Ulster teenager wins top EuroHockey youth award

Dublin August 18: Anna Pim from Ulster yesterday received The Youth Leader Award for her EuroHockey Youth Festival project at the EHF Youth Forum in Monchengladbach. Anna was nominated by Hockey Ireland as their female delegate and presented to the 35th General Assembly of the European Hockey Federation.

The 18-year-old schoolgirl founded ‘at the Heart of the Game’, an education programme to deliver CPR and AED awareness to hockey clubs throughout Northern Ireland.

During lockdown she combined her love for hockey and her interest in St John Ambulance to create her ‘at the Heart of the Game’ initiative, educating over 300 young people in CPR and AED awareness to hockey clubs throughout Northern Ireland since.  

Ulster Hockey said,

“The impact that this project is having on the Ulster Hockey family is immeasurable and has the potential to save lives within our clubs and the wider community. The feedback from clubs who have been involved is extremely positive. The demand from other clubs is high and the interest from other sports governing bodies is significant.”

Anna picked up the top EuroHockey award as she demonstrated her ability to create, plan, prepare and deliver a major project.

Lady Mary Peters, an Ambassador for ‘At the Heart of the Game’ said,

“It is a life-saving opportunity for the sports community in Northern Ireland.  It is wonderful to see how sport can be harnessed as a tool through which to educate young people on important issues such as CPR and defibrillator use.” 

Anna is making a huge impact in Ulster Hockey through coaching, volunteering, playing and her education programme. She is a significant role model for the youth. With the increasing number of cardiac arrests being reported within the sporting community at matches, training and in the clubhouse, Anna has empowered young people to know how to confidently help if someone has a cardiac arrest.  She is teaching skills to them to unlock their full potential. No better way than to teach them something that will someday save a life of a teammate, family member or friend.

Through her partnership with Belfast City Airport and the kind donations from hockey clubs, schools, and individuals Anna has also raised enough money to provide AED trainers into St John Ambulance cadet divisions within these club areas.  ‘At the Heart of the Game’ has exceeded all expectations in raising awareness of CPR and AED.  The media attention has placed the importance of these lifesaving skills to the forefront of people’s minds.  From BBC Newsline to Foyle Radio, front page of the Belfast Telegraph to ‘At the Heart of the Game’ Twitter and Instagram and much, much, more, Anna has been the face of this fantastic project.

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High expectations set for Ireland Senior Women Hockey Team

Dublin, August 16th: High expectations have been set for the Ireland Senior Women Hockey Team as they make final preparations for their opening game of the EuroHockey Championships 2023 against England this Friday August 18th in Moenchengladbach, Germany. This is the elite level tournament for women in Europe.

Ireland (world ranking 13th) have been drawn in Pool B and will play England (world ranking 6th), Scotland (world ranking 18th) and Germany (world ranking 4th) in the first phase of the tournament. A total of eight teams will compete across two pools, with the top two in each pool qualify for the semi-finals.

Importantly, a top six finish for Ireland will secure a spot in next January’s Olympic Qualification groups in Spain or China and would also secure Ireland’s place in the 2025 European Championships in the first tier of nations.

Speaking ahead of the tournament Head coach Sean Dancer said:

“As a group we have made fantastic improvements over the past 12 months on and off the field and we have high ambitions, knowing the tough challenge of a very competitive European Championship. This year’s European’s also doubles as the first step of the Olympic Qualification process, adding extra pressure on all those involved. We will need to stay focused on ourselves and playing our attacking style of play.

Ireland captain Katie Mullan was confident that the preparations for this tournament had gone very well:

“We have played against the top 3 ranked nations in the World earlier this year, having taken on Argentina a few months ago and the Dutch a few weeks ago and we got our best result in recent years against the Netherlands. Five of the top ten highest nations in the World rankings are taking part in the tournament so it will be a real challenge for us but we feel we are ready to face that challenge. Looking at the Pool opponents themselves we also play regularly against England, Scotland and Germany either in friendlies or competitively, so we know each other well. This group of players will be ready for the challenge that we face starting on Friday.”

Ireland’s Pool B campaign begins on Friday 18th August 2023 with an afternoon match starting at 17:00 CET (16:00 Irish Time) with an opener against England. They are back in action the following evening Saturday 19th August against Scotland at 20:15 CET (19:15 Irish Time)  and the group stages final game takes place on Tuesday 22nd August against Germany at 19:30 CET (18:30 Irish Time). The Ireland games will all be shown online at www.eurohockeytv.org  details on how to subscribe are available on the EHF website www.eurohockey.org and www.premiersportsireland.com

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STATSports Have Set Pen-to-Paper On a New Long-term Deal

Dublin August 15: Hockey Ireland and STATSports have set pen-to-paper on a new long-term deal that will see a continuation of the partnership that has been in place since 2018.

