Ireland Women Take Huge Win at Olympic Qualifiers

IRELAND  8  UKRAINE 0

 

To put this game in context after day one here in Valencia, Spain, Ireland and Belgium were in second and third place in Pool A after the Koreans beat Ukraine 3-0 to lead the standings. So Ireland needed to win this game to challenge successfully for a top two place in the pool. Belgium taking on Korea in their second pool game found themselves in a similar situation.

Ireland started well forcing a long corner in the 3rd minute. Ukraine grew into the game as it wore on and had a number of circle entries. Eventually Ireland took the lead in the nineteenth minute and it came from a long run from deep by captain Katie Mullan who drove into the circle and shot towards goal. Sarah Torrans got a deflection past Fadieieva in the Ukraine goal to give Ireland the lead. Niamh Carey’s diving effort made it 2-0 in the twenty-seventh minute and Ireland led at the half-time break.

The third quarter was very productive for Ireland as Hannah McLaughlin scored from a penalty corner in the thirty-third minute and Deirdre Duke hit a great shot to the net from open play in the thirty-sixth minute to leave Ireland 4-0 at the end of the third quarter.

Ireland continued to find the net in the final quarter. Róisín Upton converted a penalty corner in the forty-seventh minute to make it 5-0. Beth Harper deflected a Hannah McLaughlin effort from a penalty corner in the forty ninth minute to make it 6-0. Sarah Torrans got her second of the match from open play a minute later to make it 7-0. Katie Mullan completed the scoring with a brilliant run and shot to make the final score Ireland 8 Ukraine 0.

Speaking after the match, Ireland head coach Sean Dancer said:

“We respect Ukraine and how they play as a team. It’s very different from what we are used to.”

“Scoring the goals today was very pleasing. It’s great when the conversion rate of scoring opportunities is high. Scoring goals is a key part of the game and it was very pleasing to see a number of different players get on the scoresheet”.

“The build up play for some of the goals was based on good attacking play and that was another pleasing aspect of today’s performance. Our set pieces and penalty corners worked well today too. But conceding zero goals too, is almost as important as scoring goals. We will watch Korea play Belgium and we are focusing now on getting ready for Korea.”

In the later match in Pool A Belgium must beat Korea now to keep their Olympic prospects alive so it’s a three horse race for those two semi-final berths in Pool A after this result for Ireland.

In Pool B Spain beat Great Britain on day two to lead the pool with two wins from two. Canada got back on track with a 3-0 win over Malaysia following their previous 0-2 defeat to Great Britain. Malaysia had their second defeat against Canada having lost 0-7 to Spain on the opening day of Pool B.

 

IRELAND: Liz Murphy (GK), Beth Harper, Róisín Upton, Sarah McAuley, Hannah Mc Loughlin, Sarah Hawkshaw, Katie Mullan (C), Charlotte Beggs, Katie Mc Kee, Naomi Carroll, Deirdre Duke

SUBS USED: Niamh Carey (4 mins), Chloe Watkins (4 mins), Sarah Torrans (5 mins), Michelle Carey (5mins),Ellen Curran ( 4 mins), Elena Neill (4 mins)

 

UKRAINE:  Alina Fadieieva (GK), Yevheniia Moroz, Yevheniia Kernoz, Kateryna Shokalenko, Karyna  Leonova, Anastasia Voievoda, Valeriia Zaitseva, Anastasiia Shyshyna, Kateryna Popova, Anna Tanchenko, Yana Vorushylo (C)

SUBS USED: Tetiana Stepanchenko (GK) (49 mins), Marharyta Mykhailiuk (24 mins), Veronika Movchan (5 mins), Maryna Khilko (7 mins),  Valeriia Rudychenko (7 mins), Valeriia Tyshchenko (9 mins), Veronika Korobkina (24 mins)

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Ireland Men Start Their Olympic Qualifier With A Dominant Win

IRELAND 5  UKRAINE  1

 

Ireland Men began their Olympic qualification Pool A campaign this evening with a game against Ukraine. The two sides had faced each other twice during the European Championships II finals in Dublin last summer so were familiar with each other.

Ireland dominated possession early on but as the game wore on, Ukraine grew into the game. Roman Bludov was the busier of the two goalkeepers as Ireland forced numerous penalty corners. Ireland opened the scoring when Ben Johnson scored from a penalty corner in the twenty fifth minute. Darragh Walsh almost added a second three minutes later. He was the creator of the second goal when it did arrive teeing up Lee Cole to score following some good approach play.

