

DAY 3

lRELAND 3  SOUTH AFRICA 4

Ireland took on the hosts for the second and final time in the group on Sunday which was the third day of the Kathea Energy Nkosi Cup in Wynberg. Nothing less than a win for Ireland would be enough to get them into Tuesday’s final. On the other side of the equation a victory for South Africa would secure a spot in Tuesdays final with a game to spare, but they knew they would face another tough battle against the Irish. Ireland took the lead when Sarah Patton scored first from a penalty corner. South Africa’s Edith Molikoe restored parity before the end of the first quarter. Her second goal of the game came in the 16th minute finishing a pass from Fourie. Her hat-trick goal came before half-time from another Tegan Fourie assist, this time at a penalty corner. 3-1 at the half-time break. Ireland came roaring back in the third quarter Chloe Brown pulled one back in the opening minute of the half with a brilliant penalty corner and the scores were levelled when Milla Fulton got her first international goal finishing coolly. The game was destined for the first draw of the Nkosi Cup when Molikoe scored to seal a victory for the hosts.

 

DAY 4  

NAMIBIA 2 IRELAND  1

Namibia, the current African Indoor  champions, knew a victory would secure their place in the final without having to worry about their match against South Africa later on Monday.

The challenge facing them was a tough one early on when Lily Lloyd opened the scoring picking up the rebound and firing home. Namibia would level in the 15th minute through a Kiana Cormack penalty stroke.  The game was tense and frenetic and needed and  Namibia needed  some inspiration and it came from  Kiana Cormack who got her second of the game and it turned out to be the winner in the final quarter.  This confirmed Namibia’s place in Tuesday’s final meaning their final pool match on Monday with South Africa was a dress rehearsal of the final.

 

In that final pool match South Africa raced into a 3-0 lead. Tegan Fourie with a penalty stroke put them 1-0 up. South Africa extended their lead to 2-0 in the third quarter through Kayla de Waal and made it 3-0 with 6 minutes remaining from a Malikah Hamza penalty corner. But as the South Africans were cantering towards victory Kiana Cormack fired home a quick double to put a big finish on the cards, but the hosts held on to make it four from four. Final score  NAMIBIA 2 SOUTH AFRICA 3 

Namibia and South Africa also qualified  for the Men’s final.

Hockey Ireland launches The Big Ask, a survey giving the hockey community their say as the new strategic plan gets underway

 

Dublin, Dec 15: As part of the preparation of its new strategic plan, Hockey Ireland today launched its ‘Big Ask’ hockey survey. Issued to all registered members as well as participants in Ireland’s wider hockey community, this survey is designed to give voice to all involved in hockey.

Through this initial short questionnaire, Hockey Ireland will build important learnings that will form the basis of its new strategic plan intended to cover the period 2024-2030 and planned for launch end Q1 2024. The survey will be followed by further consultation via online focus groups and additional questionnaires for specialist areas.

Commenting on the survey launch, Anne McCormack, Hockey Ireland CEO said:

“We would really like to hear what the hockey community thinks and would ask them to complete our survey and participate in our online focus groups. Their input will provide us with invaluable information as we develop our new strategic plan, setting our direction for 2024 onwards.”

Sue Haslam, Community and Participation Director added:

“We want to hear from as many constituents as possible, the hockey community is wide and varied and it’s important everyone feels they have a voice.”

 

Getting involved in the Big Ask is easy.

Link to the survey is here: The Big Ask Survey

 

Online focus groups will be held on (details and links to follow):

• • Tuesday 9^th January (7-9pm)
  • Thursday 11^th January (7-9pm)
  • Monday 15^th January (7-9pm)
  • Wednesday 17^th January (7-9pm)

 

Anyone can register their interest in being part of the focus groups by emailing: info@irelandhockey.sportlomo.com

INSTONIANS   0   UCD  4  

The only fixture due to take place this weekend in the EYHL Men’s Division 1 was at Shawsbridge where Instonians hosted UCD, following last weekend where both sides matches got postponed due to frozen pitches. UCD had been very unfortunate in their previous outing not to secure all three points against Monkstown conceding a penalty stroke in the last act of the match when leading 2-1  to only secure  one  point in the  end.

So they came into this game in relatively good form against an Instonians side yet to pick up a League  point. The students showed a similar level of intensity as the y had done against Monkstown and despite the best efforts of the home side, it was only a matter of time before it was reflected on the scoreboard. Alan Sothern gave  them the lead in the twenty-eighth minute with a goal from open play and UCD led 1-0 at half-time. Instonians maintained their foothold in the match during quarter three but it was a whole other story in the final quarter where  UCD went into overdrive.

Harry Lynch increased the lead for UCD with a converted penalty corner on the hour mark. Within a minute, UCD were even further ahead when  Sam Walker put them further in front from open play to leave them 3-0 ahead.  Alan Sothern got his second of the game a minute from time from open play to secure the win by a margin of 4-0. This win for the students narrows the gap between them and eighth placed  Annadale to two points with the  same amount of games played by both clubs.

 

INSTONIANS:  Finlay Marney(GK),  Matthew  Steele, Philip Hamill  Ben Palmer (C), Ross Kelly, Sebastian Best, James Palmer, George Palmer, Gavin Lecky, David Arneill, Gabriel Tenner SUBS USED: Mark Vames  (9 mins)  Matthew Martin ( 9 mins); Matthew McAreavey (10 mins), Ben Rose (13 mins)

UCD: Ross Clarke, Samuel Ryder, Kevin O’Dea(C),  Mark Smyth, Josh Filgas, Adam Luke Galbraith, Callum Hewat, Josh Gill, Harry Lynch, Bryan Smyth, Mark Collins  SUBS USED: Alan Sothern, (9 mins), Samuel Walker (9 mins), Alex Lynch (13 mins), Andrew Fox (14 mins), Gavin Gleeson (18 mins)