Archive for month: February, 2024

Hockey Ireland Junior Age squads return from recent successful England series 

February 20, 2024, Dublin: Ireland U16 Boys, U16 girls and U18 boys each completed a three-game series with England last week on their three-day visit starting Tuesday February 13. Here’s a summary of how the games went.

Tues Feb 13 – Day 1:

England U16 Boys 2 Ireland U16 Boys 2

Ireland, fielding a number of debutants, twice led against England only to be pegged back on both occasions. Ed Irwin opened the scoring in Q2 from a drag flick. Toby Slye O Connell grabbed a second after the home nation had equalised to give Ireland a Half time lead. England equalised again in the third quarter. Both sides had chances to win the match but all in all the result was fair.

England U18 Boys 3 Ireland U18 Boys 2

Goals from John Cunningham (Penalty stroke) and Milo Thompson saw Ireland race into a 2 goal lead in Q1. England pulled one back before the end of the quarter. As the game ebbed back and forth both sides could have scored but Ireland secured a Half time lead. England equalised in Q3 pouncing on a rebound after an initial save from a drag flick by Coffey. The hosts grabbed the winner with 7 to go, but both sides would feel that they have more than a chance in the remaining fixtures.

England U16 Girls 4 Ireland U16 Girls 2

An Irish team with no fewer than 16 debutants grew into the game against a strong opponent. England took the lead on the stroke of half time, converting after a period of concerted pressure. Ireland thought they had equalised when Evie Girvan bundled home, only to be halted by the umpire who had already awarded a stroke. Hollai Quinn however stayed calm and equalised. Further English pressure saw them race into a 3-1 lead, before Quinn struck again, this time from a corner strike to bring Ireland back within 1. A fourth England goal killed the game off, but Ireland showed improvement in each quarter and could look forward to the next two games.

Weds Feb 14 – Day 2:

England U16 Boys 1 Ireland U16 Boys 2

Alfie Le Quesne’s last minute drag flick gave Ireland a much deserved victory in match 2 of their England trip. Oliver Graham had earlier converted a corner strike of his own, before an England equaliser. It was a solid performance by Ireland to back up their opening day draw.

England U18 Boys 4 Ireland U18 Boys 4

A frantic last 4 minutes saw Ireland throw away a 4-2 lead in the U18 Game. Max Caulwell scored an early corner rebound to give Ireland the lead before England struck back. Rob Olden converted a corner, only to see England equalise with the last touch of the first half. Last quarter goals from John Cunningham and Matthew McAreavey looked to have won the game, however a corner and last second penalty stroke earned England a draw.

England U16 Girls 4 Ireland U16 Girls 3

Goals from Hollai Quinn and Evie Girvin saw Ireland race into a 2 goal lead. England pulled one back then dominated the third quarter to lead 4-2. Caitlin Gribbin pulled one back but the girls couldn’t find an equaliser and the game finished 4-3

Thurs Feb 15 – Day 3:

England U16 Boys 7 Ireland U16 Boys 1

A first half blitz saw England secure the third game as they tore into the Irish leading an improbable 6-0. The second half was much more even as the young Irish lads showed great character. Johnny Woods was the Irish scorer.

England U18 Boys 0 Ireland U18 Boys 1

A final quarter penalty corner from Rob Olden secured a final day win for the U18 boys. With lessons learned from the previous day they were able to see out the win without major alarm. A solid defensive effort, highlighted by the penalty corner running of Max Caulwell ensured that the one goal was enough for victory.

England U16 Girls 3 Ireland U16 Girls 2

There was last second heartbreak for the Irish U16 girls as England struck to seal their win. Holly Farrell had given Ireland the lead before two third quarter goals had the hosts 2-1 ahead. Hollai Quinn equalised with 7 to go only for England to score just before the whistle. The girls improved every game and will hopefully take a number of lessons home with them.

