Ireland Women Narrowly Lose Out To Spain But Olympic Qualification Still A Chance

IRELAND 0:0 SPAIN (Spain win 3-0 in Shoot out)

 

Valencia, January 18: The first of the two Olympic qualification semi-finals in Women’s Hockey took place in Valencia this morning.  Ireland (world ranked #13) finished second in Pool A and ended up playing Spain (world ranked #8) in the game.

Spain are very familiar opponents. Ireland regularly go to play Spain in warm weather training matches in January most years. And even though they were ranked 5 places higher at the time the match began, historically games between the two sides have been relatively close affairs.

Patricia Alvarez had the first shot in anger of the game for Spain which was blocked by Sarah Hawkshaw  but Ireland went straight up the other end and won a long corner. And the was pretty much the pattern of a first quarter which was fairly even. The second quarter saw Spain start well and Blanca Perez had the first real chance after the restart but her cross cum shot whizzed across the face of the goal eluding everyone including her teammates. Ireland went on to dominate the second quarter in possession terms having several circle entries, Katie Mullan forcing a couple of saves out of keeper Clara Perez. One effort by Sarah Hawkshaw in the 23rd minute ended up bouncing off one of the umpires but play continued uninterrupted.

So, both sides went in at half time as they had begun Spain 0 Ireland 0. No stoppages, no injuries, no cards and only one penalty corner key stats from the first half. Spain started quarter three strongly.  But there were no clear-cut goal scoring chances for either side until the final minute. At the end of the third quarter though it remained Spain 0 Ireland 0.

It was a landmark for Hannah McLoughlin who gained her 50th cap in this game. But the rest of the game had no clear-cut chances and it ended scoreless. There is no extra time in tournaments like these so both sides went straight to a penalty shootout.

First up for Spain was Laia Vidosa who missed 0-0. First up for Ireland was Róisín Upton who also missed still 0-0. Second up for Spain was Lucia Jiminez who put Spain 1-0 up. Next up for Ireland was Sarah Hawkshaw whose effort was saved by Clara Perez still 1-0 Spain. Third up for Spain was Julia Strapatto who put Spain 2-0 up. Next up for Ireland was Hannah Mc Loughlin whose effort was saved by Clara Perez still 2-0 Spain. Fourth up for Spain was captain for the Day Maria Lopez and she added another goal. Spain win 3-0.

Spain are in the Olympic games in Paris. Ireland will have to settle for the 3rd/4th place play off against the losers of the second semi-final between Belgium and Great Britain.

After the match we spoke to Head Coach Sean Dancer:

“We are really happy with how we played today.  When a game goes to a shootout, it’s always a difficult way to lose a game.”

“Belgium have to take on Great Britain to decide who plays in the final and who we will play against on Saturday. We just need to focus on ourselves as we prepare for Saturday.”

“We are proud of how we defended. But we also dominated possession today and in attack. We created a lot of chances today, we just need to start putting more of them away.”

 

IRELAND:  Ayeisha Mc Ferren, Róisín Upton, Niamh Carey, Sarah Hawkshaw, Katie Mullan (C), Hannah McLoughlin, Naomi Carroll, Ellen  Curran, Charlotte Beggs, Katie McKee ,Beth Harper

SUBS USED: Sarah Mc Auley  (4 mins), Michelle Carey (6 mins ), Sarah Torrans  (7 mins ), Elena Neill  (  4 mins ),  Chloe Watkins  (5 mins ) , Deirdre Duke  ( 7 mins)   ; Liz Murphy (GK) [ mins]

SPAIN:  CLara Perez  (GK), Lucia Jiminez, Maria Lopez (C), Marta Segu, Constanza Amundson, Blanca Perez, Begona Garcia, Xantal Gine, Laia Vidosa, Alejandra Torres-Quevedo, Patricia Alvarez

SUBS USED:  Laura Barrios (11 mins), Sara Barrios (4 mins), Belen Iglesias (4 mins), Lola Riera (7 mins), Beatriz Perez (5mins), Julia Strapatto (4 mins), Maria Tello (GK)

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Ireland Men book their place in Olympic Qualifier Semi-Final

IRELAND 1:0 JAPAN  

Valencia, January 17: Both Ireland Men and Ireland Women progress to the semi finals of the Olympic Qualifiers as Ireland Men beat Japan in their last pool game here in Valencia this evening.

