Ireland played their fourth match in front of a sell out crowd tonight at the Electric Ireland FIH Road To London tournament.
Ireland were quick off the mark opening the scoring in the 6th minute thanks to marksman’s Timmy Cockram’s trademark drag flick. But, despite dominating play throughout the half Ireland failed to convert and saw three more penalty corners go astray.
Ireland came out with a much more energetic performance in the second half and just two minutes in Cockram was lining up once again with a drag effort which was just wide.
Eight minutes in Electric Ireland man of the match Michael Watt doubled Ireland’s lead when Watt weaved his way across the top of the ‘d’ to find space to nip away a powerful reverse stick shot on the 43rd minute. Ireland created many other chances a couple coming from an impressive Chris Cargo and Ian Sloan but it was Michael Watt who was on target once again when Cockram picked out Jermyn who slipped it through to Watt for a close range shot and 3-0 lead.
Ireland continued to dominate in a match that saw keeper David Harte only called into action once towards the end but Ireland finished up with another 3 points, knowing that a draw against Malaysia on Saturday will be enough to secure a spot in the final of the Electric Ireland FIH Road to London final.
Ireland 3 (1) Timmy Cockram 6th minute pc; Mikie Watt 43rd & 54m (op)
Chile 0 (0)
Starting XI David Harte (GK); John Jackson; Geoff McCabe; Ronan Gormley; Michael Watt; Eugene Magee; Michael Darling; Timmy Cockram; David Ames; Paul Gleghorne; Stuart Loughrey.
Reserves (all used): Chris Cargo; John Jermyn; Peter Caruth; Andy McConnell; Ian Sloan;
Picture by Sportsfile
Malaysia 2, Korea 3 Match report provided by the FIH
Korea took a very important step to securing its spot in Sundays final at the Electric Ireland FIH Road to London tournament with a 3-2 win against Malaysia. It would now take an incredible string of results for Korea to miss out on Sundays final as the last slot will basically come down to the winner of the Ireland-Malaysia game on Saturday.
Jong Hyun Jangs short corner goal with three minutes left secured the win for the Koreans after an unlikely comeback from Malaysia left the Koreans scrambling in the final minutes to earn the important victory.
Korea took a 1-0 lead five minutes into action when Hyo Sik You tapped in the ball after Malaysia failed to clear the ball after a Penalty Corner. The slim 1-0 lead stood through the first half, despite Malaysia serving more than 20 minutes of suspensions.
Korea came storming out in the second half and wasted no time doubling the lead when You struck for his second of the game. It seemed the Koreas were well on their way to victory when Malaysias Hanifi Mas took advantage of a turnover and popped in the 2-1 goal in the 55th minute. That was all it took for the momentum to shift to Malaysias advantage as just two minutes later the equalizer came when Tengku put in a deflection on a short corner.
It looked the game was destined to end in a draw when Korea was awarded the penalty corner late in the game, setting up Jangs heroics.
Koreas last game of the round robin is against Russia, while Malaysia has its most important game of the event against Ireland.
Russia 2, Ukraine 0 Match report provided by the FIH
Russia won its second game with a 2-0 decision against the Ukraine at the Electric Ireland FIH Road to London Tournament, putting itself in position to potentially vie for the bronze medal on the final day.
It was a relatively low key game between the two games that are out of contention for a ticket to London. Nevertheless, Russia continues to look stronger with each outing at the event, while winless Ukraine is looking run down.
Yaroslav Loginov netted a goal the first half and Aleksander Patonov tipped in the insurance goal in the waning minutes of regulation to seal the 2-0 win. Although it was a one-goal affair for much of the game, Ukraine rarely threatened the Russian net in the one-sided game.
Russia has a tough game on Saturday against top-seeded Korea, but it looks like regardless of the outcome of that game, the Russians should be playing for bronze on Sunday, while Ukraine is locked into the 5th-place game no matter how they fare against Chile on Saturday.
