Archive for category: Whats new

** All of Ireland’s EuroHockey Championship II games will be live streamed on www.eurohockeytv.org

Twenty-two months on, Irish men’s head coach Mark Tumilty is excited to finally hit the turf on Sunday night with a first capped fixture since November 2019.

The Green Machine face hosts Poland at 7pm (Irish time) on day one of the EuroHockey Championship II in Gniezno with a new look panel with six players set to make their debut.

Among them is Kevin O’Dea who was called into the main panel earlier this week with Jonny Lynch having to step out at short notice. It means the Cork man – who completed his Leaving Cert earlier this summer – will become the first Munster player to make his debut since Julian Dale in 2016.

He is joined in the line-up by fellow uncapped players James Milliken, Kyle Marshall, Ben Nelson, Ian Stewart and Mark McNellis and coach Tumilty is excited to see how they will front up.

“With Covid, it has been a strange 16 to 18 months but very enjoyable and that’s down to the players,” he said.

“To get guys capped, to get guys into competitive international hockey is why we have trained and worked so hard. It’s been a long time coming around and obviously we have got the first chance to get out there since those Canada games. I’d like to get that out the road and move on!”

This summer, Ireland have won two uncapped series against Scotland and also have beaten a Great Britain development panel four times, most recently 3-0, 5-3 and 5-2 last weekend at Comber Road.

Now, formalities begin in earnest. The first target at this event is a top five finish from the eight-team competition which would bring a spot at October’s World Cup qualifiers. A strong performance will also boost world ranking points and offer better draw for those qualifiers and next summer’s European Championship qualifiers.

Kevin O’Dea in action against the GB Elite Development squad. Picture: Adrian Boehm

But, while Ireland are the highest ranked side in Poland at 14^th in the world, that status is likely to count for little with very few of the contenders in Poland playing many games in the Covid-19 environment.

“Even from our own performances, we don’t have a lot of video so it is hard to evaluate our own level. Younger players coming into these tournaments, some will excel, some may struggle but we accept that and it is all part of what this group has to go through.

“Poland will be in the same bracket, Scotland have new faces… in general, all the teams have different faces and not many will have played many games in the last two years.”

After the Polish game, Ireland will meet Italy and then Croatia, the latter being the first ever meeting between the sides. Austria, Scotland, Switzerland and Ukraine await in the classification matches.

“We have been lucky enough to get some footage of the Polish games. 8pm, Sunday night, no doubt it will be a difficult opening game. I’ve coached against their club sides before and they always have good basics. Italy is a bit of an unknown; they had a very good World League out in Malaysia, beating China and unfortunate to go out against Canada. Croatia are an unknown.

“Most of all, I would be encouraging us to play. We need to go away from the belief simply in hard work and defence. For me, that should be a given. I would like us to play more through the midfield, a shape to allow us to express ourselves and play a more attacking style.

“That’s how I like to play and hopefully people have seen that in teams I have been involved with before. It will take time to get it fully embedded but hopefully we see it over the longer term.

“My goal is for us to consistently try and qualify for the larger tournaments and this is a small step on that road. The objective is to finish in the top five and stay in the World Cup qualification process but there are other goals in relation to our ranking for those qualifiers and also for next summer’s Euro qualifiers. To me, the focus is on the process. If we can do that, we should be grand.”

Ireland squad for EuroHockey Championship II, August 15-21; Gniezno, Poland

Women’s Olympic Games – Pool A
Ireland 0 India 1 (Navneet Kaur)
Ireland’s quarter-final hopes will go down to the wire as Navneet Kaur’s 57th minute winning goal denied the Green Army what would have been a crucial point at the Oi Stadium.

The deflection from Rani Rampal’s reverse-stick cross finally broke the Irish defences as India eventually took advantage of their large volume of control on the game.

Sean Dancer’s side defended heroically with Ayeisha McFerran producing another slew of brilliant saves. But just as it looked like a vital draw was on the cards, India nicked their winner.