Both sides in this men’s encounter entered their final pool match having won one and lost one of their opening two games. Ireland had the advantage of a plus 2 goal difference meaning that a draw would be enough to reach second place in Pool A and that coveted semi-final slot. Japan simply had to win to get past Ireland and points gained as they had a minus 4 deficit goal difference entering game three.

For Ireland, who suffered the heartbreak of a playoff elimination back in Vancouver in 2019,there was probably even more motivation after the disappointment of losing their shoot out to Canada five years ago. Japan appeared to be determined to try and counter anything Ireland threw at them and in the first half it was pretty much even stephens in terms of possession but both sides seemed to have the crucial intervention to prevent anything concrete being created by their opponents in terms of goalscoring opportunities. Indeed, when the end of the first quarter arrived it was difficult to recall a single clear-cut chance for Ireland or Japan.

The second quarter was better from both sides in terms of attacking opportunities and the first real chances of the game happened early on in the quarter. Ireland had enjoyed slightly the better of the chances and were rewarded midway through the quarter. Ireland took the lead in the 21st minute from a penalty corner Shane O’Donoghue’s shot toward goal was turned in at the post by Luke Madeley to give the Green Army a 1-0 lead. The umpire referred the goal to the video umpire but the video umpire saw no reason for the goal not to stand and the goal was awarded.

Japan came back at Ireland but were thwarted at times by David Harte in the Irish goal and at other times by Irish defending. Daragh Walsh did some great covering on one occasion intercepting a Japanese pass down near the corner at the Irish end and immediately launching a counter attack to relieve some pressure. It was still1-0 at half -time.

The Japanese were dominant in quarter three and forced five penalty corners during the quarter. The closest they came to scoring was two shots which sailed over the bar. And every so often Ireland would break out of defence and cause some serious back pedaling by their opposition. Daragh Walsh cut inside the D ran along the baseline and before he could shoot properly Yoshikawa the Japanese keeper made a fine save in the 54th minute. Japan went for the last ultimate option when withdrawing goalkeeper Yoshikawa in favour of an extra attacker with five minutes remaining. While they had the lion’s share of the possession, including a few penalty corners, they were never able to carve out the chance that would have gotten the goal. Having several shots on goal over the length of the match including two which sailed over the bar. The hockey gods who had abandoned Ireland in 2019 were back on board on this occasion.

The team defended as a unit from front to back and when they did carve out a few attacks looked to have more of a cutting edge than their opponents who were the hosts last time the Olympic Games were held. The Japanese forced a number of long corners and were looking to get penalty corners. But their video referrals were deemed inconclusive by the video referee, and they kept their referrals. One occasion saw a penalty stroke awarded initially against Ireland but when it was referred to the video umpire by Ireland, he said it was not a stroke and should be downgraded to a penalty corner and Ireland should keep their referral.

John McKee broke out of defence in the closing seconds and got deep into Japanese territory  just as the final hooter sounded. Shane O’Donoghue was chosen as player of the match.

 

After the match we spoke to Head Coach Mark Tumilty:

“Without the ball we’ve become comfortable in deep defence. Deep defence is something we have worked on. The objective was to get out of the group. We have achieved that, and we now face into a huge challenge against Spain in the Semi-final on Friday and then have another opportunity on Sunday, the nature of which (either the gold medal or bronze medal final) will depend on the result on Friday.”

Captain Sean Murray said after the match:

“It was tough in the end. At the same time, it was never going to be easy with both teams playing to make the last four. They had to win, nothing else would have been good enough for them. We had a slight cushion with our goal difference advantage knowing that if we did draw, we would also qualify.”

“We weren’t playing for a draw because going for the win was the best way to secure a place in the semi-final and we got there. Set pieces were crucial both taking them and defending against them. Both the drag flickers, runners and post men (while defending) were outstanding and at the end of the day we were more efficient when we were awarded penalty corners and when we had to defend them”.  

“Ourselves and the women are both playing Spain in semi-finals in this tournament. Hopefully we get the job done on Friday and they do likewise tomorrow. Two Irish teams getting it done against Spain would be amazing.”

