Archive for category: General

IRL Men beaten by last minute India goal in game with lots of positives

IRELAND 0  INDIA  1

It was a last-minute goal that did for Ireland in their fourth game of the Bhubaneswar phase of the FIH Pro League on Friday against India. Playing the hosts in front of a crowd of over 20,000 partisan supporters, at the Kalinga Stadium, was going to be challenging at the best of times but all the more so in the second game in two days at the end of a week of action. Adding extra spice to the game was the fact that India are currently coached by former Ireland coach Craig Fulton whose daughter Milla has been capped at senior level by Ireland at Indoor hockey.  And for most of the match it looked as if both coaches had worked out the perfect system to cancel out their opponents. India seemed well able to counter whatever Ireland threw at them in attack and Ireland defended as if their very lives depended on it.

The opening stages were fairly even, and it was no major surprise that it was scoreless at the end of the first quarter. Ireland and India played out another quarter of cagey strategic chess like hockey and it was even less of a surprise that it was still 0-0 at half-time. In the third quarter  Akashdeep Singh had the ball in the net but Jamie Carr had been taken out by Mandeep. Ireland were awarded a free hit out. Ireland were awarded another free hit out two minutes later after India had the ball in the net again but the goal was ruled out for another infringement.

Ireland managed to force a long corner in the 38^th minute and the effort was saved by Pathak the India staring goalkeeper who had returned to action for the third quarter. India were awarded a penalty corner in the 42^nd minute Amit Rohidas’ shot was saved by Jamie Carr. It was still scoreless at the end of quarter three.

India started the final quarter strongly forcing two penalty corners the first of which Harmanpreet Singh launched goalward and was  denied by Jamie Carr. The second of which sailed over the bar. Ireland were awarded a penalty corner in the 51^st minute. India referred the decision to Video referral and lost their appeal. The penalty corner was saved by goalkeeper Sreejesh Parattu who was back between the posts for the final quarter. Jeremy Duncan was green carded in the 52^nd minute temporarily reducing Ireland to 10 players. During this time Ireland’s best chance fell to Ben Johnson whose attempted pass across the face of the goal was kicked clear by Sreejesh.

Sukhreet Singh was key to all the best of the Indian’s attacking play. Daragh Walsh was equally important to Ireland’s attacking moves but if you had to pick an Irishman for a Player of the Match accolade in this game Jamie Carr was probably the standout performer in the game.

In the 59^th minute just when it appeared Ireland had done enough to hang on for their first point in the FIH PRO League in their history Gujant Singh scored from the edge of the D to break Irish hearts. Ireland did launch an attack in the closing seconds and one of the players appeared to be fouled. Ireland referred the incident to Video referral but there was no reason for the on field umpire decision to be overturned and they lost their referral it finished Ireland 0 India 1.

After the match we spoke to Mark Tumilty the Ireland head coach who said:

“While we defended well, I still thought we created chances in attack. I feel for Jamie Carr tonight, he’s annoyed with that last minute goal. It was one of those unfortunate goals. A good finish by them, it was well hit. We dealt with their attack well and hit them on the counter. In our deep zone we were good. Lots of positives I thought we were good with the ball as well. We were a bit unlucky with some of the decisions which didn’t go our way.” 

“We’ve changed as the week has gone on, what we have proven is that we have grown. We’ve had to play a different shape than we normally play both with and without the ball and that’s proved advantageous to us.” 

“I’d also like to say that Daragh Walsh, he’s proved he can play at the highest level, and that he can impact the game at the highest level.” 

“Very, very pleased with where we are now compared to how we started the week. We probably showed too much respect to the Netherlands last Monday and Australia was a tough day, we were a bit off it against them. But the last two games the lads showed they were up for it.” 

“We want to come home from India with some points on the board. We are going in the right direction. We’re up against the best teams in the world, most of whom are full-time professional athletes, but we’ve shown that we can compete at this level. We need to build on that, take a few chances and get our corners firing.”

“We move to Rourkela first thing in the morning so the timing of this game probably wasn’t the best. We train on Sunday have a game on Monday and then two days off before we take on Australia again on Thursday. Looking forward to playing India in their brand-new stadium at Rourkela. The Dutch and Indian ladies played in front of 15,000 fans last week, it’ll be nice to have the experience of playing in front of a crowd that size, be something new for us.”