STATSports will provide its GPS tracking and performance monitoring technology for both Hockey Ireland Senior Men and Senior Women’s national squads.

Hockey Ireland has had unprecedented success in the last number of years with the women earning a silver medal at the 2018 London World Cup and becoming the first ever female team to represent Ireland at an Olympic games, in any sport in 2021.

Meanwhile, 2023-24 will see the senior men compete in World Hockey’s Pro League against eight top Hockey teams from around the world.

In addition to working with the national sides, the Newry-based company want to make their technology as accessible as possible for grassroots teams in Ireland and will be running educational events and discounts to engage with local clubs, players, and coaches through this partnership.

 

Eoin Cunniffee, Head of Athletic Performance commenting on the renewal:

“STATSports Apex GPS equipment and software play a very significant role in our performance planning, analysis, and management processes. As a result of the flexibility and user-friendly nature of the technology, it is easy to monitor the physical load of our players when they are not with the international team.”

Lisa Jacob, Hockey Ireland’s High-Performance Director, commenting on the partnership:

“STATSports is a key partnership for Hockey Ireland, enabling our senior women’s and men’s teams to maximise individual and team preparation and performance with cutting edge software and technology. This critically underpins our player and programme management while we look to qualify for Paris 2024 and become a Top 8 nation in world hockey.’

STATSports, CCO and Co-founder Sean O’Connor, added:

“We’re delighted to announce the renewal of our partnership with Ireland Hockey. At STATSports, we take immense pride in our collaboration and support of Ireland’s sporting organisations. We’re dedicated to driving the sport’s development here at home and helping the national team further their success on the global stage. This renewal underscores our commitment to this.”

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Hockey Ireland names team for 2023 EuroHockey ID Championship

Hockey Ireland names team for 2023 EuroHockey ID Championship

 

Park Developments announce support for ‘Hockey4All’ programme.

 

 

Dublin August 10: Hockey Ireland has named its team for the 2023 EuroHockey ID Championship taking place in Mönchengladbach, Germany from August 21 – 24. The tournament coincides with the EuroHockey Championship 2023, and features ten teams from across Europe including: Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Hockey ID is the adapted format of hockey for players with an intellectual disability.

Ireland’s participation in the 2023 EuroHockey ID Championship is joined by Park Developments’ confirmation of support for the Hockey Ireland ‘Hockey4All’ inclusion programme, which looks to ensure those of all abilities become an integral and invaluable part of the Hockey community in Ireland.

 

Jilly Cotter, Director, Park Developments commented:

“Park Developments are proud of our 60 year history of building, creating and supporting communities. As we renewed our support for the Irish Senior Ladies Hockey team this year, we wanted to expand our support to include the “Hockey4All” Program as a key area for development within the Hockey family, by supporting young people with disabilities and giving them an opportunity to play and enjoy the game. We would like to wish the Hockey ID Ireland squad the very best of luck this summer as they prepare of the Europeans in Germany this August”.

 

Hockey Ireland Hockey4All programme Manager, Sue Haslam, commented:

“Over the past 12 years, the Hockey4All programme has enabled athletes of all abilities to become an integral and invaluable part of the Hockey community in Ireland. The backing of Park Developments will allow us to further accelerate our strategy to grow Hockey4All throughout clubs, and in partnership with schools, Local Sports Partnerships and other organisations. With this new partnership, we look forward to developing the player pathway, playing and international opportunities for all our Hockey4All athletes.” 

 

The Team: (Back row, left to right) – Joe Whelan, Cameron Ward, Daniel Fortune, Tony Ryan, Charlie O’Reilly. (Front row, left to right) – Ben Purcell, Ruthanne Gallagher, Louis Olden. Missing are team members  Niamh Kiernan and Matthew Burke who were unable to join the photograph.

 

The Team and Staff: (Back row, left to right) – Scott Mulligan (Head coach), Aryana Nieland (coach), Joe Whelan, Daniel Fortune, Tony Ryan, Charlie O’Reilly and Klaas de Vries (coach). (Front row, left to right) – Cameron Ward, Ben Purcell, Ruthanne Gallagher, Louis Olden. Missing are team members  Niamh Kiernan and Matthew Burke who were unable to join the photograph.