Ukraine’s attacking efforts were rewarded a minute later when they were awarded a penalty corner and drag flicker Viacheslav Paziuk got them on the scoreboard. Ireland went straight up the other end and forced a penalty corner which was the final play of the first half. Ukraine successfully repelled it to leave the half-time score Ireland 2 Ukraine 1.

Lee Cole was yellow carded near the end of the half and a Ukrainian player Miahilo Yasinskyi was green carded. Ukraine started strongly in the third quarter and forced a series of long corners in the thirty ninth minute and again in the forty third minute they had a promising move snuffed out by Ireland. Jeremy Duncan managed to turnover the ball and launched a counter-attack which Bludov blocked. End of third quarter still 2-1.

The fourth quarter was a different story entirely. Ireland broke from defence and Jeremy Duncan and Ben Johnson had an interchange of passes. Ireland were awarded a penalty corner and Ukraine asked for a video referral. The video umpire supported the original decision and Ukraine lost their referral. Lee Cole got his second of the game from the penalty corner to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute.

Jeremy Duncan caps off an historic day when he gets his 100th cap by scoring to make it 4-1 to Ireland. This was his 20th international goal. The victory was sealed when Darragh Walsh made it 5-1 with five minutes remaining.

Speaking after the game Jeremy Duncan said

“It’s a very proud day for my family and myself to play 100th game for my country. It’s always good to score a goal but the 5-1 was the most important thing. We have things to work on ahead of tomorrow’s game against Belgium the #2 ranked team in the world. It’s going to be a tough task, as will be the final group game against Japan. If we can keep a clean sheet against Belgium (as our women did) we’ll be in a very good place.”

Luke Madeley said after the game

“We’re just happy to get the first win on the board. Happy that the front six managed to break down Ukraine in that fourth quarter and get the goals. It’s going to be a huge challenge tomorrow against Belgium. We’ve got good experience in the team and we know we have to put this match tonight behind us and focus on the next one. We know that they (Belgium) are world class players so we have to be on top of our game, otherwise we as a team, will be doing a lot of ball chasing tomorrow.”

Earlier today in group A Belgium enjoyed a big 7-0 win over Japan to top the table after one round of games, this makes it vital that Ireland follow up today’s result with a win in game 3 against Japan and hopefully get a decent result against World Ranked #2 Belgium tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile in Group B Spain and Korea played out a 2-2 draw which puts Spain on four points following their 4-1 win over Austria on day 1. Austria are on three points in second spot in that table following their 2-0 win over Egypt in Sunday afternoon’s match. Korea are in third with 2 points, after today’s draw with Spain and Egypt are in fourth place with one point. Egypt had played out a 4-4 draw on day 1.

 

IRELAND: David Harte, Tim Cross, Shane O’Donoghue, Luke Madeley, John McKee, Matthew Nelson, Peter McKibbin, Sean Murray (C),  Jeremy Duncan, Michael Robson, Nicholas Page

SUBS USED:  Ben Johnson , Lee Cole,  Kyle Marshall, Jonathan Lynch, Darragh Walsh, Sam Hyland

UKRAINE:- Roman Bludov,  Mykhailo Yasinskyi , Viacheslav Paziuk, Dmytro Luppa (C), Vitalii Shevchuk, Maksym Onofriiuk, Bohdan Kovalenko,  Andrii Koshlenko, Olksandr Solomianyi, Oleksandr Boiko, Volodymyr Kaplinskyi

SUBS USED: Bohdan Tovstolytkin (GK), Dmytro Hrubyi,  Iurii Moroz, Oleksii Popov, Volodymyr Zhmereniuk, Volodymy Kostechko, Oleksandr Yasinskyi

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Ireland Women hold Belgium to a draw in Hockey Olympic Qualifier Opener

IRELAND 0 BELGIUM 0

Ireland who are World ranked #13, began their Olympic qualification Pool A campaign with a defiant ‘backs to the wall’ performance against the European Silver medallists from 2023 and World Ranked #4 Belgium.

Charlotte Engelbert forced a penalty corner after only 20 seconds. It was the first of nine such corners awarded against Ireland in the first half. But the Irish defense marshalled by Lena Neill, Hannah McLoughlin and Roisín Upton and backstopped by player of the match Ayeisha McFerren were able to hold out not only in quarter one but quarter’s two and three as well.

