Congratulations to the Ireland Men’s Hockey Team who came through a pulsating 2-2 draw with Belgium to make history by reaching the semi-finals of the EuroHockey Championships for the first time.
Going into the final Pool B game, Ireland’s qualification fate was in the balance, as they were level on points with Belgium, but held a better goal difference.
A goal from Shane O’Donoghue in the second quarter settled nerves, but Belgium battled back to level the score at the end of the third quarter.
Craig Fulton’s side survived a cagey final quarter, and will now take their place in the tournament’s semi finals, where they will either face Netherlands or Germany – depending upon today’s later matches.
Speaking on the delight of reaching the semi-final, Alan Sothern said:
“I’m absolutely delighted. We set our objectives at the start of the tournament and that was to get to the semi-finals. Now we are in the semi-finals we want to get to the final.
“This group has been playing together for a long time. We have a lot of experience, and people may underestimate us, but we are happy with that. It plays to our strengths.”
With everything to play for in the final Pool B game, both Belgium and Ireland started at a high intensity.
Belgium began the game on the ascendancy, with Sebastien Dockier skewing the first shot of the game wide, and Alexander Hendrickx being denied by the foot of David Harte in the Irish goal.
Ireland spent the majority of the first quarter penned in their own half, as the Belgian frontline applied a strong press.
The high pressure paid off with the Red Lions earning the first penalty corner of the game, which was fired narrowly wide by Tom Boon.
Only moments later, Jonathan Bruton came close to deflecting a shot past Belgian ‘keeper Vincent Vanasch.
Ireland continued to get closer to the goalmouth at the start of the second quarter, with drag-flick specialist O’Donoghue forcing Vanasch to make a strong save.
The Green Machine took an all-important lead with three minutes remaining in the first half, as Peter Caruth jinked past the Belgium defence before crossing for Shane O’Donoghue (27’) to tap home.
Four minutes into the second half, Belgium found an equaliser as Florent Van Aubel blasted a shot at Harte, before Dockier (34’) slotted in the rebound.
Ireland made a quick-fire reply, as John Jackson (39’) poked home a penalty corner routine after O’Donoghue’s initial drag-flick shot.
A hectic third quarter came to a close with the Red Lions leveling the scores once again, as Van Aubel (40’) slid the ball underneath the Irish ‘keeper.
With Ireland only needing a draw to reach the semi-final stage, Craig Fulton’s side began to adopt a more defensive approach in the fourth quarter, which meant there were few chances at either end.
In the dying moments, Belgium had a number of consecutive penalty corners, but the Ireland defence came through unscathed.
Speaking on the disappointment of crashing out at the group stages, Belgium’s Felix Denayer said:
“We came here to get to the semi-finals, so with this disappointment, we need to set new targets.
“It’s a big disappointment, but I don’t think we played to our best level here.
“Congratulations to Ireland, they did very well and I hope they do well in the semi-finals.”