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Clean Sweep for Ireland at the EuroHockey Championship II, Men

 

EUROHOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP II FINAL 

IRELAND 5  UKRAINE  2

Ireland won the EuroHockey Championship II title on  Saturday despite trailing at half -time.

Leadership takes many forms. Sometimes the leader inspires the others to do great things, other times they lead by example. Captain Sean Murray took the latter path. Finding his side trailing at half time he scored twice in the fourth quarter, once to equalize and the second to put Ireland in the lead. Further goals from Benjamin Walker and  a Lee Cole penalty stroke sealed a 5-2 victory.

But as in the semi-final win over Scotland, Ireland were better in the second half, in this game against Ukraine too. Ireland took the lead through a penalty corner converted by Shane O’Donoghue in the 7th minute, but as the quarter wore on the opposition came more into the game. Ukraine got an equaliser on 9 minutes from Viacheslav Paziuk’s converted penalty corner to make it 1-1. Oleksandr Boiko gave Ukraine the lead with his converted penalty corner on 12 minutes and it was a lead they held on to right to the end of not only quarter one, but right up to half-time.

The third quarter saw Ireland looking more on the front foot and coming back into the game.

Sean Murray  scored a field goal in the 50th minute to make it 2-2. He got his second of the match in the 51st minute to put Ireland 3-2 ahead. Ireland went further ahead  in the 53rd minute through a Benjamin Walker field goal 4-2 ahead. And finally in the 56th minute Lee Cole converted a late penalty stroke to secure a 5-2 win.

In doing so Lee Cole scored his 9th goal of the tournament to secure the tournament top scorer award. David Harte was voted goalkeeper of the tournament by the coaches and manager of the participating teams. Ireland’s captain Sean Murray was voted player of the tournament and todays player of the match tournament would have gone a long way to helping him in that win. Final score Ireland 5 Czech Republic 2

IRELAND: David Harte (GK), Charlie Rowe, John McKee, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (Capt.), Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Benjamin Walker, Jonathan Lynch , Lee Cole.  SUBS USED: Luke Witherow, Conor Empey, Sam Hyland , Ben Johnson, Nicholas Page;

UKRAINE: Bohdan Tovstolytkin (GK), Viacheslav Paziuk, Mykhailo Yasinskyi, Dmytro Luppa (Capt.), Volodomyr Kaplinskyi, Vitalii Shevchuk, Maksym Onofriiuk, Bohdan Kovalenko, Volodomyr Zhmereniuk, Andrii Koshelenko, Oleksandr Boiko, SUBS USED: Oleksandr Diachenko, Iurii Moroz, Oleksii Popov, Yurii Dzemukh, Volodomyr Kostechko, Oleksandr Yashinskyi;

Clean Sweep: L-R: Lee Cole, Top goalscorer of the Tournament, David Harte, Top Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Sean Murray, Top Player of the Tournament.

Pool C got underway on Friday to try and sort out the positions 5th to 8th in the Euro Hockey Championships II. World Ranking points and seedings for future tournaments on the line it meant that every team involved in the latter two days of this tournament had something at stake in their final games of the week.

3rd and 4th PLACE FINAL  

ITALY  1  SCOTLAND 4

Pool B winners Italy ended up in a Bronze medal match against Pool B runners-up Scotland on Saturday at Sports Campus Ireland. Scotland, coached by Irishman Jonny Caren, were beaten in their semi final 4-1 by Ireland whereas the Italian had lost 4-3 in a shoot out to Ukraine after a 3-3 draw in normal time.  Italy had beaten Scotland in their Pool match and took the lead on this occasion too through a Davide Arioso field goal. Italy led 1-0 at half-time. Fraser Moran equalised for Scotland in the third quarter with a 34th minute field goal and took the lead through one from Jamie Golden on 40 minutes to leave them 2-1 up. Andrew Lochrin added an open play goal on 53 minutes to leave Scotland 3-1 up . Italy having withdrawn their goalkeeper in favour of another attacker, conceded a fourth in the 57th minute when Jamie Golden’s second of the game left them 4-1 up. They soon reversed that and played out the remaining minutes of the game as normal.

