Preparations for this summer’s EuroHockey U21 Championships in Spain continue for our Ireland U21 Women’s squad. Last weekend they travelled to Glasgow for a 3 game series against Scotland, the first matches the squad has had the opportunity to play together. The series proved a challenging one with the team returning home with two draws and a loss, but having learned a lot in the process. Keen to continue their development and build on those performances our IRL U21W hosted France, a team who will also be competing in the EHCs this summer. The series, sponsored by Goodbody, took place in Cork with two games being played at The Mardyke, UCC and the final match hosted by Mount Mercy College.
The series was a very successful one. The team built on their performances against Scotland to win all 3 of their games by a margin of two goals:
Game 1: IRL 2 – 0 FRA (Wed, May 29th – The Mardyke, UCC)
Scorers: L. O’Shea, E. Wilson
Game 2: IRL 4 – 2 FRA (Thur, May 30th – The Mardyke, UCC)
Scorers: R. Murphy, L. Cripps, M. Fulton, M. Power
Game 3: IRL 4 – 2 FRA (Fri, May 31st – The Mardyke, UCC)
Scorers: L. O’Shea (X2), R. Murphy, J. McCarthy
Speaking about the series Head Coach Una McCarthy said:
“It was a really beneficial 3 game series against France. A great opportunity to see players develop and grow. Delighted to get the wins, it’s important preparation in the build-up to the EuroHockey U21 Championships.”
Next our IRL U21W travel to Bisham to play a series against England in June followed by the EuroHockey U21 Championships in Terrassa, Spain beginning on July 15th.