 

Shane O’Donoghue player of the match:

“We knew this was going to be a tough game against Japan. We displayed the fighting Irish spirit, at times it was backs to the wall defending but we are experienced at that aspect of the game. You also have to score when you have an opportunity to do so and then defend when you don’t have the ball. That spirit runs right through the team. Looking forward to the semi-final with Spain, both teams will be feeling the pressure. The hosts are going to have a large home support, but we will also have a large number of green jerseys in the stand cheering us on and our fans will be competing against the Spanish as to who can make the biggest noise to support their teams.”

 

IRELAND: David Harte, Tim Cross, Shane O’Donoghue, Lee Cole , Nicholas Page, John McKee, Sean Murray (C), Michael Robson, Daragh Walsh, Jeremy Duncan, Luke Madeley

SUBS USED: Jamie Carr (GK)  (Not used) Matthew Nelson (5 mins), Kyle Marshall (8 mins), Peter McKibbin (3 mins), Jonathan Lynch (5 mins), Sam Hyland (3 mins), Ben Johnson (4 mins)

JAPAN: Takashi Yoshikawa (GK), Koji Yamasaki, Yamato Kawahara, Seren Tanaka, Kentaro Fukuda, Taiki Takade, Yuma Nagai, Raiki Fujishima, Ken Nagayoshi, Makasi Ohahsi, Kaito Tanaka

SUBS USED :-  Takumi Kitagawa (GK) (Not used), Takuma Niwa (4 mins), Manubu Yamashita (5 mins), Hiro Saito (3 mins), Ryoma Ooka (4 mins), Genki Mitani  (4 mins), Yusuke Kawamura (4 mins)

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Hockey Ireland Domestic Weekend Preview: Saturday January 20

EY Hockey League returns after the Christmas break this weekend with the EYHL Division 2 2023/24 season start.

The League will sort out which teams from outside the EYHL gain promotion to the topflight at the end of the season. The teams qualify via their finishing position in their respective provincial leagues. The teams who were relegated from the topflight in 2022-23 are also included, making up a total of 20 teams. These twenty teams (10 male and 10 female) are divided into two groups of 5 in each division. One team in each Pool will be idle per week.

The top two in each Division qualify for the EYHL 2 semi-finals in both men’s and women’s categories. There is a finals weekend hosted where the semi-finals are played off on a Saturday and the finals are played on the Sunday. The good news for the finalists is that, as two teams are relegated from both the Men’s and Women’s top division each year, both finalists gain promotion to the EYHL Men’s and Women’s Division 1 respectively with a trophy being awarded to the winner to crown EYHL2 champions. But the main goal is promotion to the top flight for the four finalists concerned in both men’s and women’s competitions.

 

SATURDAY JANUARY 20, 2024

EYHL 2 MEN POOL A 

BANGOR V QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY,  BANGOR AURORA

PEMBROKE WANDERERS  V  AVOCA,   SERPENTINE AVENUE   16:00

 

EYHL 2  MEN POOL B 

CORK CHURCH OF IRELAND  V  SOUTH ANTRIM,  GARRYDUFF   12:00

CORK HARLEQUINS  V  RAILWAY UNION,  HARLEQUINS PARK, FARMER’S CROSS  14:45

 

EYHL 2 WOMEN POOL  A

CORK HARLEQUINS  V  KILKENNY,  HARLEQUINS PARK, FARMER’S CROSS  12:45

GREENFIELDS  V  BELFAST HARLEQUINS,   SPORTS CAMPUS IRELAND ABBOTSTOWN  15:30

 

EYHL 2  WOMEN  POOL  B 

ARDS  V  UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK,   LONDONDERRY PARK  13:00

MUCKROSS  V UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY,   MUCKROSS PARK        13:30

 

The Men’s Irish Senior Cup 2024 competition first round has another tie down for decision this weekend when N.I. Civil Service take on Cookstown. The rest of the ties will be taking place over the next few weeks. Teams currently involved in quarter-finals and knockout stages of provincial cup competitions will play their ties once those other matches have been completed.

MEN’S IRISH SENIOR CUP 

N.I. CIVIL SERVICE   V  COOKSTOWN,    VENUE TBC  14:30

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Ireland Women Secure Olympic Qualifiers Semi-Final Spot

IRELAND 3:1 KOREA

Players in front of fans after the match.