Ireland were up against it for most of the first half.  It was scoreless at half-time. McFerren made several saves including a double save from a penalty corner to keep Ireland in the match.

The third quarter saw Ireland gain a fair bit of possession, but they seemed to be unable to carve out too many clear-cut opportunities turning over the ball at times. It wasn’t until the fortieth minute that the first penalty corner for Ireland was awarded but Belgian substitute goalkeeper Elode Picard wasn’t troubled by Chloe Watkins’ effort nor Beth Harper’s attempt on the rebound.

Ireland had made good use of video referrals early on in the game getting two penalty corner awards overturned in the process. Neither side seemed capable of captilising on having an extra player. Belgium had one player green carded in the thirty fourth minute and Ireland had three players green carded at different stages in the second quarter.

The drama didn’t end there. In the final six seconds Belgium looked for a video referral as they claimed the ball hit an Irish foot inside the semi-circle. The video referral was inconclusive so Belgium had to face a free out and lost their video referral. The final blew soon afterwards and the score stood as it had at the first whistle, Ireland 0 Belgium 0.

This point which must be looked at as a bonus at this stage, is an excellent start and must be followed up strongly by a win on Monday morning against Ukraine. Then there will be the final pool match against Japan but a point against the pre-tournament favourites is a very good start indeed but must be followed up on.

Sean Dancer Ireland Head Coach said after the game:

“Belgium dominated the game, particularly the first half and are an excellent team. But we came into it a bit more in the third quarter and created a few chances. Ireland performed better in the second half.”

The final match of the day was the second Pool A game between Korea and Ukraine. Elsewhere in Pool A Great Britain defeated Canada 2-0 and Spain had a comfortable win over Malaysia by 7-0.

IRELAND:  Ayeisha Mc Ferren, Bethany Harper, Elena Neill, Hannah McLoughlin, Katie McKee, Sarah Hawkshaw, Charlotte Beggs, Katie Mullan (c), Deirdre Duke, Naomi Carroll SUBS USED: Niamh Carey (3 mins), Chloe Watkins (3 mins), Sarah McAuley (4 mins), Michelle Carey (7 mins),  Sarah Torrans (7 mins), Róisín Upton (7 mins)

BELGIUM: Aisling D’Hooghe, Justine Rasir, Alix Gerniers, Judith Vandermeiren, Emma Puvrez, Louise Versavel, Vanessa Blockmans, Michelle Struijk, Héléne Brasseur, Stephanie Vandenborre, Charlotte Engelbert, SUBS USED: Elodie Picard (GK) [31 mins], Ambre Ballenghen (3 mins), Barbara Nelen, Camille Belis (4 mins), Lien Hillewaart (5 mins). Abi Raye (5 mins)

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Ireland players in Valencia as Hockey Olympic Qualifiers about to begin.

First game starts Jan 13 as IRL Women take on world ranked #4 Belgium

Ireland’s International Hockey Men and Women are now in Valencia ahead of the start of their Olympic Qualifications. With games starting Jan 13, this is the last chance for both sides to qualify for the Paris Olympics this summer.

 

IRELAND WOMEN’S TEAM

Katie Mullan, Ireland Women’s Captain

 

In the women’s competition, Ireland (World Ranked #13) are drawn in Pool A alongside Belgium (#4) whom they play on January 13th (start time is 5.30PM IRL). Also in the pool are Ukraine (#28) and Korea (#12).

Belgium are the highest ranked team in the pool, currently placed 4th in the world rankings. Their performances over the past year in the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup and the FIH Hockey Pro League have been outstanding, which makes them the favourites to progress out of the pool.

Korea and Ireland are neck-and-neck in the world rankings in12th and 13th positions respectively, and the head-to-head matchup between the two sides might end up being crucial in deciding who qualifies for the semi-finals.

Ukraine’s star has been on the rise in international hockey over the past couple of years and it’ll come as no surprise to see them get the better of their higher ranked opponents and finish in the top-2 positions in Pool A.

A second placed group finish is essential to proceed further and then a further win in the knockout stages either in the semi-final (both finalists qualify automatically for Paris) or a win in the 3rd place play off will be required to get to the Olympic Games themselves in the summer.

The Belgians present a real challenge for the Irish as they are one of the strongest teams in the World who have not already qualified for the Summer Olympic games. Their key players include captain Barbara Mallen, Astrid Bonami, Stephanie Van Den Boore, Charlotte Engelbert and goalkeeper Aisling De Hooghe who has played at two World Cups and FIH Pro League.

