4 Nations Tournament Valencia

Ireland 2 (Walsh, Darling)

England 1(Taylor)

With 3 places separating the two sides sitting at 7thand 10thin the world this was always likely to be a close encounter. There was nothing to split the two in the opening exchanges and the first quarter saw few real chances at either end. The game came to life a bit more in the second quarter when David Harte was called into action for the first time so smother a pacey English attack. Moments later the Green Machine won their first penalty corner of the fixture but Shane O’Donoghue’s drag flick effort went just wide of George Pinner’s goal. Lee Cole picked up a green card in the 26thminute but the English couldn’t capitalise on their man advantage. Ireland won a penalty stroke in the dying moments of the first half but O’Donoghue’s shot went wide.

The deadlock was broken thanks to a powerful reverse strike from Daragh Walsh inside the opening 3 minutes of the second half. Both teams went down to 10 men with Stuart Loughrey and David Goodfield picking up green cards, but that didn’t stop Mitch Darling from doubling Ireland’s lead with a lovely goal set up by Eugene Magee. 3 penalty corners in quick succession saw England claw a goal back as Luke Taylor found the back of the net. But the men in red couldn’t find an equaliser as an experienced Green Machine side held off the world number 7 side to claim the 2-1 victory.

Starting: D Harte (Captain), J Bell, C Cargo, M Nelson, E Magee, S O’Donoghue, S Murray, M Darling, C Harte, L Cole, S Loughrey

Subs: L Madeley, A Sothern, K Shimmins, D Fitzgerald, D Walsh, J Duncan

4 Nations Tournament Valencia:

29/10 16:30 Ireland 2vs1 England

29/10 18:30 Spain vs Netherlands

30/10 16:30 Netherlands vs England

30/10 18:30 Spain – Ireland

01/11 16:30 Ireland – Netherlands

01/11 18:30 Spain – England

03/11 10:00 1st vs 4th

03/11 12:30 2nd vs 3rd

04/11 10:00 3rd vs 4th

04/11 12:30 Final

Ireland men sealed their qualification for the 2018 World Cup with a backs-to-the-wall epic encounter with New Zealand. The Green Machine emerged 1-0 winners after Alan Sothern’s goal in the 49th minute. This was a monumental effort as injuries meant the Irish bench was reduced to just two players, with all the squad putting in an extra shift.

Ireland has made two previous World Cup appearances, in 1978 and 1990, both times finishing in 12th position. In the past few years however, the Ireland side has made real headway in the rankings and in major tournament performances. In 2015 they qualified via the HWL Semi-Finals for the 2016 Olympics and in the same year they took bronze at the EuroHockey Championships. Alexander Cox’s side now sits at 10 in the world rankings and is a hockey force to be reckoned with.

Dates: November 28th – 16th December 2018

Match Schedule: Click here for the full match schedule (all times listed are local)

November 30th 5pm Australia vs Ireland

December 4th 7pm Ireland vs China

December 7th 7pm Ireland vs England

Venue: Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar India

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased by clicking here

Official Tournament Website: Click Here.

Fan Information: Click Here