The task for Ireland going into tonight’s last pool match of these Olympic Qualifiers was simple. A win and second place in the pool and a spot in the semi-finals would be secure. In fact, a draw given Ireland’s superior goal difference to the Koreans might also have been enough. Belgium went on from their 0-0 draw with Ireland to beat Korea 10-1 and Ukraine 13-0 and win the Group. Ireland would have needed to beat Korea 15-0 to win the group and that outcome was highly unlikely. to secure a semi-final tilt with Great Britain.

Hannah McLoughlin had an early penalty corner attempt saved by Eunji KIM. McFerren made a good save from a circle entry by the Koreans. The ball struck her on the lower arm, and she needed a little attention from the physio before continuing in action. Korea forced a number of corners both long and penalty in the 10th minute without really testing McFerren.

Ireland finished the quarter strongly 0-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Korean defended well in numbers and having shipped 10 goals against the Belgians in their previous outing were determined there would not be a repeat. Jeogihn Kim was green carded for Korea in the 19th minute Sarah Hawkshaw got green carded in the 22nd minute but neither Ireland or  Korea were unable to put their temporary numerical advantages to productive use. Korea and Ireland were taking it in turns to attack as the quarter drew to a close. Sarah Torrans dived in to intercept a pass across goal by a Korean player, but her interception didn’t go on target. It was 0-0 at half time.

The third quarter began and Roisín Upton was green carded in the 32nd minute. Ireland got their second penalty corner of the match in the 34th minute while shorthanded. Sarah Hawkshaw diving in at the far post converted the penalty corner from Hannah McLoughlin’s initial goal bound shot. Ireland 1-0. Korea didn’t see the ball while Ireland were shorthanded as the girls in green defended well.

Sarah Torrans was green carded in the 41st minute and again Ireland had the better of times during her absence. Deirdre Duke was unlucky not to score diving effort saved by Eunji KIM and while on the ground she attempted another which the keeper batted away with her blocker. Deirdre Duke had gone on a run and shot the ball in the net in the 45th minute .

The Koreans referred it to the video referral. But the goal stood, and the Koreans lost their video referral. Ireland led 2-0 at the end of the third quarter.  Eunbi Cheon, the Korean captain almost got them on the score sheet in the fourth quarter forcing a save from Ayeisha McFerren. From the resultant long corner, Korea did score the ball was sent to Cho Hyejin at the far post and she scored to make it 2-1. This was the first goal Ireland had conceded in the tournament. Michelle Carey was yellow carded and Ireland were shot handed for Ireland were awarded a penalty stroke in the 55th minute which Roisin Upton converted with aplomb to make it 3-1 to Ireland. The Koreans withdrew their goalkeeper with five minutes to go. Ireland failed to convert a penalty corner when Korea had no keeper, and they also had the ball in the net, but the whistle had already blown for a free hit to Korea in the closing minutes. The Koreans forced a penalty corner in the 58th minute but were unable to convert it and Ireland held out to win 3-1. They will face Spain the winners of Pool B in their semi-final.

 

After the match, we spoke with Captain Katie Mullan and Player of the Match, Sarah Hawkshaw

To Katie Mullan: 

Q.1 Katie, a place in the semi-finals secured an important first step?

“It feels great we are very excited. This is the place we wanted to be in. I’m really proud of the girls tonight. It was another game and another job done. And we put in a brilliant performance. Everyone did their job and we are ready to go for the semi-final”

Q2. Is it good to have a familiar opponent  in the semi-finals?

“Yeah we’ve played Spain a lot and we have lot of experience of playing against them , and on this pitch. I’ve no doubt that it will be a good battle but we’ll be ready for it.”

 

To Sarah Hawkshaw:  

Q.1 Tell us about the first goal of the game. Was that one from the training ground?

“Yeah most certainly is. Look , for that to come off , all the basics have to be right . Hannah McLoughlin delivered a great ball. So I just had the small matter of touching it in.” 

Q.2  Sarah there were a number of green and yellow cards awarded against Ireland today and we played much of the second half down to 10 players , were you under increased pressure short handed?

“We always like to make it a little bit more exciting don’t we?  It is a bit more pressure, but we practice those scenarios though. We know what it’s like to be down (players) because of cards. Cards come freely in the game. We have to be used to it. We showed a lot of resilience I think to hold them out.” 

