4 Nations Tournament Valencia
Ireland 2 (Darling, Sothern)
Netherlands 5 (van der Weerden x3, Pieters, Hertzberger)
Today’s match was a different affair from the last time these two sides met and there was a plethora of milestones to celebrate; David Fitzgerald received his 50thcap as he started in goal, while Kirks Shimmins reached 100 caps and Jonny Bell 150.
Ireland put the Dutch under pressure early into the tie and Mitch Darling got a diving opening goal in the 13thminute following an interception and pinpoint pass from Eugene Magee. Fitzgerald was called into action to save a penalty corner effort and a long ball deflection in quick succession, and within minutes Alan Sothern had doubled the lead. Mink van der Weerden clawed one back on the cusp of half time with a powerful drag flick.
Both sides were cancelling each other out at the start of the second half with no obvious goal scoring chances. But van der Weerden grasped the only real opportunities and fired home 2 high penalty flicks to turn the tables and put his side 3-2 in front going into the final quarter. Ireland started the brighter of the two in the final quarter with Matthew Nelson winning a penalty corner but Shane O’Donoghue’s drag flick drew a great stick save from Pirmin Blaak. There was perhaps a slight gloss put on the scoreline with 2 goals in the final 3 minutes from Terrance Pieters and Jereon Hertzberger while the Green Machine were down to 10 men following a yellow card for Chris Cargo.
Ireland will now meet England in the 3rd/4thplace match on the final day of the 4 Nations tomorrow.
Starting: D Fitzgerald, J Bell (Captain), M Bell, L Madeley, E Magee, K Shimmins, S O’Donoghue, M Darling, M Robson, D Walsh, C Harte
Subs: C Cargo, M Nelson, A Sothern, S Murray, D Harte, P Gleghorne, S Loughrey
4 Nations Tournament Valencia:
29/10 16:30 Ireland 2vs1 England
29/10 18:30 Spain 2vs1 Netherlands
30/10 16:30 Netherlands 2vs1 England
30/10 18:30 Spain 1vs0 Ireland
01/11 16:30 Ireland 1vs7 Netherlands
01/11 18:30 Spain 2vs1 England
03/11 10:00 Spain 3vs0 England
03/11 12:30 Netherlands 5vs2 Ireland
04/11 10:00 Ireland vs England
04/11 12:30 Spain vs Netherlands