Mick McKinnon Pathway Manager for Hockey Ireland reflected on the mini tournaments when the three teams returned home and said:

“I don’t really care about the results. It was the performances and the learnings that we had in these games that mattered. As a tick box yes, I am pleased with the results achieved with this particular group of players. Results, while good, are immaterial to what we are trying to achieve.” 

“The U18 Boys in the game they drew 4-4 with England and had been leading 4-2 until near the end of the game. They will have learned that they need to close out games when they have the upper hand and can apply this when the results do matter. The U16 Girls had some close games and the lessons they learned towards the end of those games will stand to them in the future.”  

“The U16 Boys in their  third game  may have had their worst result. But the character they showed in the second half when they were trailing 0-6 showed great resolve and was great to see. Learning to play when you’re tired is another box ticked.  Our underage international squads are largely  self-funded programmes that depend on the goodwill of the hockey community. If anybody reading this is interested in sponsoring these teams or helping out with raising funds for these teams contact the Hockey Ireland office and they can be put in contact with the Pathway Collective.”

IRL Men narrowly lose to the Netherlands in Rourkela after strong performance

NETHERLANDS 2 IRELAND 1

Ireland commenced their second round of games at Rourkela India with one of the toughest possible opponents. Last week when the two sides met in Bhubanswar the Dutch had won by 5 goals to 1 which in no way was a reflection on how well Ireland performed on the day.  Could the improved performances from the latter end of week one spill over into week two? That was the target for the coaching staff in today’s game.

In the first quarter a lot of what the Irish coaching team had been aspiring to achieve with the national side seemed to be happening on the field of play. The Dutch got the first penalty corner of the game, but Jip Janssen shot wide. Peter Brown had Ireland’s first real shot in anger in the 7^th cutting into the semi-circle from deep to fire wide. Ireland took the lead from a penalty corner in the 11^th minute. Shane O’Donoghue’s first effort was blocked, Matthew Nelson reacted fastest to the rebound and shot to the net. 1-0 Ireland. But just in the final minute of the first quarter the Dutch were awarded a penalty corner and this time Jip Janssen scored. Seve Van Ass almost made it 2-1 just before the hooter sounded at the end of quarter 1.

The Dutch started the second quarter strongly. They were awarded a penalty corner in the 16^th minute. Jamie Carr saved to deny Jasper Brinkmann. A series of Dutch penalty corners followed. The Irish defended the first two but had no answer to the third which saw Jip Janssen score deflecting the ball off defender Ben Walker. Before celebrating his goal his first move was to ensure the Irishman wasn’t seriously hurt. Illustrating the excellent sportsmanship which permeated the match in the first half. Netherlands led 2-1 at half-time.

A succession of Dutch penalty corners early in the third quarter were unproductive and there remained only a single goal between the sides at the end of the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter Jamie Carr denied Netherland’s Jorrit Croon who was chosen as player of the match for this game at the end of the match.  There was a penalty corner awarded to his team. Joep de Mol fired wide from the resultant penalty corner.

After a good piece of buildup play by the Dutch in the 51^st minute, Terrence Pieters passed to Croon who fired wide. A minute later Pieters won a penalty corner but Matthew Nelson ran out from the Irish goal and blocked the effort ad got a free hit out. Conor Empey dispossessed an opponent inside the Dutch half in the 60^th minute but was tackled once he entered the semi-circle. Indeed, as the final hooter sounded Daragh Walsh was attempting to create an attack after receiving a pass from Sean Murray. After the game Player of the Match Jorrit Croon was very complimentary about how Ireland had played as was his coach.

It was one of the best performances from an Irish team in recent years and ended Netherlands 2 Ireland 1 .

Speaking to coach Mark Tumilty after the game he said:

“We have definitely made progress from block 1. We should have held on to the lead a bit better. Overall, we defended well, and Shane O’Donoghue was excellent but so were a few others. Matthew Nelson, we know what he is capable of and he showed that out there today against the #1 ranked team in the world.”