 

IRELAND: Ayeisha Mc Ferren, Róisín Upton, Hannah McLoughlin, Ellen Curran, Beth Harper,  Katie McKee, Sarah Hawkshaw, Katie Mullan (C ), Charlotte Beggs, Naomi Carroll, Niamh Carey

SUBS USED:  Sarah McAuley (5 mins), Michelle Carey (6 mins), Sarah Torrans (6 mins), Elena Neill (5 mins), Chloe Watkins (6 mins), Deirdre Duke (5 mins), Liz Murphy (GK) (not used)

 

KOREA: Eunji KIM (GK), Jungeun SEO, Hynju AN, Eunbi CHEON (C), Hyejin CHO,  Minjeong KIM, Eunji CHO, Yuri LEE, Seungae PARK, Suyoung SEO, Sujin AN

SUBS USED: Juyeon LEE (6 mins), Yujin LEE (3 mins), Soyeong KWON (9 mins), Jina KANG (7 mins), Eunji KIM (4 mins), Jeongihn KIM (3 mins), Seoyeon LEE  (GK) (not used)

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In Memoriam: Dr Moira McKelvey (née Hopkins)

Hockey Ireland joins Ulster Hockey in sadness as it learns of the death of Dr Moira McKelvey (née Hopkins) who passed away peacefully on Thursday 11th January 2024. 

Moira had a very distinguished hockey career which started off at Victoria College, Belfast. When she was at school, she won her first full international cap for Ireland at the age of 17. Her sister, Thelma, who was a year younger, was also on the team. Ireland played Wales on that occasion and won the match 2-1, with Moira scoring Ireland’s first goal and Thelma the second. 

Moira had 15 Irish caps from 1953 to 1971 and represented Ulster in Interprovincial matches from 1952 to the late 1970s. After she graduated from Queens University in Medicine, she played for Victorians from 1958 to the late 1980s when she was nearly 50 years of age. A newspaper article, written in the Belfast Telegraph by Artie O’Neill in February 1981, had the headline, ‘Victorians owe a lot to Moira’, saying the young squad had the benefit of the maturity of former international Moira upfront and ’the speed that Moira moves on the field certainly belies her age’. 

Off the pitch Moira contributed greatly to hockey in Ulster. She was President of the Ulster Women’s Hockey Union from 1981-1983 and sat on the Ulster Women’s Hockey Committee for many years. She was President of Victorians Ladies Hockey Club from 1985 to 2007 and was actively involved in the club as a player and an official for 49 years.  

At this sad time we remember how much Moira gave to hockey over the years. Our condolences go to her husband, Jimmy, son Bill, grandsons Ben, Matt & Nick and her sister Thelma, who is in Canada. 

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Strong Irish Performance Not Enough Against Clinical Belgium

IRELAND 2:4 BELGIUM

 

Without creating any clear cut opportunities Belgium dominated the opening exchanges of today’s second match for Ireland Men in their Olympic Qualifiers in Valencia. A well organised Irish defence coped admirably with whatever they were faced with.

But Belgium, ranked number two in the world, had the ball in the net in the thirteenth minute when Thibeau Stockbroekx cross seemed to be deflected past David Harte by another Belgian player. The Irish asked for the video umpire to take a look thinking some kind of infringement may have occurred. The video umpire saw no reason to change the on-field decision and the goal stood. So, it was 1-0 to Belgium at the end of the first quarter.

The goal seemed to have been a straight shot by Stockbroekx but Felix Denayer ended up being credited with the goal. In the second quarter Harte saved from point blank from Tanguy Cosyns and then Tim Cross went up the other end and was very unlucky not to get an equaliser for Ireland who were in white on the night. Alexander Hendrickx converted a penalty corner to increase Belgium’s lead 2-0 in the 25th minute. Nelson Onana was green carded a minute later. Ben Johnson got one back from open play to make the score 2-1 in the 26th minute. But any hopes of a comeback took a major blow in the final minute of the first half when William Ghislain scored from open play to send Belgium leading 3-1 at the break.

Belgium increased their lead in the 32nd minute through Thibeau Stockbroekx who scored from open play. 4-1 Belgium and it seemed a bridge too far. Ireland did get back one goal late on and it was a terrific piece of team play which was finished off by Matthew Nelson in the 53rd minute.

Speaking after the match head coach Mark Tumilty said:

“We probably weathered a storm in the first quarter and then shipped two good goals. We got a goal back and had a chance to make it 2-2 but it was the sort of chance we normally take but didn’t on this occasion.”