Scotland win the bronze medal in the competition . For Italy is the consolation of being the potential replacement in the Olympic qualification group in January should one of the other quaIified nations decide they cannot participate for some reason or other.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC 7 TURKIYE 1

The Czech Republic’s bit to finish 5th in the tournament gained a lot of momentum after their win over Turkiye.  Denis Tomes opened the scoring with an 8th minute goal from open play. 1-0 to the Czechs. Lukas Plochy opened his account with a field goal on 17 minutes to make it 2-0.  He added another one in the 17th minute to leave the score 3-0 to the Czechs.  Captain Adam Uhlir added another from open play to leave the half time score Czech Republic 4 Turkiye 0.

Lukas Plochy completed his hat-trick early in the third quarter to make it 5-0 in the 33rd minute with a goal from open play. The Turks finally got on the scoresheet from a penalty corner in the 35th minute but that was about as good as it would get for them. Adam Uhlir restored his country’s five goal margin from a penalty corner in the 36th minute.   And Lukas Plochy got his fourth of the match  got a field goal to leave the final score Czech Republic 7 Turkiye

Lukas Plochy’s four goal haul in this game against Turkiye put him in contention for the tournament’s top scorer competition.

 

PORTUGAL 6  SWITZERLAND 4

Portugal got their first win in Pool C at a crucial time to clinch 7th position in the tournament, with a 6-4 win over Switzerland at Sports Campus Ireland on Saturday.  Portugal took an early lead when captain David Franco gave them a 1-0 lead converting a 12th minute penalty corner. They increased their lead on 16 minutes when Rodrigo Castro scored a field goal. Yannick Hug’s penalty corner in the 24th minute got the Swiss off the mark but the Portuguese restored their two goal advantage in the 39th minute when Rodrigo Castro scored his second goal of the day.

Boris Stomps cut their lead to one with his 44th minute penalty corner and Tiago Ventosa gave Portugal a 4-2 lead from a field goal on 47th minute.  David Franco’s second penalty corner conversion of the day stretched Portugal’s lead to 5-2 in the 52nd minute. The Swiss responded with a Boris Stomps penalty corner in the 53rd minute to make it 5-3.  Portugal restored their three goal lead when Aidan Fourie scored from open play with five minutes remaining.  The Swiss got their fourth and final consolation goal when Lukas Hengartner converted a final minute penalty corner.

The Pool C final standings now look like this  

5th are the Czech Republic  with 7 points and a goal difference of plus 7

6th are  Switzerland with  4 points and a goal difference of plus 1

7th are  Portugal with 3 points and a goal difference of zero

8th are  Turkiye with 3 points with a goal difference of minus 8

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Semi-Final Day at the EuroHockey Championship II Men.

IRELAND  4 SCOTLAND 1

Ireland’s first target from this tournament, which was to secure one of the two spots available in January’s Olympic Qualification Groups, was secured with a second half onslaught which saw them secure a 4-1 win and a place in the final. Scotland began the game very well and created numerous opportunities and they could have counted themselves unlucky not to have been 1-0 up by half time.

The second half was a completely different story however. Jeremy Duncan opened the scoring in the 31st minute from open play to make it 1-0. Ben Johnson increased their lead from a goal from open play  in the 40th minute to give a Ireland a 2-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.  Lee Cole converted two penalty corners in the 50th and 53rd minutes respectively. To leave Ireland leading 4-0 ahead with only 7 minutes left to play.

Scotland finally got the goal their first half play, deserved, when Alan Forsyth converted a penalty corner in the 58th minute to leave the score 4-1 to Ireland. For Scotland a 3rd and 4th place final with Italy awaits. Ireland take on Ukraine in the final with both sides having secured their place in January’s Olympic qualifiers and having achieved that target there’s a trophy up for grabs in tomorrow’s final.

 

IRELAND: David Harte (GK), Lee Witherow, John McKee, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray [capt], Michael Robson, Benjamin Walker, Lee Cole, Conor Empey, Sam Hyland; SUBS USED:- Charlie Rowe, Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Jonathan Lynch, Ben Johnson, Nicholas Page.

SCOTLAND: Thomas Alexander (GK), Joe Mc Connell, Alan Forsyth, Robert Field, Andrew McConnell, Duncan Riddell, Lee Morton (capt.), Craig Falconer, Jamie Golden, Fraser Moran, Callum Mackenzie SUBS USED:- Thomas Austin, Struan Walker, Keir Robb, Andrew Lochrkin, Kyle White, Ali Douglas

 

ITALY 3  UKRAINE 3  ( UKRAINE WON 4-3 IN SHOOT-OUT)

Group B winners Italy took on Group A’s second placed nation Ukraine in the opening semi-final and produced a six goal thriller that went all the way.  Manuel Mondo put the Italians 1-0 up with a converted 7th minute penalty corner. Viacheslav Paziuk equalised for Ukraine in the 10th minute from a converted penalty corner.  Andrii Koshelenko gave Ukraine the lead in the 18th minute from open play. Davide Arosio equalised with a goal from open play in the 39th minute to make it 2-2.