NETHERLANDS: Maurits Visser (GK),  Jip Janssen, Jorrit Croon, Terrence Pieters, Justen Blok, Derck de Vilder, Floris Wortelboer, Koen Bijen, Joep  de Mol, Max de Bie, Duco Telgenkamp  SUBS USED: Floris Middendorp (3mins), Seve Van Ass (4 mins), Jasper Brinkmann (4 mins), Guus Jansen (5 mins), Teun Beins(5 mins)

IRELAND: Jamie Carr, Luke Witherow, Luke Madeley, Tim Cross, Matthew Nelson, Daragh Walsh, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (C), Peter McKibbin, Michael Robson, Ben Walker SUBS USED: Ben Johnson (4mins), Nicholas Page (4 mins),  Conor Empey (5 mins),  Peter Brown (5 mins), Kevin O’Dea (6 mins)

EY Hockey League Division 1 Women

CATHOLIC INSTITUTE  2-2 ULSTER ELKS

Ulster Elks were the visitors to Rosbrien for Catholic Institute’s second game of their double homer weekend in the EYHL Women’s Division 1.

Chloe Stewart put the Elks 1-0 ahead from open play in the 33^rd minute. It was1-0 to Elks at half-time. Laura Foley got one back for Catholic Institute in the 36^th minute to level the scores at 1-1. Naomi Carroll scored for Institute in the 45^th minute from open play to put the hosts into the lead at 2-1. But four minutes from time Ulster Elks were awarded a penalty stroke and Serena Campuzano made no mistake to make it 2-2 and ensure a share of the spoils for Ulster Elks. 

CORINTHIANS  1 -5  RAILWAY UNION

Bottom of the table Corinthians exit this double weekend in the EYHL Women’s Division 1 still seeking their first points of the season. Visitors Railway Union who were surprisingly beaten yesterday by Pegasus were determined to at least get three points from their efforts and took the lead in the 11^th minute through a field goal from Kate Lloyd. Kate Dillon added another goal from open play in the 13^th minute to put Railers 2-0 ahead. It remained 2-0 at the half-time break. Niamh Shaw converted a penalty corner for Railway Union in the 39^th minute to make the score 3-0 and Kate Dillon got her second of the game to leave the visitors 4-0 ahead in the 43^rd minute. Michelle Carey converted a penalty corner in the 50^th minute to leave the Railway Union team 5-0 and assured of all three points. Sophie Barnwell’s penalty corner for Corinthians in the 58^th minute was nothing more than a consolation goal for the hosts. That is now 13 Defeats out of 13 for last season’s EYHL 2 champions and unless something dramatic happens they will have to get out EYHL 2 again next season. Final score Corinthians 1 Railway Union 5. 

MONKSTOWN  0-1 OLD ALEXANDRA 

Monkstown went into this game only a point ahead of Pegasus who were in 9^th before the games began. There were no goals in either quarter in the first half and it was 0-0 at half-time. Old Alexandra took the lead in the 46^th minute when Elena Neill converted a penalty corner to put them 1-0 up. It was a lead they never relinquished. Monkstown tried everything they could muster without producing a goal. The game ended Monkstown 0 Old Alexandra 1 and with Pegasus getting a draw away in the next match in this report, Monkstown are now only out of the bottom two by virtue of goal difference. 

PEMBROKE WANDERERS 2-2  PEGASUS

Pegasus went into this game knowing a draw would put them level on points with Monkstown. If they lost (which they did) and a win would put them into eighth place. After a scoreless first half Pegasus took the lead in the 38^th minute through former Ireland international Alex Speers from open play. Pembroke Wanderers captain Emily Beatty responded in the 59^th minute also from open play to draw the sides level at 1-1. A Rachel O’Brien converted penalty corner in the 63^rd minute gave Pembroke Wanderers the lead for the first time in the game 2-1 but in the 69^th minute Lucy McKee converted a penalty corner for the visitors to leave the final score Pembroke Wanderers 2 Pegasus 2. 