It means Ireland remain in fourth place on three points in the chase for the fourth quarter-final berth, just ahead of India on goal difference. India face bottom side South Africa while Ireland conclude their group against reigning champions Great Britain (12.45pm, Irish time).

The tie was initially delayed for an hour due to a torrential downpour which left the pitch flooded earlier in the day but the camp was in no mood to look to that as a mitigating factor.

“There’s no excuses for it,” said assistant coach Gareth Grundie. “We weren’t at it. They put us on the back foot early and we didn’t really get back into it.

TOKYO – Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Ireland v India (Pool A)
Photo: Ayeisha McFerran and LALREMSIAM.
COPYRIGHT WORLDSPORTPICS FRANK UIJLENBROEK

“Disappointing to concede with so little time left but, on the balance of play, we didn’t deserve it. We weren’t good enough today. Ayeisha was good; our penalty corner defence was good but you can’t go through 60 minutes, give away that much and expect to get a result. We have to accept that, pick ourselves up and go again tomorrow.”

Deirdre Duke – who played her 150th cap – concurred: “That was a game that we needed to win and we didn’t so that’s my overwhelming feeling. Quick turnaround tomorrow. Depending on other results now, that quarter final spot is still up for grabs, so we’re going to have to park this pretty quick and get ourselves up for a big one tomorrow.

“We win as a team and we lose as a team. We are going to have to regroup and take a look at ourselves individually but it is always a collective effort and we always rally together.”

It was a shaky start with Ireland penned back for long periods of the first quarter as the Indians – gunning for revenge for their 2018 World Cup quarter-final elimination – burst into life from the start.

Oustanding penalty corner running from the likes of Sarah Torrans and Katie Mullan charged down the majority of chances from the set piece. Navneet Kaur and Neha both tested Ayeisha McFerran’s pads from play while the Green Army’s big moment was a break-out which ended with Deirdre Duke – in her 150th cap – seeing her strike well blocked.

Quarter two saw Ireland grasp a measure of control, picking up a couple of corners and Anna O’Flanagan’s bullet of a shot was excellent padded away by Savita.

A sequence of five more India corners closed out the first half but with no tangible benefit on the scoreboard as McFerran and Róisín Upton batted away the chances.

And they carried that flow of corners into the second half. Navneet Kaur contrived to miss two huge chances, one from their 13th corner when she swept into the outer boarding of the goal, the next a deflection from Lalremsiami’s clever under the arm pass.

TOKYO – Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Ireland v India (Pool A)
Photo: Irish line up.
COPYRIGHT WORLDSPORTPICS FRANK UIJLENBROEK

As time wore on, with Nicci Daly getting more and more onto the ball, Ireland carved out more meaningful chances. Again, O’Flanagan’s rising shot was saved by Savita and, with five minutes to go, the pair showed down again, the goalkeeper again doing enough to palm out of reach of the rebounding Duke.

The game was becoming more and more open, though, and India profited from the extra space. Rani was found in the right corner and she worked it back to a nice angle to deliver the killer pass for Navneet to touch home the key touch.

Ireland: A McFerran, S McAuley, H McLoughlin, R Upton, L Tice, C Watkins, K Mullan, A O’Flanagan, S Hawkshaw, D Duke, S Torrans
Subs: S McCay, H Matthews, L Holden, N Carroll, N Daly

India: Savita, Navjot Kaur, G Kaur, D G Ekka, Monika, Nisha, V Katariya, Udita, Navneet Kaur, Rani, Neha
Subs: S Devi, N Pradhan, Lalremsiami, S Pukhrambam, S Tete

Umpires: A Rostron (RSA), A Neumann (AUS)

Women’s Olympic Games
Ireland 2 (L Tice, H McLoughlin) Germany 4 (L Altenburg 2, C Pieper, F Hauke)
Ireland produced a big second half comeback but were just held at bay by Germany, setting up a showdown on Friday with India where a victory would likely bring a quarter-final spot.

In a match packed full of incident, Germany – recently installed at second in the world – led 3-0 early in the second courtesy of a double from Lisa Altenburg and one from Cecile Pieper.

