Ireland were back in action at the Europeans today against Poland where they carried out their duty with a 4-2 win in their second pool match of this tournament. The match opened with Ireland defending a Polish crash attack inside 25 seconds, but Harte in goals reacted well and skipper Jackson won Ireland their first real chance with a penalty corner opportunity. Conor Harte’s ensuing drag effort was charged down well by the Polish first runner to deny Ireland taking the lead. Ireland did not have to wait long to have another penalty corner opportunity and this time the slip from Eugene Magee to Conor Harte enabled him the time to fire his dragflick home for the 1-0 lead on the six minute mark. Just five minutes later the Polish levelled the sides when some confusion in the Irish circle gave Adam Chwalisz the chance to sweep the ball up on the reverse to put it past David Harte in goals. Ireland had chances through Ronan Gormley and Peter Caruth who were both denied by the posts and a couple more penalty corners but it wasn’t until the 27th minute that the Green Machine took the lead once again thanks to Peter Caruth and Mitch Darling combining setting O’Donoghue up to squeeze a reverse stick shot through three Polish defenders making it 2-1. Despite a corner count of 4-3 to Ireland the sides closed out 2-1 to Ireland at half time. Ireland started keenly in the second half securing a penalty corner in the first minute but Shane O’Donoghue’s effort was charged down as was Harte’s subsequent effort. Poland were out to score and were keen to attack going close with a penalty corner effort in the 42nd minute but David Harte in goals got a glove to a good Polish attempt. The Polish secured another couple of set piece plays but Ireland kept the defence solid. Ireland’s next real chance came from a great interchange between Chris Cargo and Eugene Magee, Cargo unlucky to be denied by the post. But the follow up penalty corner gave Ireland the breathing space they were after with a switch left and a Eugene Magee high drag making it 3-1 on 44minutes. Ireland put the game beyond the Polish reach when Michael Watt displayed his pace down the wing firing home from the top right stranding the keeper and making it 4-1 with just five minutes left on the clock. Not content with that Ireland looked to extend their lead but Stuart Loughrey could only find the side net from his diving reverse shot on a tight angle. The Polish however got a late consolation goal in the 69th minute when Adam Chwalisz capitalised off a bouncing ball on the near post. Ireland will now go into their final pool game against England at 10.30 on Wednesday, with a chance of securing a spot in the final four.
Starting XI: David Harte, John Jackson, Ronan Gormley, Chris Cargo, Eugene Magee, Mitch Darling, Kyle Good, Conor Harte, Peter Brown, Stuart Loughrey, Shane O’Donoghue Reserves: Johnny Bell, Michael Watt, Stephen Cole, Peter Caruth, Kirk Shimmins, Bruce McCandless, David Fitzgerald Ireland face England in their final pool game on Wednesday 10.30 Irish Time Wednesday 21st August Ireland v England 11.30 (Local Time) Pool A: Germany (1); Spain (6); Belgium (9) & Czech Republic (21) Full Schedule http://www.trifinanceeurohockey2013.be/index.php?websitestructid=98 Results will be sent out after each game and available on Twitter, Facebook and hockey.ie
Previous match
Ireland’s men lost their opening game against the Dutch 2-1 in the European Hockey Championships taking place in Boom, Belgium yesterday evening.
Ireland’s men proved their ability once again to mix with the world’s best hockey nations in a fine performance against The Netherlands today.
The match was a pacey affair from the off with the Dutch making use of their pace down the flanks but it was the Green Machine that netted the first goal when Chris Cargo secured Ireland the first penalty corner of the match. Shane O’Donoghue stepped up and made no mistake firing home a low drag to the keeper’s right making it unstoppable and giving his side a 1-0 lead.
The match ensued with end to end action both sides keen to attack. Ireland were forced into defending two penalty corners in quick succession the second of which yielded a Dutch equaliser thanks to Van Der Weerden’s drag flick and the half closed out with the sides one a piece.
Ireland opened the second half with a set piece in the 44th with a switch back to Cargo but the goal effort went wide. The Dutch looked certain to take the lead in the 50th but Jonker missed a golden opportunity leaving the sides still level pegging. The Netherlands broke the deadlock with just 5 minutes to go when Kemperman slammed home his famous reverse stick shot after Harte had initially saved Van Den Horst’s effort.
Ireland stayed well in the match chasing the equaliser to the end but the close encounter closed out Ireland 1-2 Netherlands.
Coach Andrew Meredith commented after the match “This was a very positive first up performance against one of the world’s top teams. I thought we showed tremendous character both as a team and individually all over the pitch.”
“For the majority of the game we were very disciplined in the application of our game plan with fatigue becoming a factor towards the last phase of the game, which unfortunately resulted in conceding the late second goal. I was extremely pleased with the younger players’ performance and the leadership and organisation skills showed by the senior members of the group. Despite the result the tournament objectives remain the same and we must now turn our complete focus towards the upcoming difficult and must win game against Poland.” Ireland will play Poland today at 3pm.
Starting XI: D Harte; J Jackson; R Gormley; M Watt; C Cargo; E Magee; B McCandless; K Good; C Harte; P Brown; S O’Donoghue Reserves: J Bell; S Cole; P Caruth; K Shimmins; M Darling; S Loughrey; D Fitzgerald