U.C.D  0  LORETO 1 

This was game full of incidents and opportunities to score goals for both teams. Two teams playing very well producing an afternoon’s excellent hockey. The defending champions and the champions elect at the height of their powers, surely a goal feast would ensue. Preventing that happening were two goalkeepers at the top of their game. Loreto’s  Liz Murphy making numerous saves illustrating why she is part of the Women’s National squad. Her UCD counterpart Erika Gallagher also gave an excellent display of goalkeeping. These two goalkeepers were the outstanding performers on the day. Both defenses held firm, marshalled by Hannah Matthews (Loreto) and Katie Jane Marshall (UCD) respectively. There were sixteen penalty corners in all, and the only goal of the game occurred from none of these. Superb saves , wayward shots and the occasional bit of riding their luck made sure that the nets were not breached for over 60 minutes of the game. When the goal for Loreto came, it was a bit of a travesty, because neither keeper deserved to be denied their due, which on the basis of their excellence on the day, was a shutout. However, Loreto are not leading the League with a 100% record for no reason and Sarah Torrans shot found its way to the net in the 63^rd minute to leave the Champions elect a mere three points away from the 2024 EYHL Women’s Division 1 title a trophy that eluded them last year on the final day of the season when UCD won on a day that Loreto only needed a draw but failed to get any points to clinch the 2023 title. 

UCD: Erika Gallagher, Leah O’Shea, Aine Naughton, Katie Jane Marshall, Caoimhe Byrne, Ali Griffin, Emma Paul (C), Anna McCarthy, Florence Maughan, Mikayla Power, Katherine Egan SUBS USED: Sophia Cole, Anna Costello, Sydney Weir McErlean

LORETO: Liz Murphy, Lisa Mulcahy, Síofra O’Brien, Mia Jennings, Grace McLaughlin, Caitlin Sherin, Yasmin Pratt, Sarah Torrans, Christina Hamill, Hannah Matthews, Hannah  McLoughlin  SUBS USED:  Grace Donald, Rachel Kelly, Aisling Murray, Ella Pasley, Caoimhe Perdue

IRL Men beaten by last minute India goal in game with lots of positives

IRELAND 0  INDIA  1

It was a last-minute goal that did for Ireland in their fourth game of the Bhubaneswar phase of the FIH Pro League on Friday against India. Playing the hosts in front of a crowd of over 20,000 partisan supporters, at the Kalinga Stadium, was going to be challenging at the best of times but all the more so in the second game in two days at the end of a week of action. Adding extra spice to the game was the fact that India are currently coached by former Ireland coach Craig Fulton whose daughter Milla has been capped at senior level by Ireland at Indoor hockey.  And for most of the match it looked as if both coaches had worked out the perfect system to cancel out their opponents. India seemed well able to counter whatever Ireland threw at them in attack and Ireland defended as if their very lives depended on it.

The opening stages were fairly even, and it was no major surprise that it was scoreless at the end of the first quarter. Ireland and India played out another quarter of cagey strategic chess like hockey and it was even less of a surprise that it was still 0-0 at half-time. In the third quarter  Akashdeep Singh had the ball in the net but Jamie Carr had been taken out by Mandeep. Ireland were awarded a free hit out. Ireland were awarded another free hit out two minutes later after India had the ball in the net again but the goal was ruled out for another infringement.

Ireland managed to force a long corner in the 38^th minute and the effort was saved by Pathak the India staring goalkeeper who had returned to action for the third quarter. India were awarded a penalty corner in the 42^nd minute Amit Rohidas’ shot was saved by Jamie Carr. It was still scoreless at the end of quarter three.

India started the final quarter strongly forcing two penalty corners the first of which Harmanpreet Singh launched goalward and was  denied by Jamie Carr. The second of which sailed over the bar. Ireland were awarded a penalty corner in the 51^st minute. India referred the decision to Video referral and lost their appeal. The penalty corner was saved by goalkeeper Sreejesh Parattu who was back between the posts for the final quarter. Jeremy Duncan was green carded in the 52^nd minute temporarily reducing Ireland to 10 players. During this time Ireland’s best chance fell to Ben Johnson whose attempted pass across the face of the goal was kicked clear by Sreejesh.