And Davide Arosio  gave the Azzuri a 3-2 lead in the 46th minute.Maksym Onofriiuk equalised for Ukraine in the 47th minute and there was no further scoring so it went to a shoot out.

Maksym Onofriiuk took the first penalty for Ukraine and scored 1-0

Geronimo Clement took the first one for Italy and didn’t score .

Vitalii Shevchuk took the second one for Ukraine and scored 2-0.

Thomas Keenan took the second one for Italy and scored 2-1.

Bohdan Kovalenko took the third one for Ukraine and scored 3-1.

Davide Arioso took the third one for Italy and did not score still 3-1.

Volodomyr Kaplinskyi took the fourth one for Ukraine and did not score 3-1.

Claudio Brocco took the fourth one for Italy and scored  3-2.

Andrii Koshelenko  took the final one for Ukraine and scored 4-2

Mattia Ambrosini took the final one for Italy and scored and it ended 4-3 to Ukraine.

Ukraine qualify not only for the final of Euro Hockey Championship II tomorrow afternoon but also secured that precious second spot in January’s Olympic qualifiers on offer from this tournament.

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EuroHockey Championship II Men – Day 3 roundup

Day 3

IRELAND   7   UKRAINE 0 

The second game of the day in Pool A saw hosts Ireland take on Ukraine. The Irish team were wearing black armbands and observed a minute’s silence ahead of the game to mark the tragic loss of Aoife Frances Langan, loving long term partner of Luke Madeley.

Ireland got off to a good start and finally took the lead in the second quarter when Shane O’Donoghue converted a penalty corner in the 23rd minute. They increased their lead in the 30th minute when Lee Cole converted another penalty corner to leave Ireland leading 2-0 at the break.

Early in the third quarter Shane O’Donoghue got his second goal of the game converting another penalty corner in the 34th minute to put Ireland 3-0 ahead.  Ten minutes later Ireland were awarded a penalty stroke which Lee Cole converted to put Ireland 4-0 ahead. Twelve minutes later Ireland were awarded a second penalty stroke which Lee Cole also converted getting his second goal of the night to put Ireland 5-0 up.  Two minutes from time Conor Empey converted a penalty corner to make it 6-0 to Ireland and Benjamin Walker scored from open play to seal a 7-0 win.

Commenting after the game coach Mark Tumilty said:

“I was pleased with the way we converted from set pieces but our conversion rate from open play needs work. There’s a lot more  work to be done to achieve our goal of reaching the final of this tournament to secure that potential Olympic qualification tournament in January , starting with tomorrow’s match against Portugal”. 

Given the other results in the Pool so far a point against Portugal would be enough to secure top spot in Pool A and a semi-final berth in the European Championship II, Men in The Sports Ireland Campus.

Having scored 16 goals in two outings Ireland should be confident of securing a spot in the semi-final.

IRELAND:  David Harte (GK), Charlie Rowe, Luke Witherow, John McKee, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (Capt.), Jeremy Duncan, Lee Cole, Ben Hyland

SUBS: Peter McKibbin, Benjamin Walker, Jonathan Lynch, Conor Empey Nicholas Page,

NOT USED: James Milliken (GK)

UKRAINE: Bohdan Tovstolytkin (GK), Viacheslav Paziuk, Dmytro Luppo (C), Mykhailo Yasinskyi, Volodymyr Kaplisnkyi, Vitalii Shevchuk, Maksym Onofriiuk, Bohdan Kovalenko, Volodomyr Zhmereniuk, Andrii Koshelenko, Volodomyr Kostechko

SUBS: Roman Bludov(GK) , Iurii Moroz, Oleksii Popov, Oleskandr Boiko, Oleksandr Yasinskyi , Oleksandr Diachenko.