IRELAND:  Jamie Carr, Luke Madeley, John McKee, Daragh Walsh, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (C), Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Peter Brown, Lee Cole, Nicholas Page SUBS USED:  Matthew Nelson (4 mins), Kevin O’Dea (6 mins), Michael Robson (6 mins), Jonathan Lynch (4 mins), Sam Hyland (6 mins), Ben Johnson (6 mins)

INDIA: Krishan Bahadur PATHAK (GK),  Jarmanpreet SINGH, Abhishek Akashdeep SINGH, Manpreet SINGH, Hardik SINGH, Gurjant  SINGH, Harmanpreet SINGH ( C),  Nilakanta SHARMA, Akashdeep SINGH, Amit ROHIDAS,  SUBS USED:  Sumit (5 mins),  Amir ALI (3 mins),  Raj Kumar PAL (4 mins), Rabichanrdra MOIRANGTHEM (5 mins) Sukhjeet SINGH, Araijeet Singh HUNDAL (4 mins), Sreejesh PARATTU RAVEEN PRAV (GK) (16 MINS)

IRL Men acquit themselves well despite loss to Spain in third game of FIH Pro League

IRELAND 2    SPAIN 4

Ninth placed Ireland took on Eighth placed Spain in their third FIH Pro League pool match in Bhubaneswar, India on Thursday. The two sides had played in the recent Olympic Qualifiers tournament in Valencia where Spain had beaten Ireland in the semi-finals.

Head Coach Mark Tumilty rang the changes restoring the five players to the line-up who were rested on Tuesday. Luke Madeley, Daragh Walsh, John McKee, Sean Murray and Tim Cross sitting out on this occasion. Spain too had several changes from their previous match.

Spain won their first penalty corner after only 2 minutes through Clapes. The resultant effort was saved by Jamie Carr. Long corner for pain was dealt with by the Irish defence. Jamie Carr saved again in the 6th minute. Spain went in front in the 12^th minute when Pere Amat got along the end line and passed to Enrique Gonzalez who opened the scoring firing home from the edge of the semi-circle.

Jeremy Duncan got into the Spanish semi-circle a minute later but only hit the   side netting. Spain led 1-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. Spain forced a couple of early penalty corners at the start of the second quarter. Carr kept them at bay from the first couple of efforts. Spain increased their lead Miralles converted a penalty corner in the 19th minute to score 2-0 to Spain. Ireland won a long corner in the 21st minute McKibbin intercepted a Spanish cross and prevented a goal . Jamie Carr saved from Jordi Boatre from point blank range in the 24th minute.

Ireland got on the scoresheet Jeremy Duncan cut into the circle and passed to Lynch who fed Johson  his cross found Matthew Nelson whose  shot deflected over Calzado in the 25th minute. Spain 2 Ireland 1 .

Font won a penalty corner for Spain in the 27^th minute. Carr saved the penalty corner at the expense of a long corner for Spain. It was 2-1 Spain at the half time break. Jeremy Duncan had a shot blocked in the 34^th minute and Spain launched a counterattack. The umpire   awarded a free hit to Ireland. Spain referred it to the Video Umpire but the video umpire upheld the on-field decision and they lost their referral. Carr saved from Miralles in the 39^th minute but he turned provider for their third goal. In the 41^st minute Marc Miralles went on a mazy run into the Irish circle he teed up Marc Reyne who bundled the ball into the goal at the second attempt to make it 3-1. Jonny Lynch went down the opposite end and shot over the bar.  Ben Johnson was penalised as he was about to shoot and had a free hit awarded against him in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

Ireland were awarded a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter. Lee Cole converted the penalty corner to make it Spain 3 Ireland 2 in the 52^nd minute, just as Ireland went in pursuit of the leveller Spain got the vital goal to put the game beyond reach. Borja Lacalle passed it into the middle of the circle and Enrique Gonzalez first timed it to the back of the net past Jamie Carr to make the score Spain 4 Ireland 2 in the 57^th minute.