Sukhreet Singh was key to all the best of the Indian’s attacking play. Daragh Walsh was equally important to Ireland’s attacking moves but if you had to pick an Irishman for a Player of the Match accolade in this game Jamie Carr was probably the standout performer in the game.

In the 59^th minute just when it appeared Ireland had done enough to hang on for their first point in the FIH PRO League in their history Gujant Singh scored from the edge of the D to break Irish hearts. Ireland did launch an attack in the closing seconds and one of the players appeared to be fouled. Ireland referred the incident to Video referral but there was no reason for the on field umpire decision to be overturned and they lost their referral it finished Ireland 0 India 1.

After the match we spoke to Mark Tumilty the Ireland head coach who said:

“While we defended well, I still thought we created chances in attack. I feel for Jamie Carr tonight, he’s annoyed with that last minute goal. It was one of those unfortunate goals. A good finish by them, it was well hit. We dealt with their attack well and hit them on the counter. In our deep zone we were good. Lots of positives I thought we were good with the ball as well. We were a bit unlucky with some of the decisions which didn’t go our way.” 

“We’ve changed as the week has gone on, what we have proven is that we have grown. We’ve had to play a different shape than we normally play both with and without the ball and that’s proved advantageous to us.” 

“I’d also like to say that Daragh Walsh, he’s proved he can play at the highest level, and that he can impact the game at the highest level.” 

“Very, very pleased with where we are now compared to how we started the week. We probably showed too much respect to the Netherlands last Monday and Australia was a tough day, we were a bit off it against them. But the last two games the lads showed they were up for it.” 

“We want to come home from India with some points on the board. We are going in the right direction. We’re up against the best teams in the world, most of whom are full-time professional athletes, but we’ve shown that we can compete at this level. We need to build on that, take a few chances and get our corners firing.”

“We move to Rourkela first thing in the morning so the timing of this game probably wasn’t the best. We train on Sunday have a game on Monday and then two days off before we take on Australia again on Thursday. Looking forward to playing India in their brand-new stadium at Rourkela. The Dutch and Indian ladies played in front of 15,000 fans last week, it’ll be nice to have the experience of playing in front of a crowd that size, be something new for us.”

IRELAND:  Jamie Carr, Luke Madeley, John McKee, Daragh Walsh, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (C), Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Peter Brown, Lee Cole, Nicholas Page SUBS USED:  Matthew Nelson (4 mins), Kevin O’Dea (6 mins), Michael Robson (6 mins), Jonathan Lynch (4 mins), Sam Hyland (6 mins), Ben Johnson (6 mins)

INDIA: Krishan Bahadur PATHAK (GK),  Jarmanpreet SINGH, Abhishek Akashdeep SINGH, Manpreet SINGH, Hardik SINGH, Gurjant  SINGH, Harmanpreet SINGH ( C),  Nilakanta SHARMA, Akashdeep SINGH, Amit ROHIDAS,  SUBS USED:  Sumit (5 mins),  Amir ALI (3 mins),  Raj Kumar PAL (4 mins), Rabichanrdra MOIRANGTHEM (5 mins) Sukhjeet SINGH, Araijeet Singh HUNDAL (4 mins), Sreejesh PARATTU RAVEEN PRAV (GK) (16 MINS)

IRL Men acquit themselves well despite loss to Spain in third game of FIH Pro League

IRELAND 2    SPAIN 4

Ninth placed Ireland took on Eighth placed Spain in their third FIH Pro League pool match in Bhubaneswar, India on Thursday. The two sides had played in the recent Olympic Qualifiers tournament in Valencia where Spain had beaten Ireland in the semi-finals.

Head Coach Mark Tumilty rang the changes restoring the five players to the line-up who were rested on Tuesday. Luke Madeley, Daragh Walsh, John McKee, Sean Murray and Tim Cross sitting out on this occasion. Spain too had several changes from their previous match.