 

The matches are available to view on TNT Sports and also online on watch.hockey and for fans based in Northern Ireland BBCNI Sport i-Player will have coverage online.

 

IRELAND MEN’S TEAM

Sean Murray, Ireland Men’s Captain

 

In the men’s competition, Ireland (World Ranked #13) are drawn in Pool A alongside Ukraine (#28), Belgium (#2) and Japan (#15). They open their campaign against Ukraine on Sunday January 14th at 7:45pm IRL.

Ukraine are familiar opposition to Ireland as they played each other twice at last summer’s B Europeans, facing each other once in the pool stage and also in the finals at the Sport Ireland Campus last July. On both occasions Ireland won.

As we know from that tournament, Ukraine tend to start tournaments slowly and improve as the tournament wears on. So, to have Ukraine in the first match is probably ideal.

A second placed group finish is essential to proceed further and then a further win in the knockout stages either in the semi-final (both finalists qualify automatically for Paris) or a win in the 3rd place play off will be required to get to the Olympic Games themselves in the summer.

Ukraine’s standout players from the B European’s last summer included drag flicker Viacheslav Paziuk, Andrii Koshelenko, Maksym Onofiiuk, Oleksii Popov, and Oleksandr Boiko (who scored in the final match against Ireland.)

 

The matches are available to view on TNT Sports and also online on watch.hockey and for fans based in Northern Ireland BBCNI Sport i -Player will have coverage online.

 

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Last home training session with the Ireland Men’s Hockey squad ahead of Olympic Qualifiers

Following the announcement of the 18-player squad in December, the Ireland Men’s Hockey team had their last training session yesterday evening at Lisnagarvey Hockey Club in Hillsborough, Co. Down before they leave for Spain this Sunday ahead of their Olympic Qualification tournament later this month.

The tournament which will take place between January 13th and 21st will be in Valencia, Spain and is the final opportunity for nations to reach the Summer Olympic Hockey Tournament in Paris. Eight nations from all over the world have reached this qualification tournament in Valencia. They will be joined in Valencia by the Ireland Women’s Hockey team who are also seeking qualification to this summer’s Paris Olympics.

Ireland (World Ranked #13) are drawn in Pool A alongside Ukraine (#29) whom they open their campaign against on Sunday January 14 at 7:45p.m. local time. Next up is Belgium (#2) whom they play on Monday January 15 with a 6:15 p.m. start, and they finish the Pool A phase against Japan (#15) on Wednesday January 17 with a 6:15p.m. start.

In Pool B, hosts Spain (#8), are in with Korea(#10), Austria (#19), and Egypt (#20). There are only 3 qualification places available from this tournament, so it is essential Ireland finish second at least in the pool and preferably win their semi-final to ensure a spot in Paris next summer. A place could still be secured by the losing semi-finalists were they to win the 3rd place play-off.

QUOTES FROM PLAYERS:

SEAN MURRAY (Captain) 

“With the other three teams in Pool A, Ukraine, Belgium and Japan, Belgium are probably the tournament favourites. Japan we don’t know too much about. We’d be confident we can get the group off to a good start with a win against Ukraine. We will treat the Japan game as a must-win game. We know that they are experienced. If we do manage to qualify for the Olympic games, we then have 10 days at home before we head to India for the first of our FIH Pro League series of games. Those games will be ideal preparation for the challenge of playing at the summer Olympics if we manage to get one of the three spots on offer in Valencia. But the first thing is to get through this qualification tournament and get one of the three places available.”

 

JOHNNY MCKEE (Player) 

“If we had been able to write the schedule of matches for ourselves in Pool A, that is the pattern we would have chosen. Ukraine improve as the tournament wears on so it’s best to play them first. We’ll be asking the players who play in Belgium (or who have previously played there), with and against those Belgian internationals for any information on the opponents. We are primarily concentrating on getting out of the group. You then have to win one of your remaining two games to get to Paris. Either win the semi-final or the third place play off if you lose the semi-final. The priority is the first game against Ukraine. We played them in the European B Championships last summer in Dublin. We won’t underestimate them in any way. Japan have had a bit of funding since they hosted the last Olympics and they have been progressing so none of these games will be easy.”

