Archive for category: General

Week 3 of top hockey was action packed.

Here’s everything you need to know from Week 3:

Wednesday 28th Sept

WOMEN

Monkstown V Old Alex 0-4

Goals (Old Alex: M Power x 2, A Russell, R Heatherington)

Saturday 1st October

MEN

Three Rock Rovers V Glenanne 1-3

Goals (Three Rock Rovers: A Empey; Glenanne: G Shaw, J McCormack, B Cleak)

Cookstown V Pembroke Wanderers 2-2

Goals (Cookstown: C Anderson, M Kerr; Pembroke: E Albers, C Hynes)

YMCA V Annadale 0-0

Monkstown V Instonians 2-0

Goals (Monkstown: L Cole, T Kohlmann;)

This week saw four EYHL  Men’s games as Lisnagarvey competed in the EHL competition in Hamburg. With action both abroad and at home it was an exciting weekend for Men’s hockey. Three Rock Rovers welcomed a strong Glenanne side to Grange Road with the first quarter showing how even the two teams were. Good build up from both sides but no numbers on the scoreline with only one penalty corner for Glenanne coming to nought. Quarter two again was an even showing with Glenanne taking the lead when Gary Shaw fired home from a Sam O Connor pass. But this was a short lived lead with Three Rock Rovers finding the back of the net with a sliding deflection from Ali Empey managing to connect to a ball from James Walker. In quarter three things started to stretch out a bit more with Glenanne retaking the lead with a deflection goal by Jonathan McCormack. Still everything was left to play for in the final quarter until a turnover by Glenanne with a few quick passes led to a counter attack and a Brynn Cleak goal. This scoreline sees Glenanne to the top of the table on goal difference but Three Rock Rover stay close behind.

Pembroke Wanderers travelled up to Cookstown for their round 3 match  which saw both teams leave the pitch with a point each after a showing of some fine hockey skills. Pembroke were the first on the scorecard with Cillian Hynes scoring from a penalty corner in the 11th minute. For the next 34 minutes each team tested the other and there were some excellent moments of neat stickwork and cross field passes but it wasnt until the 45th minute that Cookstown broke through the Pembroke defence with Callum Anderson finding the back of the net. This meant all was left to play for with just over a quarter of playing time left. For the rest of the third quarter the scoreline stood 1-1 making for a big 17.5 minutes in the final quarter and the teams didnt disappoint the spectators. Pembroke taking the lead with a goal from play by Ewout Albers but after a big celebration they didnt hold the lead long when two minutes later Michael Kerr evened the scoreline at 2-2. A draw but a great game of hockey.

YMCA v Annadale was the match in Wesley this weekend and with the tweets by the home club possibly more exciting = than the fixture itself the two teams came away with a point after a 0-0 draw. The middle two quarters of the pitch saw the majority of the action in the first quarter with Annadale having the only bit of pressure but that was well shut down by the YMCA defence. The second quarter saw a YMCA penalty corner saved by the Annadale keeper Benjamin Simms. YMCA took a few chances in this quarter ending with a counter attack as the half time whistle blows but nothing too pressurising on the Annadale defence. So it stood 0-0 at half time. A shot on goal from Annadale kick started the action in the third quarter but it went just wide, YMCA responded well and the ball flashed across the goal with no one managing to get a stick to it for a deflection. And that was the end of the action for the third quarter. The final quarter saw a green card for Annadale and YMCA tried to take advantage of the uneven number with a goal on target but the goalkeeper stood strong and cleared it. Annadale probably had the strongest chance of the match so far with a penalty corner strike saved off the line by Scott Ruttle, then another green card saw the home team down to 10. Some tense moments around a penalty corner saw YMCA go close to 1-0 up but the chances didnt quite get there. Full time score 0-0.

Monkstown as part of their double header weekend faced off against Instonians in Rathdown School. The half time whistle saw the score line remain 0-0 but the second half saw the main action of the game. In the 43rd minute Lee Cole added to his score tally for the season with a goal from a well won Monkstown penalty corner and Theo Kohlmann followed suit with his own penalty corner goal in the 59th minute. Monkstown showing the work on their set pieces pulling off with the three points for the match keeping them in the middle of the table. Two wins from the double header for Monkstown Men and Women saw for a great day of action for the Monkstown supporters.