But two corner strikes from Lena Tice and Hannah McLoughlin had the Green Army right back in the mix going into the closing stages before a contentious Francisca Hauke goal settled the tie.

“Games against Germany are always quite physical and they’re quite fun too, so I think we enjoyed that game,” Chloe Watkins reflected.

“I think 4-2 is probably not really a fair reflection, we probably deserved a point if I’m honest. One or two things didn’t go our way but I think we played really well, we came up to it, they’re world number 3 and I think it was a really good battle, we matched them in a lot of areas.”

“We could have rolled over in the fourth quarter and let them come in but we didn’t. We fought hard and we knew goal difference is really important. They were really good goals, really well worked and it just showed our fighting spirit to give us confidence going into the next game.”

Germany went in front in the 10th minute in brilliant fashion. Anne Schröder wriggled out of danger and then lifted a long ball into the path of Lisa Altenburg about 40 metres from goal with open space to attack. She threw it out onto her backhand and shot early by the out-stretched boot of Ayeisha McFerran.

The Green Army responded well, drawing a couple of penalty corners, the latter of which wreaked havoc when Róisín Upton’s drag-flick half-saved by Julia Sonntag; Hannah Matthews’ batted it back into the danger zone but the German defence rallied well.

The lead was double in the 20th minute when Kira Horn cracked in an inviting cross which Cecile Pieper got in front of her marker and applied a deft finish.

It remained that way into the second half which opened with an exchange of cards, Amelie Wortmann first to depart on a green, Anna O’Flanagan following her for a harsh 10-minute yellow when she was deemed to have gone to ground dangerously.

Germany initially capitalised from the player advantage, earning a stroke from a video review when McLoughlin’s foot was deemed to have stopped the ball en route to goal.

Charlotte Stapenhorst was the only German player to call for the review, her team mates actively telling her not to bother but it proved a wise decision in the end. Altenburg converted the stroke.

Ireland rallied, though, and were buoyed when Tice got them on the board from a penalty corner sweep with 18 minutes to go. It set up a rousing closing quarter in which Sarah Hawkshaw’s mazy run, a Zara Malseed snap-shot and a series of penalty corners came.

And Hannah McLoughlin arrowed in her first international goal from an accurate corner sweep, pegging it back to 3-2 with 10 minutes still to play.

The result was ultimately settled, though, when Pieper and Altenburg combined to get the ball into the path of Franzisca Hauke who flicked home. Ireland called for video where it looked like McFerran was impeded but the decision again went against the Green Army and the goal stood.

There was still time for Malseed to have a goal disallowed for back stick in the dying moments. Nonetheless, there was plenty to take from the tie for Ireland against the European silver medalists to carry into the key tie with India.

Ireland sit fourth in the group with two games to go with four teams advancing to the quarter-finals. India fell 4-1 to Great Britain to leave them with three losses on their record and targeting the Irish game as one they need to win to keep their tournament hopes alive.

Hannah McLoughlin's precise strike got Ireland back into the game at 3-2, but Germany would get a fourth to secure victory#olympics #tokyo2020 #RTESport
📺 Watch live – https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ
📱 Updates – https://t.co/Umx3jdaCj3 pic.twitter.com/Hk0mERAHg3

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 28, 2021

“India have strong elimination skills, the ability to crash the ball [direct] is something they are well known for,” is coach Sean Dancer’s assessment of that encounter. “Understanding their structure but also willing to front up well and I think we match up nicely against them. We will try and get on the front foot and punish them any way we can.

“We knew the Dutch and German games would be difficult and probably take care of themselves. I suppose the hard work starts now – we always knew India and GB would be where the tournament gets really interesting and we have to step up and is the main challenge.”