“They got two quick goals either side of half time and we were chasing the game for the remainder of it. It was pleasing we scored an excellent team goal late on.”

“We have a final pool game with Japan and there’s no point in sitting back and getting a draw we need to be proactive and play attacking hockey looking for the win we need to secure that semi-final spot. Ukraine showed earlier on by attacking Japan from the start and went into a 2-0 lead against them so they can be vulnerable early on which gives us a good opportunity”.

 

IRELAND: David Harte, Kyle Marshall ,Lee Cole, Shane O’Donoghue, Tim Cross, Nicholas Page, John Mc Kee, Sean Murray, Michael Robson, Jeremy Duncan, Darragh Walsh

SUBS USED:  Peter McKibbin ( 3 mins) ; SamHyland ( 3 mins), Ben Johnson (6 mins), Jonathan Lynch (6 mins),  LukeMadeley (6 mins)

 

BELGIUM: Vincent Vanache, Thibeaux Stockbroekx, Arthur van Doren, Florent van Aubel,Gauthier Boccard, Alexander Hendrickx, Felix De Nayer, Arthur De Sloover, Victor Wegnez, Arno Van Dossel, Tom Boom

SUBS USED: Nelson Onana (2 mins), Tanguy Cosyns (3 mins), Loick Luypaert (4 mins),  Maxime Van Oost ( 4 mins), William Ghislain (6 mins), John John Dohmen (7 mins)

 

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Ireland Women Take Huge Win at Olympic Qualifiers

IRELAND  8  UKRAINE 0

 

To put this game in context after day one here in Valencia, Spain, Ireland and Belgium were in second and third place in Pool A after the Koreans beat Ukraine 3-0 to lead the standings. So Ireland needed to win this game to challenge successfully for a top two place in the pool. Belgium taking on Korea in their second pool game found themselves in a similar situation.

Ireland started well forcing a long corner in the 3rd minute. Ukraine grew into the game as it wore on and had a number of circle entries. Eventually Ireland took the lead in the nineteenth minute and it came from a long run from deep by captain Katie Mullan who drove into the circle and shot towards goal. Sarah Torrans got a deflection past Fadieieva in the Ukraine goal to give Ireland the lead. Niamh Carey’s diving effort made it 2-0 in the twenty-seventh minute and Ireland led at the half-time break.

The third quarter was very productive for Ireland as Hannah McLaughlin scored from a penalty corner in the thirty-third minute and Deirdre Duke hit a great shot to the net from open play in the thirty-sixth minute to leave Ireland 4-0 at the end of the third quarter.

Ireland continued to find the net in the final quarter. Róisín Upton converted a penalty corner in the forty-seventh minute to make it 5-0. Beth Harper deflected a Hannah McLaughlin effort from a penalty corner in the forty ninth minute to make it 6-0. Sarah Torrans got her second of the match from open play a minute later to make it 7-0. Katie Mullan completed the scoring with a brilliant run and shot to make the final score Ireland 8 Ukraine 0.

Speaking after the match, Ireland head coach Sean Dancer said:

“We respect Ukraine and how they play as a team. It’s very different from what we are used to.”

“Scoring the goals today was very pleasing. It’s great when the conversion rate of scoring opportunities is high. Scoring goals is a key part of the game and it was very pleasing to see a number of different players get on the scoresheet”.

“The build up play for some of the goals was based on good attacking play and that was another pleasing aspect of today’s performance. Our set pieces and penalty corners worked well today too. But conceding zero goals too, is almost as important as scoring goals. We will watch Korea play Belgium and we are focusing now on getting ready for Korea.”

In the later match in Pool A Belgium must beat Korea now to keep their Olympic prospects alive so it’s a three horse race for those two semi-final berths in Pool A after this result for Ireland.

In Pool B Spain beat Great Britain on day two to lead the pool with two wins from two. Canada got back on track with a 3-0 win over Malaysia following their previous 0-2 defeat to Great Britain. Malaysia had their second defeat against Canada having lost 0-7 to Spain on the opening day of Pool B.