WOMEN

Catholic Institute V Railway 1-0

Goals (Catholic Institute: M Barrett)

UCD V Pembroke Wanderers 2-0

Goals (UCD: N Carey, E Paul)

Old Alex V Loreto 1-0

Goals (Old Alex: M Power )

Monkstown V Belfast Harlequins 4-0

Goals (Monkstown: O Brady, E Kealy, S Moore, S Twomey)

Monkstown met Old Alex in a midweek fixture on the 28th September with the goals coming in quick succession by the travelling side. Mikayla Power opened the scoring at the start of the second quarter, Monkstown held off the onslaught for rest of the first half but that was when Old Alex got into their stride, with goals scored on the 41st, 51st and 61st minutes by Mikayla Power, Abbie Russell and Robyn Heatherington it was a half of 10 minute plays.

Old Alex then went on to meet a stronger Loreto opposition on Saturday. Starting off strong Mikayla Power scored again this time in the 6th minute from a neat piece of open play, slotting the final shot past goalkeeper Lorna Bateman. Loreto held strong in defence after that with Old Alex trying again and again but not getting past the backline to score that wished for second goal. Tensions started to rise in the third quarter with a flurry of cards on both sides but neither team able to take advantage of the numbers. A settled final quarter didnt see too many chances to change the scoreline and Old Alex took the three points for the weekend.

Monkstown however went on to face Belfast Harlequins and found an opportunity to get some scores on the board. A goal in each of the first two quarters coming from Sara Twomey and Olivia Brady, both from open play, set the tempo for the match. Belfast Harlequins tried to get on the score line but the Monkstown backline didnt bow to the pressure and the third quarter saw the final two goals coming from Monkstown sticks. Emily Kealy in the 47th minute and almost on the whistle Sophie Moore slotted the last goal past the Belfast Harlequins keeper. Monkstown will be feeling more confident after that match going into the fourth round.

Railway Union players travelled down the road to Catholic Institute for their third round match which was a tense affair all around with both teams looking for those winning points to get back into the top half of the table. The first half the two teams spent testing each other trying to find weaknesses in two strong defences. Nothing was given on either side until Catholic Institute struck gold with a Penalty corner in the 47th minute that was successfully put past Railway keeper Riona Norton to give the home team the 1-0 advantage. Now they just needed to hold it and that they managed to do. A very equally matched game, the reverse fixture between these two teams will be one to watch.

UCD ladies welcomed Pembroke Wanderers to the Belfield pitch for what was sure to be a spicy game with both teams on even points. The match started after a minutes silence as a mark of respect to the late Brian Mullins who stood as Director of Sport in UCD over recent years. UCD started off the stronger team with the first goal on the 6th minute with a fantastic strike from Katherine Egan beating keeper Aoife Glennon. A number of penalty corners for UCD marked the first quarter with the Pembroke solid defence seeing off any shots on target. In the second quarter Pembroke came close with a shot from Sally Campbell hitting the top post and a short corner just going wide. Pembroke upped the pressure but the half time whistle saw UCD hold on to their 1-0 lead. Early in the second half UCD’s Niamh Carey scored from open play to make it 2-0 to the home team and that was the scoreline that stood until the full time whistle.

The Draws for the first rounds of the Hockey Ireland Cup Competitions 2022-23 took place today in the Hockey Ireland Office.

The draws have been made for the first three rounds of the Irish Senior Cups, the first two rounds of the Irish Hockey Trophy, Irish Junior Cups and the Women’s Irish Hockey Challenge Competitions all of which start in October.

The fixtures for the Men’s Irish Hockey Challenge will follow shortly.