Mark Tumilty Ireland Head Coach said:

“We fielded the most experienced team we probably could have today.  We’ve adapted from game 1 to game 2 and again to game 3. We played in a slightly different style today. We hope that the things we have learned from this first round of games will stand to us in the games ahead of us next week and especially tomorrow against India. I will be taking a look at how they get on against Australia. India are going to be a massive challenge for us tomorrow. We have been creating chances we just need to be more clinical in front of goal. The lads acquitted themselves well against Spain and got very close to equalising at 3-2. Conceding that fourth goal when we did was a killer blow.”

IRELAND: Jamie Carr (GK), Shane O’Donoghue, Lee Cole, Jonathan Lynch, Luke Witherow, Peter McKibbin, Peter Brown, Michael Robson (C), Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Duncan, Ben Johnson SUBS USED: Charlie Rowe (4 mins), Kevin O’Dea (8 mins),  Ben Walker (4 mins), Sam Hyland (10 mins), Conor Empey (4 mins), Nicholas Page (4 mins)

SPAIN:  Luiz Calzado (GK), Xavier Gispert, Enriqe Gonzalez, Marc Reyne, Marc Miralles,  Jordi Bonastre, Gerard Clape,  Andrea Rafi, Borja Lacalle, Alvaro Portugal, Rafael Vilallonga,  SUBS USED: Eduard De Ignacio-Simo (3 mins)  Alvaro Iglesias (C) (3 mins), Alejandro Alonso (3 mins),  Pere Amat (3 mins)  Pol Cabre Verdiell (3 mins),  Bruno Font (3 mins), Rafael Revilla (GK) (46 mins)

IRL Men lose to Australia in second FIH Pro League game 

Bhubaneswar – FIH Pro League 2023-24 (M)
Match No.11 Australia v Ireland
Picture : Ireland line up for the national anthem prior to the match

IRELAND  0  AUSTRALIA  5

Ireland took on Australia in Bhubaneswar India in their second ever FIH Pro League match and began well enjoying a share of possession in the opening minutes without carving out any clear cut opportunities. Michael Robson was playing his 150^th match for Ireland in this game and Ben Walker was back in the side having missed out on the Olympic Qualification tournament in Valencia through injury. Both sides exchanged long corners early on without any reward. Australia fielded a relatively inexperienced side on this occasion, and it was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Australia take it up a gear. Australia took the lead through a goal from open play that was deflected past substitute goalkeeper James Milliken by Tom Craig in the 17^th minute. Tim Cross won the first penalty corner of the match for Ireland in the 20^th minute. Shane O’Donoghue’s drag flick was deflected behind for a long corner. Tom Craig had the ball in the net for Australia in the 21^st minute but the Umpire had already blown his whistle for a penalty corner. Jeremy Hayward converted that penalty corner in the 22^nd minute to make it 2-0 to Australia. Tim Cross forced a long corner having taken down an aerial pass near the byline in the 26^th minute and from that corner forced another penalty corner for Ireland. Shane O’Donoghue’s shot went wide to the right. Australia then increased their lead as Flynn Ogilvie went down the right and found Tom Craig his short pass to Beale was deflected to Ky Willott who got his first goal of the game to make it 3-0 in the 28^th minute and that was the score at half time.

Australia had the better of exchanges in the early part of the third quarter. Matt Dawson had the ball in the goal for the Aussies but unfortunately for them, his shot which had originated outside the semi-circle didn’t get the touch inside the semi-circle required for it to count.  James Milliken made a fine stop from Jack Welch in the 39^th minute and it got worse for Ireland in the 43^rd minute when Nathan Ephraums made it 4-0 from open play. Jamie Carr returned to duty between the posts for Ireland at the start of the final quarter and Australia were reduced to 10 players for two minutes when Dan Beale was green carded in the 49^th minute. Ireland managed to win themselves a short corner while the Kookaburras were shorthanded. The penalty corner found Luke Madeley whose initial effort was blocked the ball rebounded to Sean Murray whose shot was saved by Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter.  Ireland had another chance to score a minute later when a deflected effort was heading towards goal when Andrew Charter blocked it. In the 56^th minute Ky Willott made it 5-0. The Irish referred the goal to the video umpire on the grounds of potential danger. She overruled them and awarded the goal and Ireland lost their referral. In the closing seconds Ireland were in the Australian semi-circle but were unable to get that consolation goal it finished Ireland 0 Australia 5.