DAY 2 

POOL A 

CZECH REPUBLIC   4    PORTUGAL  3 

Both of the teams involved in the days opening game had lost in their first outings. Portugal had been involved in a 9 goal thriller losing 6-3 to Ukraine. The Czechs also were involved in a 9 goal game but this was a more chastening experience on the receiving end of a 9-0 beating from Ireland. Someone’s losing streak had to end. The Portuguese got off to a good start  and took the lead from open play in 5 minutes when Rodrigo Castro scored. They led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Czechs responded in the second quarter when Ondrej Hes equalised from a penalty corner in the 17th minute to make it 1-1. It remained that score until half time.

Early in the third quarter the Czechs took the lead when Jakub Klaban  scored from open play in the 37th minute.  Rodrigo Castro’s penalty corner, but he was credited with it was deflected past goalkeeper Petr Vetrovsky to make it 2-2 and give Portugal an equaliser on 39 minutes.

The Czechs restored their lead almost immediately when Lukas Plochy scored on 41 minutes from open play to get his 42nd international goal for his country. He has now scored more goals for his country than the rest of his team mates combined. The score now stood at 3-2 to the Czechs and it remained that way till the end of the third quarter.

Portugal equalised from a penalty corner in the 48th minute when Tiago Ventosa converted to make it 3-3. Lukas Plokhy engineered the lead goal for the Czechs with two minutes remaining. His cross was deflected to the net and he was credited with scoring his 43rd international goal. And it remained 4-3 at full time.

 

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EuroHockey Championship II, Men Day 1 Match Reports

IRELAND  9    CZECH REPUBLIC 0 

Ireland closed the first day of the European Hockey Championships II in Abbotstown with a simple mission at the start of play.

Win Pool A and be one of the two finalists and Ireland would secure a spot in a qualification tournament for next years Olympics due to take place in January in either Valencia in Spain or a venue in Pakistan.

Captain Sean Murray got things underway from open play with an opening goal in the 18th minute to make it 1-0 to Ireland.

Benjamin Walker made it 2-0 also from open play in the 24th minute. Sean Murray got his second field goal of the game to make it 3-0 in the 26th minute.

John McKee got his first of the game to make it 4-0 in the 41st minute and Lee Cole added a penalty corner goal  in the 43rd minute to make it 5-0 .

Jeremy Duncan made it 6-0 a minute later from a penalty corner  and further goals from Ben Johnson and Lee Cole penalty stroke in the 56th minute made it 8-0 and the rout was completed by John McKee grabbing his second of the game to seal a 9-0 victory.

IRELAND:  David Harte ; John McKee, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (C) , Peter McKibbin, Michael Robson, Benjamin Walker, Lee Cole, Conor Empey, Sam Hyland SUBS: Luke Witherow; Jeremy Duncan, Jonathan Lynch, Ben Johnson, Nicholas Page

CZECH REPUBLIC: Petr Vetrovsky; Lukas Klaban, Denis Tomes, Dominik Bystricky, Vojtech Kolar, Lukas Plochy, Adam Uhlír  (C), Ondrej Soukup, Stepán Lalík, Martin Capouch, Ondrej Hes SUBS: Stepan Klaban, Vit Soukup, Josef Toms, Tomas Bransovsky, Patrik Dubina, Jakub Klaban, Vojtech Paztika (GK) h-t.

 

POOL A 

 UKRAINE 6  PORTUGAL 3

Andrii Koshelenko opened his account from a penalty corner on 6 minutes, which made it 1-0 to Ukraine. He got his second of the match from a penalty stroke on 14 minutes to make it 2-0.

Bohdan Kovalenko added a field goal in the 20th minute to make it 3-0.  Portugal responded almost immediately through Vasco Ribeiro to make it 3-1.

Portugal were awarded a penalty stroke which José Santos converted on 23 minutes. Maksym Onofriiuk restored a two goal lead for Ukraine from open play in the 25th minute and it was 4-2 at half-time.

Andrii Koshelenko completed his hat-trick with another penalty stroke on 34 minutes to make it 5-2. Portugal responded through a David Franco penalty corner in the 41st minute to make it 5-3.

Andrii Koshelenko  got his fourth goal of the day in the 48th minute from another penalty stroke to leave the final score Ukraine 6 Portugal 3.

 

POOL B

ITALY  4   TURKIYE  0 

The tournament began with a Pool B game on Sunday morning between Italy and Turkiye. Italy took only 60 seconds to get the opening goal of the tournament on Sunday when Francois Sior scored from open play to give the Azzuri the lead.  Juan Munafo increased their lead on 29 minutes to make it 2-0 at half time.  Felix Dionisi Vici weighed in with another goal from open play in the 44th minute to make it 3-0 and four minutes from the end Manuel Mondo converted a penalty corner to leave the final score 4-0 to Italy.