Irish Hockey Challenge

Irish Hockey Trophy

Irish Junior Cup

Irish Senior Cup

Women’s EuroHockey Championship qualifiers
Ireland 7 (M Carey, N Carroll, K McKee, N Carey, D Duke, R Upton, S Hakwshaw) Turkey 0
Ireland put Turkey to the sword to sign off their ticket to next summer’s EuroHockey Championships in style at the Sport Ireland Campus.

Three goals in the second and third quarter put them out of sight against the world number 33 side, putting them on course for a third successive victory and top spot, doing so without conceding a goal.

Michelle Carey, Naomi Carroll, Katie McKee, Niamh Carey, Deirdre Duke, Róisín Upton and Sarah Hakwshaw all scored in the comprehensive success, adding to earlier wins over Poland and the Czech Republic.

“Delighted; it’s really important we are competing against the best teams in Europe next summer. It is a stepping stone for Paris 2024 and that’s what the past three games are all about,” said Upton following the tournament where she was top scorer and voted player of the tournament.

“This is a new structure in the Europeans and it opens things right up. You are playing different teams you don’t normally get to meet. We dealt with it well, got a good opening win against Poland. We had a tougher game against the Czech Republic who sat very deep and today, we are delighted to put seven on the scoreboard.

“The tournament clean sheet is probably the most pleasing thing. We put a real emphasis this tournament on our defensive effort, shutting out the amount of opportunities we gave at the World Cup.”

The Limerick woman added it was a more than useful exercise for a team still evolving since the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympic cycle in 2021.

“It’s a relatively new group that only came together last April. Getting to play here in Ireland with our family and friends here was amazing for our first time having a tournament here [at the Sport Ireland Campus. Secondly, it has given us a huge opportunity to continue building. We talked a lot about holding the ball, controlling games. We had the opportunity to do that.”

The first quarter saw Ireland knock on the door to no avail with Turkey sitting deep and soaking up continuous pressure. Katie Mullan drew the best from Serpil Turker in the first minute and it started a pattern for the Green Army penning the visitors deep in their own 23-metre zone.

While that was a frustrating phase, they did not have long to wait in the second quarter to break the deadlock. The corner count started to mount and from that avenue, Upton teed up Michelle Carey to deflect in a spectacular first goal.

Two minutes later, the move was almost identical but the personnel changed; Hannah McLoughlin swept the ball to the p-spot where Carroll was diving in to guide the ball into the net.

McKee continued the brilliant run with her first international goal. It came from a Turkish corner which was blocked and filtered out to Michelle Carey who fired a 70-metre pass to the Pegasus forward behind the last defender. She was initially held up by Turker but recovered the ball to clip home the top.

It could have been even better but for Turker diving brilliantly to block an Upton penalty stroke with her glove.

The goal rush continued into the second half with Niamh Carey wrong-footing the Turkish goalkeeper from mid-circle for the fourth goal. Duke touched in a fifth when Hawkshaw cracked a reverse-stick pass to the back post.

Upton then got her third goal of the tournament with a low penalty corner shot from the left of the D to make it 6-0. Hawkshaw thumped home a cracking shot seven minutes from time to add an extra gloss on the final score sheet.

Earlier in the day, the Czech Republic secured their place in next year’s EuroHockey Championship II thanks to a 1-0 win over Poland on Sunday morning. The only goal came from Magda Smidova when she finished off from close range.

Her side had the big chances in Q1 and Q3, hitting the crossbar and going close a number of time before Poland threw everything into the final quarter. They could not find an equaliser and so faced a nervous wait to see whether they would stay ahead of Turkey and earn the other second tier ticket for 2023.`

Ireland: L Murphy, S McAuley, M Carey, S Hawkshaw, K Mullan, L Tice, N Carroll, C Perdue, D Duke, E Curran
Subs: N Carey, H McLoughlin, S Torrans, C Beggs, K McKee, C Hamill, A McFerran

Turkey: S Turker, K Guzelal, M Aslan, E Sahiner, M Oymak, S Yalcin, T Sahiner, P Kucukkoc, F Gultekin, E Bahcivan, Y Celik
Subs: Z Kendir, E Celik, I Taskiran, F Cigerli, S Kurt, C Korkmaz, S Guzeller