After the game we spoke to Ireland Head Coach Mark Tumilty:

“It’s a good learning for us, this game. Our basics let us down at times. We looked dangerous in the final third, but we needed to be more clinical in the attacking end of things and more switched on at the back end. You get punished at this level for the slightest errors and when chances come your way you have to be clinical and convert those chances.  

“We’ll rotate the squad as we move through this phase in Bhunaneswar and in Rourkela and the five guys who didn’t feature today will come back into consideration to start on Thursday against Spain. They are familiar opposition we have played them often over the past eighteen months or so including the recent tournament in Valencia, so we know each other’s style of play well.”

IRELAND: Jamie Carr (GK), Luke Madeley, Tim Cross, John McKee, Matthew Nelson, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (C), Michael Robson, Ben Walker, Sam Hyland, Nicholas Page.

SUBS USED:  Daragh Walsh  (6 mins), Jonathan Lynch  (7  mins), Luke Witherow (5 mins), Charlie Rowe (7mins),  Conor Empey (6 mins), Peter McKibbin (7 mins) James Milliken (GK) (6 mins)

AUSTRALIA:  Andrew Charter (GK), Jake Harvie,  Matt Dawson,  Nathan Ephraums, Tim Howard,  Aran Zalewski,  Ky Willott,Flynn Ogilvie, Daniel Beale (C),  Tim Brand,  Jeremy Hayward

SUBS USED: Tom Wickham (3 mins),  Tom Craig (5 mins), Corey Wever  (5 mins), Joshua Beltz (5 mins), Jack Welch (5 mins), Jayden Atkinson (6 mins)

Hockey Ireland Underage Squads Traveling for Match Series against England in Lilleshall

Dublin, February 12: Three Ireland representative squads – Under 16 girls, Under 16 boys and Under 18 boys arrived in Lilleshall today to begin a three-match series against England.

All three teams will have a game each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday against their England counterparts and after the final matches will return straightaway to Ireland on Thursday.

These games which coincide with the school breaks on both sides of the Irish Sea are excellent preparation for what it takes to play international hockey in these respective age brackets.

Mick McKinnon Pathway Manager for Hockey Ireland said ahead of the games:

“It’s a pretty full-on schedule, each team will face three games in three days, and it will be hockey all the way for the duration. There are one or two new coaches who have come in so the players will be getting to know what tactics and styles of play they have in mind going forward.

“We will be on campus in Lilleshall and getting straight down to business as soon as we arrive. Each team has a squad of 20 over here and the coaches will be rotating to ensure each of the players gets some playing time against England. There will be more competitions and they will be back in action during the Easter break with teams going as far afield as Germany, Belgium and Poland. So, offers of sponsorship of all types for these squads are very welcome.”

Full squad lists as follows:

U16 Girls

 Player Name                                        Province                                           School                                                                          Club

U16 Boys

                       Name                                             Club                                                              Province                                                   School

U18 Boys

                        Name                                                           Province                                                        School                                                                             Club

Sweden got things underway on day 2 against Slovakia in the opening game.

SWEDEN 1 SLOVAKIA 4

Nora Thien gave the Swedes a lead in the 13^th minute from open play Sharlota Medikova equalised for Slovakia when she converted a penalty corner in the 19^th minute and her second of the game from open play put Slovakia ahead in the game for the first time in the 32^nd minute. Karolina Vyskochová increased the Slovaks lead converting a penalty corner in the 33^rd minute giving them an extended 3-1 lead going into the closing stages. Barbora Pucherova sealed the win with a fourth for the Slovaks in the final minute and the final score was Sweden 1 Slovakia 4.

LITHUANIA 4 CROATIA 2

Lithuania took on Croatia in the second game of the day . Dovile Kukliene converted a penalty corner in the 6^th minute to make it 2-0 and Viktorija Bogdanova added a third in the 7^th minute to put Slovakia 3-0 ahead. Dovile Kukliene got her second of the match from open play in the 9^th minute to leave Slovakia leading 4-0 and in a seemingly comfortable position. Croatia attempted to claw their way back though and were on the scoreboard in the 12^th minute when Lucija Nizek converted a penalty stroke. Iskra Bedenko’s 23^rd minute goal made it 4-2.