 

SCOTLAND 3 SWITZERLAND 0

The second game of the Pool B of European Hockey Championships II in Abbotstown saw Scotland take on Switzerland.

Johnny Coren’s charges took the lead from open play through a goal from Keir Robb in the 22nd minute.  Jamie Golden increased their lead on the stroke of half time. The Scots led 2-0 at the break.

Struan Walker’s 36th minute penalty corner sealed a 3-0 win.

 

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EuroHockey Championship II, Men Overview

EuroHockey Championship II, Men

  

Ireland are hosting the Men’s  EuroHockey Championship II at the National Sports Campus, Abbotstown from July 23-29.

Eight teams will compete, divided into two Pools consisting of four countries each.

The participating countries will be Czech Republic, Ukraine, Portugal and Ireland in Pool A

and Scotland, Italy, Turkiye and Switzerland in Pool B .

 

Details regarding tickets can be found on www.irelandhockey.sportlomo.com

 

Ireland, who are ranked 13th in the World are in Pool A and play their first game on Sunday July 23rd at 6pm against Czech Republic who are ranked 31st in the World.

Earlier in the day 30th ranked Ukraine take on 40th ranked Portugal at 3:45 p.m.

 

IRELAND FIXTURES: EuroHockey Championship II men (IRELAND 13TH WORLD RANKING) 

 

Sunday July 23rd:  IRELAND V CZECH REPUBLIC (31ST WORLD RANKING) 6:00pm

Tuesday July 25th:  IRELAND V UKRAINE (30TH WORLD RANKING) 7:15pm

Wednesday July 26th IRELAND V PORTUGAL (40TH WORLD RANKING) 7:45pm

 

The current form line in 2023 sees Ireland with four wins and four losses from their eight outings so far this year.

  • Ireland have played Spain (twice) and three game series with Wales and Austria, already in 2023.
  • For the Czech Republic, they have one win, one draw and one loss from their three outings so far this year.
  • Ukraine has a record of one loss from their only outing so far this year.
  • Portugal have not played any international games thus far in 2023.

Historically Ireland has a 71% win rate against the Czech Republic and enjoy a 100% win rate against both Ukraine and Portugal in Men’s hockey.

 

QUALIFICATION FOR 2024 OLYMPICS IN PARIS

 

There are two potential spots for Ireland’s men from these Championships, which make a country eligible for the Olympic Qualifiers in January up for grabs.

However, as Great Britain participate in the Olympics (rather than England, Scotland or Wales), should Scotland finish in the top two, the third placed team would qualify for January’s Olympic qualifiers.

These qualifiers will be eight teams in two different locations Spain or Pakistan. Three teams from each qualification pool will qualify for the Olympics.

 

For the women, they will be playing in the top tier EuroHockey Championship in Germany next month. The teams playing in the competition will be Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, England, Scotland, Italy, and Ireland.

What is required here is a top six finish to make the January qualifiers. The winners will automatically qualify for the Olympics and England and Scotland will be represented by Great Britain, so unless Scotland win the tournament (which on current rankings is highly unlikely), Ireland are practically in those qualifiers next January in either Pakistan or Spain. A top three finish in those should see the women through to the Olympics in Paris.

 

THE TOURNAMENT ITSELF

 

The EuroHockey Championship II, Men gets underway on Sunday with a Pool B game between 26th World ranked Italy taking on Turkiye who are ranked 38th at 11:15am

The second game of the day in Pool B will see 20th World ranked Scotland take on 36th World ranked Switzerland at 1:30pm. This is followed by two Pool A games. Ukraine take on Portugal at 3.45pm and then Ireland play Czech Republic in their opening game at 6pm.

On Monday July 24th there are two games in Pool B with Switzerland taking on Turkiye at 3:15 p.m. followed by a second Pool B game between Italy and Scotland at 5:30pm

On Tuesday July 25th there are two games in Pool A with Czech Republic playing Portugal at 5pm followed by Ireland v Ukraine playing at 7.15pm

On Wednesday July 26th there will be two early games in Pool B. Scotland will take on Turkiye at 12.30pm and Switzerland will take on Italy at 2.45pm.

This will be followed up by a Pool A game at 5pm between Czech Republic and Ukraine, followed by Ireland v Portugal at  7:15pm.