Umpires: R Woodcock (ENG), C Barwood (WAL)

Women’s EuroHockey Championship qualifier results (all at the Sport Ireland Campus)
August 21
Czech Republic 1 (M Smidova) Poland 0
Ireland 7 (M Carey, N Carroll, K McKee, N Carey, D Duke, R Upton, S Hakwshaw) Turkey 0

Standings: 1. Ireland 9pts (+11) 2. Czech Republic 4pts (0) 3. Poland 3pts (-2) 4. Turkey 1pt (-9)

Niamh Carey has returned to the Irish senior women’s squad ahead of the EuroHockey Championships qualifier tournament which will be held at the Sport Ireland Campus from August 18th to 21st.

The UCD striker enjoyed a spectacular start to her international career last October, scoring in her first and second caps in Pisa to help propel Ireland to World Cup qualification.

She subsequently took time out for a college placement in the US which ruled her out of playing in July’s World Cup but she has been back in camp with Sean Dancer’s panel to provide a boost to the line-up for next week’s key qualifiers.

It is the one addition to the squad with all 20 of those who played in Amsterdam available for selection with UCC’s Caoimhe Perdue included who has recovered from a broken bone in her hand sustained against South Africa.

“Niamh Carey has pushed her way back into the team, and it will be exciting to see her and [twin sister] Michelle, back in action connecting with each other on the field,” said coach Sean Dancer of her return.

“We continue to have a good balance of experience and youth, with speed and skill, that will be important for us over the whole field to play the style of play we want.

Ireland take on world number 27 side Poland in their first game next Thursday at 7.30pm to start the four-team round-robin competition from which only the winner will play in Europe’s top tier in 2023.

They will follow up with a tie against the Czech Republic (ranked 23rd) on Saturday, August 20th (1pm) before completing the series against Turkey (33rd) on Sunday, August 21st (1pm).

At 14th in the world, Ireland are the favourites on paper and will be keen to use a strong home advantage to bolster their performances just a month after their 11th place finish at the World Cup.

“The Dublin Europeans is an important tournament for this group and we need to rise to the challenge and expectations of winning next week,” Dancer added.

“The World Cup experience overall was tough but also an excellent opportunity to progress our game. We have worked hard in our review period, and made the adjustments we feel we need.

“Playing important games at home can be a great experience for a team and we are hoping to have a lot of support from the ‘Green Army’ fans as we know they will do.”

To make sure you are part of the action, tickets are available via https://bit.ly/EHCQ_Tkts.

Irish women’s squad for EuroHockey Championship qualifiers (August 18th to 21st at the Sport Ireland Campus)

Ayeisha McFerran (SV Kampong, 118)

Elizabeth Murphy (Loreto, 13)

Róisín Upton (vice-captain, Catholic Institute, 94)

Lena Tice (Old Alex, 127)

Katie Mullan (Ballymoney, 211)

Sarah Hawkshaw (Railway Union, 51)

Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute, 126)

Hannah McLoughlin (UCD, 31)

Sarah McAuley (UCD, 14)

Michelle Carey (UCD, 15)

Charlotte Beggs (Ulster Elks, 5)

Katie McKee (Pegasus, 5)

Ellen Curran (Pembroke, 32)

Christina Hamill (Loreto, 5)

Sarah Torrans (Loreto, 38)

Caoimhe Perdue (UCC, 4)

Deirdre Duke (Old Alex, 159)

Niamh Carey (UCD, 3)

Zara Malseed (Ards, 12)

Síofra O’Brien (Loreto, 1)

Erin Getty (Queen’s, 11)

Holly Micklem (Old Alex, 0)

Ellie McLoughlin (UCD, 0)

Fixture schedule

August 18th: 

Czech Republic v Turkey, 5.15pm

Ireland v Poland, 7.30pm

August 20th: 

Poland v Turkey, 10.45am

Ireland v Czech Republic, 1pm

August 21st: 

Poland v Czech Republic, 10.45am

Ireland v Turkey, 1pm