Ireland: A McFerran, S McAuley, H McLoughlin, R Upton, L Tice, C Watkins, K Mullan, A O’Flanagan, S Hawkshaw, D Duke, Z Malseed
Subs: S McCay, H Matthews, L Holden, M Carey, N Daly

Germany: J Sonntag, K Horn, A Wortmann, S Oruz, A Schröder, L Altenburg, F Hauke, C Pieper, P Maertens, V Huse
Subs: C Stapenhorst, S Zimmerman, P Heinz, J Fleschutz, H Granitzki

Umpires: S Wilson (GBR), M Joubert (RSA)

Women’s Olympic Hockey – Pool A
Ireland 0 Netherlands 4 (F Albers, M Pheninckx, L Leurink, F Matla)
A late flurry of goals saw world number one side the Netherlands eventually break Ireland down and win 4-0 at the Oi Stadium on day two of the women’s Olympic hockey tournament.

Felice Albers had given the Dutch a strong start but the Green Army – inspired by an Ayeisha McFerran masterclass – kept the Oranje raiders out for the guts of 40 minutes. But a final quarter barrage from Malou Pheninckx, Laurien Leurink and Frédérique Matla saw the Dutch ease home.

In so doing, they matched June’s EuroHockey Championship scoreline, extending their winning streak over Ireland to 30 games dating back to 1963.

“Unfortunately today just wasn’t quite our day,” said the immaculate McFerran. “We dug in well and I’m really proud of the defensive effort everyone put in. It was a team effort out there but that’s the Dutch for you. They’re just quite good, aren’t they?

“There’s several things we have to take and learn from it. We can’t just brush it under the carpet, but we have to move on.”

On whether she has ever made more than the 14 saves she made against Netherlands on Monday, she added: “Not at international level anyway. That’s the thing with playing them, they’re just going to keep coming, they don’t stop and you just have to be ready for whatever comes your way.

“Tough day at the office, for sure. I’m ready for a wee nap anyway now.

“As tough as it is to say, ‘yeah let’s have fun’, going in and knowing you’re going to face them, you have to keep breathing and keep being ready for the next shot. You can’t dwell on what’s coming or what’s just happened. So it’s one shot or one action at a time.”

Pre-match, skipper Katie Mullan was honoured for her 200th international cap, becoming the eighth Irish woman to reach that milestone. Michelle Carey came into the line-up with Nicci Daly rested.

Early on, there was a familiar feeling when Albers deftly finished off a flowing Dutch move in the eighth minute, a sleight of hand to nick the ball away from McFerran and slot home after Malou Pheninckx picked her out on the right of the D.

The Irish goalkeeper had already shown her steel in the first few minutes, swatting away efforts from Lidewij Welten and Laura Nunnink while Sarah McAuley and Lena Tice scooped efforts off the goal line.

McFerran’s pick of the bunch was a diving stick-stop from Frédérique Matla’s ripper of a drag-flick, tipping it around the post with a measure of disdain.

The attacks came in waves but the Green Army were gritty and resolute, keeping the Oranje scoreless for the guts of 40 minutes. Maria Verschoor did have it in the net but an umpire’s referral from Xiaoying Liu ruled that out for a prior foot, adding to their frustrations.

That encompassed seven penalty corners which were well dealt with but the rearguard action was eventually breached in the 49th minute when Caia van Maasakker slammed a shot onto the inside of the post.

It fell kindly for Pheninckx and she just about got by her SV Kampong club mate, the diving McFerran almost eating up the ground to keep out a relatively simple chance.

Within a minute, the third goal arrived as Xan de Waard stormed through from the right channel and her offload dropped into the path of Laurien Leurink who flicked in on her backhand.

And the scoreline was complete in fortuitous fashion as Matla shanked her drag-flick so much that it wrong-footed the Irish defence all ends up and dribbled down the middle.

It leaves Ireland with three points from two games ahead of Wednesday morning’s date with Germany (4.15am, Irish time)

Ireland: A McFerran, S McAuley, H McLoughlin, R Upton, L Tice, C Watkins, K Mullan, A O’Flanagan, D Duke, N Carroll
Subs: S McCay, H Matthews, L Holden, M Carey, S Torrans

Netherlands: J Koning, S Koolen, M Pheninckx, X de Waard, F Albers, L Welten, C van Maasakker, F Matla, L Stam, M van Geffen, E de Goede
Subs: L Leurink, M Keetels, M Verschoor, P Sanders, L Nunnink

Umpires: X Liu (CHN), M Meister (GER