 

MARK TUMILTY (Head Coach) 

On the 1st game v Ukraine:

“I’m pleased with the way that the fixtures worked out for ourselves. We played Ukraine twice in the B Europeans last summer in Dublin and they were much more difficult opponents in the final than they had been during the Pool game so it’s best to get them early as they grow into tournaments. Hopefully we can get a bit of confidence from that going into our next game against Belgium.”

On the 2nd  game v Belgium:

“Belgium offer a significant challenge and from our point of view it’s better to have played a game before we face that challenge. They are World Ranked #2 for a reason as they are former Olympic and World Champions. It’s a game I look forward to. We’ll be able to measure our progress over the past 12 months by how we perform against Belgium. Hopefully it sets us up for the Japan game. Given that the game is the last one on the day we go in knowing what we need to do as the other games scheduled on the same day will have been completed.”

On the 3rd game v Japan:

“I think Japan will be a very tough game. They reached the final of the Asian Games recently losing 1-5 to India. Asian teams offer a different type of hockey to what we are used to in Europe. We played them in a friendly tournament in South Africa. Our game against them could come down to how we execute our set plays.”

On trying to make the semi-finals and potential Olympic Qualification:

“I think if you look at the tournament, how it’s setup, Belgium and Spain are most people’s favourites to qualify. Any of the other six nations will feel if they can produce a good week’s hockey, they could secure that 3rd qualification spot for the Olympic Games. We played Spain in a three game series last month. We were competitive in the first two games, and they were by far the better team in the third.

“We have played Austria in the not too distant past and they will present a challenge should they come out of the other pool. Egypt had a good African Nations Cup only losing out to South Africa at the final stage. Korea would be an interesting challenge. It’s definitely a tournament that offers a stiff competition. No route to an Olympics was ever going to be easy, but we are delighted to be travelling to Spain as we were there last month, it is familiar enough for our group of players and it will be within reach for our supporters too.”

On the importance of the FIH Pro League with regard to preparation for future World Cup and Olympic Qualification cycles:

“Should we manage to make the Olympic Games, playing the in the FIH Pro League against the top 8 World Ranked Nations can only be hugely beneficial for our group in terms of preparation for the games themselves and future challenges such as World Cup Qualification for 2026 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.  Every game we play will be against teams with higher World Rankings than ourselves and realistically we cannot look at that as anything other than a massive challenge.”

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No Stones Unturned – Last Home Training Session With The Ireland Women’s Hockey Squad Ahead Of Olympic Qualifiers

 

Dublin, January 3: Following the announcement of the 18-player squad in late December, the Ireland Women’s Hockey team had their last training session today at the Sport Ireland Campus before they leave for Spain this Saturday ahead of their Olympic Qualification tournament later this month.

The tournament, which will take place between January13th and 21st will be in Valencia, Spain and is the final opportunity for nations to reach the Summer Olympic Hockey Tournament in Paris.

Eight nations from all over the world have reached this qualification tournament in Valencia.

Ireland (World Ranked #13) are drawn in Pool A alongside Belgium (World Ranked #  4) whom they play on January 13th (local start time is 5.30 p.m.).

Ukraine (World Ranked #28) whom they play on January 15th (start time12 Noon) and Korea (World Ranked #12) whom they will play on January 16th (start time 6:15 p.m.).

In Pool B hosts Spain (World Ranked #8) are in with Great Britain* (*England are World Ranked #7), Canada (World Ranked #16) and Malaysia (World ranked #18).

There are only 3 qualification places available from this tournament, so it is essential Ireland finish second at least in the pool and preferably win their semi-final to ensure a spot in Paris next summer. A place could still be secured by the losing semi-finalists were they to win the 3rd place play-off.

 

QUOTES FROM PLAYERS:

Chloe Watkins:

“Valencia is a very familiar place. We were there in December most recently, but we have travelled to the venue many times before for warm weather training. If you can prepare as best you can, off the pitch in terms of accommodation, travel and so on, and as we know the venue and the places to stay etc., it’s almost like having the comforts of home. We’re lucky that the tournament is in Valencia as we are comfortable there.”

Katie Mullan [captain]:

“We’re very much focused on ourselves and taking one game at a time. Our eyes are focused on the Belgium opener and it’s going to be a fantastic game. There’s a real good buzz and atmosphere around the team and you are going to see that whenever you watch the team play in the tournament. Sharing learnings experiences from previous tournaments is important for the younger players, but it’s equally important for the older players to feed off the freshness and excitement that the younger girls bring. I think the blend is something very special and it stands to you in crucial moments. We left no stone unturned; our preparation has been second to none.”

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