Spain won their first penalty corner after only 2 minutes through Clapes. The resultant effort was saved by Jamie Carr. Long corner for pain was dealt with by the Irish defence. Jamie Carr saved again in the 6th minute. Spain went in front in the 12^th minute when Pere Amat got along the end line and passed to Enrique Gonzalez who opened the scoring firing home from the edge of the semi-circle.

Jeremy Duncan got into the Spanish semi-circle a minute later but only hit the   side netting. Spain led 1-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. Spain forced a couple of early penalty corners at the start of the second quarter. Carr kept them at bay from the first couple of efforts. Spain increased their lead Miralles converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute to score 2-0 to Spain. Ireland won a long corner in the 21st minute McKibbin intercepted a Spanish cross and prevented a goal . Jamie Carr saved from Jordi Boatre from point blank range in the 24th minute.

Ireland got on the scoresheet Jeremy Duncan cut into the circle and passed to Lynch who fed Johson  his cross found Matthew Nelson whose  shot deflected over Calzado in the 25th minute. Spain 2 Ireland 1 .

Font won a penalty corner for Spain in the 27^th minute. Carr saved the penalty corner at the expense of a long corner for Spain. It was 2-1 Spain at the half time break. Jeremy Duncan had a shot blocked in the 34^th minute and Spain launched a counterattack. The umpire   awarded a free hit to Ireland. Spain referred it to the Video Umpire but the video umpire upheld the on-field decision and they lost their referral. Carr saved from Miralles in the 39^th minute but he turned provider for their third goal. In the 41^st minute Marc Miralles went on a mazy run into the Irish circle he teed up Marc Reyne who bundled the ball into the goal at the second attempt to make it 3-1. Jonny Lynch went down the opposite end and shot over the bar.  Ben Johnson was penalised as he was about to shoot and had a free hit awarded against him in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

Ireland were awarded a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter. Lee Cole converted the penalty corner to make it Spain 3 Ireland 2 in the 52^nd minute, just as Ireland went in pursuit of the leveller Spain got the vital goal to put the game beyond reach. Borja Lacalle passed it into the middle of the circle and Enrique Gonzalez first timed it to the back of the net past Jamie Carr to make the score Spain 4 Ireland 2 in the 57^th minute.

Mark Tumilty Ireland Head Coach said:

“We fielded the most experienced team we probably could have today.  We’ve adapted from game 1 to game 2 and again to game 3. We played in a slightly different style today. We hope that the things we have learned from this first round of games will stand to us in the games ahead of us next week and especially tomorrow against India. I will be taking a look at how they get on against Australia. India are going to be a massive challenge for us tomorrow. We have been creating chances we just need to be more clinical in front of goal. The lads acquitted themselves well against Spain and got very close to equalising at 3-2. Conceding that fourth goal when we did was a killer blow.”

IRELAND: Jamie Carr (GK), Shane O’Donoghue, Lee Cole, Jonathan Lynch, Luke Witherow, Peter McKibbin, Peter Brown, Michael Robson (C), Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Duncan, Ben Johnson SUBS USED: Charlie Rowe (4 mins), Kevin O’Dea (8 mins),  Ben Walker (4 mins), Sam Hyland (10 mins), Conor Empey (4 mins), Nicholas Page (4 mins)

SPAIN:  Luiz Calzado (GK), Xavier Gispert, Enriqe Gonzalez, Marc Reyne, Marc Miralles,  Jordi Bonastre, Gerard Clape,  Andrea Rafi, Borja Lacalle, Alvaro Portugal, Rafael Vilallonga,  SUBS USED: Eduard De Ignacio-Simo (3 mins)  Alvaro Iglesias (C) (3 mins), Alejandro Alonso (3 mins),  Pere Amat (3 mins)  Pol Cabre Verdiell (3 mins),  Bruno Font (3 mins), Rafael Revilla (GK) (46 mins)