 

On Friday July 28th the end of tournament positional play offs begin and semi-finals will take place.

On Saturday July 29th the gold medal match 3rd /4th place final and remaining play offs will take place.

 

As well as the EuroHockey Championship II for our Men’s National team taking place at The National Sports Campus, Abbotstown, there will be a host of other activities taking place during the week.

There will be a Fanzone with fun activities, hockey activities, with food and beverage concessions and merchandise available for sale.

In addition. there will also be an opportunity to see our women’s team in action as they have a number of friendly matches during the week.

 

Ireland Senior Women’s games.

 

Our women’s team continue their preparations for their EuroHockey Championship Tournament taking place in Monchengladbach, Germany from 18-27 August 2023 will be playing a series of warm up games against Italy and Chile and our senior women’s development team will also be in action against the same two countries as well.

 

WOMENS FIXTURES

Saturday 22nd July IRELAND V CHILE, 15:00 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Monday 24th July 20:00 ITALY V CHILE 20:00 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Tuesday 25th July IRELAND V CHILE 14:45 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Wednesday 26th July IRELAND DEVELOPMENT TEAM V ITALY 10:15 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Thursday 27th July IRELAND V CHILE 19:30 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Friday 28th July IRELAND DEVELOPMENT TEAM V ITALY 11:30 Three Rock Rovers Hockey Pitch, Grange Road. 

Saturday 29th July IRELAND V ITALY 09:00 Three Rock Rovers Hockey Pitch, Grange Road

 

 

 

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Ireland Senior Women Squad for The Europeans Announced

Ireland’s Senior Women Head Coach Sean Dancer has announced his squad for the upcoming Europeans which will be held at HockeyPark in Monchengladbach, Germany from 18th-27th of August.

Sean Dancer said on his squad selection:

‘As a group we have made fantastic improvements over the last 12 months on and off the field, and we have high ambitions, knowing the tough challenge of a very competitive European Championship.’

‘This year’s Europeans also doubles as the first step of the Olympic qualification process, adding extra pressure on all those involved. We will need to stay focused on ourselves and playing our attacking style of play.’

On the Goalkeepers Sean said:

‘We are excited to have Ayeisha back with us, after extended time away for her heavy club season. Lizzy Murphy has taken this as an opportunity to play and develop her game further and we are now in a position of having two strong international keepers, leading into this tournament.’

On Caitlin Sherin getting her first International Senior cap:

‘Caitlin has earnt her opportunity to compete at her first major tournament, this will be an exciting time for her and her family.’

The Senior Women will play in a series against Italy and Chile at the end of July and Sean commented:

‘We are looking forward to the opportunity to play Italy and Chile at the end of July, as part of our final preparations. To have good quality games, in Dublin at Abbotstown, is very important. We are extremely grateful to our sponsors and especially Sport Ireland, for making this happen.’

 

Italy / Chile Series + European Selection July 2023

 

20 Player Selection Squad
Selection PLAYER Shirt # Region Position Age CAPS
1 MURPHY, Elizabeth #2 Leinster Goal Keeper 25 20
2 McFERRAN, Ayeisha #1 Ulster Goal Keeper 27 120
3 UPTON, Róisín (VC) #6 Munster Defender 29 103
4 TICE, Elena #12 Leinster Defender 25 136
5 SHERIN, Caitlin #18 Leinster Defender 22 –
6 McAULEY, Sarah #3 Leinster Defender 21 23
7 CURRAN, Ellen #14 Leinster Defender 25 41
8 PERDUE, Caoimhe #15 Munster Defender 23 13
9 McLOUGHLIN, Hannah #10 Leinster Defender 23 40
10 MULLAN, Kathryn (C) #9 Ulster Midfielder 29 220
11 McKEE, Katie #21 Ulster Midfielder 23 8
12 HAWKSHAW, Sarah #8 Leinster Midfielder 27 60
13 CAREY, Michelle #5 Leinster Midfielder 24 24
14 BEGGS, Charlotte #16 Ulster Midfielder 20 13
15 TORRANS, Sarah #11 Leinster Striker 24 47
16 CAREY, Niamh #7 Leinster Striker 24 12
17 CARROLL, Naomi #13 Munster Striker 30 135
18 DUKE, Deirdre #28 Leinster Midfielder 31 162
19 HAMILL, Christina #17 Leinster Midfielder 23 14
20 O’BRIEN, Siofra #25 Leinster Striker 23 6

 

 

 

 

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