IRELAND 9  PORTUGAL 1

Ireland took on Portugal in their third Pool A match of the EuroHockey Indoor Championship in Galway. Chloe Brown’s converted penalty corner in the 4^th minute gave Ireland the lead. Ireland went further ahead when they were awarded a penalty stroke and Orla Fox made no mistake 2-0 Ireland . Portugal got their first goal of the tournament in the 9^th minute when Ana Nogueira converted a penalty corner to make it 2-1. Milla Fulton added a third for Ireland in the 11th minute  3-1. Sarah Patton scored in the 22^nd minute to make it 4-1. Milla Fulton converted a penalty corner  to make it  in the 24^th minute to get her second of the match to make it 5-1 for Ireland.  Jenny Mc Carlie scored in the 25^th minute to make it 6-1. Ireland were awarded a penalty stroke in 32^nd minute and Orla Fox got her second of the match to make it 7-1.  Ellen Robinson added another goal in the 35^th minute to make it 8-1. Sarah Patton converted a penalty corner in the 40^th minute to make it 9-1.

IRELAND: Kate O’Hora (GK), Laura Graham, Orla Fox,  Chloe Brown ,Jenna McCarlie, Ellen Robinson

SUBS USED: Sarah Patton (4 mins), Mikayla Power, (5 mins), Orla Patton (C) (6 mins), Milla Fulton (4 mins), Orla Macken (6 mins)

LITHUANIA  4 SWEDEN 0

Dovile Kukliene opened the scoring for Lithuania in the 12^th minute from open play. Dovile Kukliene got her second of the game from a penalty corner in the 18^th minute.

Renata Grigiene converted a 25^th minute Penalty stroke  and then Dovile Kukliene in the 36^th minute converted a penalty corner completing her hat-trick. It finished Lithuania 4 Sweden 0.

CROATIA 7  PORTUGAL 2

Croatia took the lead through Petra Hrupec who converted a penalty corner in the 2^nd minute. Sasha Abramovic scored a goal from open play in the 7^th minute to make it 2-0 to Croatia. Dora Jelcic added a goal in the 8^th minute to make it 3-0 to Croatia and Iskra Bedenko made it 4-0 in the 13^th minute.  Ana Nogueira converted a penalty corner in the  15^th minute to get Portugal on the scoresheet. Sasha Abramovic got her second of the game in the 17^th minute to make it 5-1 to Croatia and Dora Jelcic got her second of the game in the 19^th minute to leave Croatia 6-1 ahead. Ana Nogueira added a second goal of the game for her tally to make it 6-2. Monika Vajdic rounded off ther scoring for Croatia in the final minute to leave the score Croatia 7 Portugal 2.

SLOVAKIA 5 IRELAND 5

Ireland’s hopes of winning this competition suffered a hammer blow in the final match of the second day when they were held to a 5-5 draw by Slovakia. Slovakia took an early lead in the 3^rd minute when Martina Surinova scored from open play. Ireland equalised a minute later when Orla Fox tucked away a penalty stroke to make it 1-1. Jenna McCarlie scored again for Ireland in the 12^th minute to make it 2-1. Mikayla Power added another goal to put Ireland 3-1 ahead and Laura Graham scored again in the 19^th minute to leave Ireland 4-1 up at half time. Slovakia stormed back in the second half Karolina Vyskocova scored in the 26^th minute to make it 4-2. Sharlota Medvikova converted a penalty corner in the 28^th minute to make it 4-3 to Ireland. Barbora Pucherova equalised for the Slovaks in the 36^th minute to make it 4-4. Ireland looked to have won the game when Mikayla Power scored in the final minute. Sharlota Medvikova converted a penalty corner just before the end to leave the final score 5-5.

IRELAND: Emma Buckley,  Sarah Patton, Mikayla Power, Chloe Brown, Orla Fox, Milla Fulton

SUBS USED: Ellen Robinson (2 mins), Jenna McCarlie (4 mins),  Laura Graham (4 mins), Orla Patton (c) (5 mins), Orla Macken (6 mins)