 

IRELAND: Liz Murphy (GK), Beth Harper, Róisín Upton, Sarah McAuley, Hannah Mc Loughlin, Sarah Hawkshaw, Katie Mullan (C), Charlotte Beggs, Katie Mc Kee, Naomi Carroll, Deirdre Duke

SUBS USED: Niamh Carey (4 mins), Chloe Watkins (4 mins), Sarah Torrans (5 mins), Michelle Carey (5mins),Ellen Curran ( 4 mins), Elena Neill (4 mins)

 

UKRAINE:  Alina Fadieieva (GK), Yevheniia Moroz, Yevheniia Kernoz, Kateryna Shokalenko, Karyna  Leonova, Anastasia Voievoda, Valeriia Zaitseva, Anastasiia Shyshyna, Kateryna Popova, Anna Tanchenko, Yana Vorushylo (C)

SUBS USED: Tetiana Stepanchenko (GK) (49 mins), Marharyta Mykhailiuk (24 mins), Veronika Movchan (5 mins), Maryna Khilko (7 mins),  Valeriia Rudychenko (7 mins), Valeriia Tyshchenko (9 mins), Veronika Korobkina (24 mins)

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Ireland Men Start Their Olympic Qualifier With A Dominant Win

IRELAND 5  UKRAINE  1

 

Ireland Men began their Olympic qualification Pool A campaign this evening with a game against Ukraine. The two sides had faced each other twice during the European Championships II finals in Dublin last summer so were familiar with each other.

Ireland dominated possession early on but as the game wore on, Ukraine grew into the game. Roman Bludov was the busier of the two goalkeepers as Ireland forced numerous penalty corners. Ireland opened the scoring when Ben Johnson scored from a penalty corner in the twenty fifth minute. Darragh Walsh almost added a second three minutes later. He was the creator of the second goal when it did arrive teeing up Lee Cole to score following some good approach play.

Ukraine’s attacking efforts were rewarded a minute later when they were awarded a penalty corner and drag flicker Viacheslav Paziuk got them on the scoreboard. Ireland went straight up the other end and forced a penalty corner which was the final play of the first half. Ukraine successfully repelled it to leave the half-time score Ireland 2 Ukraine 1.

Lee Cole was yellow carded near the end of the half and a Ukrainian player Miahilo Yasinskyi was green carded. Ukraine started strongly in the third quarter and forced a series of long corners in the thirty ninth minute and again in the forty third minute they had a promising move snuffed out by Ireland. Jeremy Duncan managed to turnover the ball and launched a counter-attack which Bludov blocked. End of third quarter still 2-1.

The fourth quarter was a different story entirely. Ireland broke from defence and Jeremy Duncan and Ben Johnson had an interchange of passes. Ireland were awarded a penalty corner and Ukraine asked for a video referral. The video umpire supported the original decision and Ukraine lost their referral. Lee Cole got his second of the game from the penalty corner to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute.

Jeremy Duncan caps off an historic day when he gets his 100th cap by scoring to make it 4-1 to Ireland. This was his 20th international goal. The victory was sealed when Darragh Walsh made it 5-1 with five minutes remaining.

Speaking after the game Jeremy Duncan said

“It’s a very proud day for my family and myself to play 100th game for my country. It’s always good to score a goal but the 5-1 was the most important thing. We have things to work on ahead of tomorrow’s game against Belgium the #2 ranked team in the world. It’s going to be a tough task, as will be the final group game against Japan. If we can keep a clean sheet against Belgium (as our women did) we’ll be in a very good place.”

Luke Madeley said after the game

“We’re just happy to get the first win on the board. Happy that the front six managed to break down Ukraine in that fourth quarter and get the goals. It’s going to be a huge challenge tomorrow against Belgium. We’ve got good experience in the team and we know we have to put this match tonight behind us and focus on the next one. We know that they (Belgium) are world class players so we have to be on top of our game, otherwise we as a team, will be doing a lot of ball chasing tomorrow.”

Earlier today in group A Belgium enjoyed a big 7-0 win over Japan to top the table after one round of games, this makes it vital that Ireland follow up today’s result with a win in game 3 against Japan and hopefully get a decent result against World Ranked #2 Belgium tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile in Group B Spain and Korea played out a 2-2 draw which puts Spain on four points following their 4-1 win over Austria on day 1. Austria are on three points in second spot in that table following their 2-0 win over Egypt in Sunday afternoon’s match. Korea are in third with 2 points, after today’s draw with Spain and Egypt are in fourth place with one point. Egypt had played out a 4-4 draw on day 1.

