Ireland 4 England 3
Ireland got off to a perfect start and took the lead when Troy Chambers scored in the first minute. England managed to exert some pressure and won two consecutive corners but the Irish defence led by Ross Clarke in goal stood firm. The English pressure eventually led to a goal scored by Tom Moorhouse from close range. Despite some good chances for Ireland toward the end of the quarter, the score remained 1-1.
Chambers followed his great start to the first quarter by scoring again in the first minute of the second, latching on to a through ball before slotting it beyond Oliver Smart in the English goal. Ireland defended strongly for the remainder of the half to lead 2-1 at half-time.
In the third quarter, a heavy tackle outside the circle led to a penalty corner which was flicked home by Chambers for his third of the game in the 33rd minute, giving Ireland a 3-1 lead. Ireland won two further corners in the last 5 minutes of the quarter but could not extend their advantage despite England being reduced to 10, when Ellis Robson received a yellow card for a stick challenge.
Ireland’s Conor Quinn received a yellow card in the 3rd minute of the final quarter, followed by a green card for Troy Chambers and Ireland were down to 9. England took full advantage winning a penalty corner, which was deflected home by Tom Moorhouse to make it 3-2. Shortly afterwards, Rory Penrose of England saw yellow after a push on Kevin O’Dea and England substituted Oliver Smart in goal in search of an equaliser. Ireland continued to press and Evan Jennings touched home a driven ball to make it 4-2 to Ireland. Late pressure from England resulted in a penalty corner which was flicked home by Ellis Robson with less than a minute to go. Ireland lost another player when Robert Sweetnam was shown a yellow card for time wasting and England were given one final chance to score but after a goal-mouth scramble, Ireland were eventually given a free out as the final whistle was blown.
In the first game of the day, Spain took an early 2-0 lead against Belgium before the Belgians pulled one back in the 3rd quarter. Spain won a penalty stroke in the final quarter, which was dispatched by Oriol Bozal to make the score at full-time 3-1. Germany and the Netherlands played out a 1-1 with both goals coming in the first half. In the shoot-out for a bonus point, Germany took the spoils with a 3-1 win.
Results:
Spain 3 (Cabre; Amat; Bozal) – Belgium 1 (Van Bavel)
Germany 1 (Sperling) – Netherlands 1 (Visser) (Germany won the penalty shoot-out 3-1)
Ireland (Chambers (3); Jennings) – England (Moorhouse (2); Robson)
Fixtures: Wednesday 18th July
09.00 England v Germany (Girls)
11.00 Netherlands v Belgium (Girls)
13.00 Ireland v Spain (Girls)
15.00 Ireland v Spain (Boys)
17.00 England v Germany (Boys)
19.00 Netherlands v Belgium (Boys)
Photo Credit – Trevor Collins