 

IRELAND: David Harte, Tim Cross, Shane O’Donoghue, Luke Madeley, John McKee, Matthew Nelson, Peter McKibbin, Sean Murray (C),  Jeremy Duncan, Michael Robson, Nicholas Page

SUBS USED:  Ben Johnson , Lee Cole,  Kyle Marshall, Jonathan Lynch, Darragh Walsh, Sam Hyland

UKRAINE:- Roman Bludov,  Mykhailo Yasinskyi , Viacheslav Paziuk, Dmytro Luppa (C), Vitalii Shevchuk, Maksym Onofriiuk, Bohdan Kovalenko,  Andrii Koshlenko, Olksandr Solomianyi, Oleksandr Boiko, Volodymyr Kaplinskyi

SUBS USED: Bohdan Tovstolytkin (GK), Dmytro Hrubyi,  Iurii Moroz, Oleksii Popov, Volodymyr Zhmereniuk, Volodymy Kostechko, Oleksandr Yasinskyi

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Ireland Women hold Belgium to a draw in Hockey Olympic Qualifier Opener

IRELAND 0 BELGIUM 0

Ireland who are World ranked #13, began their Olympic qualification Pool A campaign with a defiant ‘backs to the wall’ performance against the European Silver medallists from 2023 and World Ranked #4 Belgium.

Charlotte Engelbert forced a penalty corner after only 20 seconds. It was the first of nine such corners awarded against Ireland in the first half. But the Irish defense marshalled by Lena Neill, Hannah McLoughlin and Roisín Upton and backstopped by player of the match Ayeisha McFerren were able to hold out not only in quarter one but quarter’s two and three as well.

Ireland were up against it for most of the first half.  It was scoreless at half-time. McFerren made several saves including a double save from a penalty corner to keep Ireland in the match.

The third quarter saw Ireland gain a fair bit of possession, but they seemed to be unable to carve out too many clear-cut opportunities turning over the ball at times. It wasn’t until the fortieth minute that the first penalty corner for Ireland was awarded but Belgian substitute goalkeeper Elode Picard wasn’t troubled by Chloe Watkins’ effort nor Beth Harper’s attempt on the rebound.

Ireland had made good use of video referrals early on in the game getting two penalty corner awards overturned in the process. Neither side seemed capable of captilising on having an extra player. Belgium had one player green carded in the thirty fourth minute and Ireland had three players green carded at different stages in the second quarter.

The drama didn’t end there. In the final six seconds Belgium looked for a video referral as they claimed the ball hit an Irish foot inside the semi-circle. The video referral was inconclusive so Belgium had to face a free out and lost their video referral. The final blew soon afterwards and the score stood as it had at the first whistle, Ireland 0 Belgium 0.

This point which must be looked at as a bonus at this stage, is an excellent start and must be followed up strongly by a win on Monday morning against Ukraine. Then there will be the final pool match against Japan but a point against the pre-tournament favourites is a very good start indeed but must be followed up on.

Sean Dancer Ireland Head Coach said after the game:

“Belgium dominated the game, particularly the first half and are an excellent team. But we came into it a bit more in the third quarter and created a few chances. Ireland performed better in the second half.”

The final match of the day was the second Pool A game between Korea and Ukraine. Elsewhere in Pool A Great Britain defeated Canada 2-0 and Spain had a comfortable win over Malaysia by 7-0.

IRELAND:  Ayeisha Mc Ferren, Bethany Harper, Elena Neill, Hannah McLoughlin, Katie McKee, Sarah Hawkshaw, Charlotte Beggs, Katie Mullan (c), Deirdre Duke, Naomi Carroll SUBS USED: Niamh Carey (3 mins), Chloe Watkins (3 mins), Sarah McAuley (4 mins), Michelle Carey (7 mins),  Sarah Torrans (7 mins), Róisín Upton (7 mins)

BELGIUM: Aisling D’Hooghe, Justine Rasir, Alix Gerniers, Judith Vandermeiren, Emma Puvrez, Louise Versavel, Vanessa Blockmans, Michelle Struijk, Héléne Brasseur, Stephanie Vandenborre, Charlotte Engelbert, SUBS USED: Elodie Picard (GK) [31 mins], Ambre Ballenghen (3 mins), Barbara Nelen, Camille Belis (4 mins), Lien Hillewaart (5 mins). Abi Raye (5 mins)

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