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Clean Sweep for Ireland at the EuroHockey Championship II, Men

 

EUROHOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP II FINAL 

IRELAND 5  UKRAINE  2

Ireland won the EuroHockey Championship II title on  Saturday despite trailing at half -time.

Leadership takes many forms. Sometimes the leader inspires the others to do great things, other times they lead by example. Captain Sean Murray took the latter path. Finding his side trailing at half time he scored twice in the fourth quarter, once to equalize and the second to put Ireland in the lead. Further goals from Benjamin Walker and  a Lee Cole penalty stroke sealed a 5-2 victory.

But as in the semi-final win over Scotland, Ireland were better in the second half, in this game against Ukraine too. Ireland took the lead through a penalty corner converted by Shane O’Donoghue in the 7th minute, but as the quarter wore on the opposition came more into the game. Ukraine got an equaliser on 9 minutes from Viacheslav Paziuk’s converted penalty corner to make it 1-1. Oleksandr Boiko gave Ukraine the lead with his converted penalty corner on 12 minutes and it was a lead they held on to right to the end of not only quarter one, but right up to half-time.

The third quarter saw Ireland looking more on the front foot and coming back into the game.

Sean Murray  scored a field goal in the 50th minute to make it 2-2. He got his second of the match in the 51st minute to put Ireland 3-2 ahead. Ireland went further ahead  in the 53rd minute through a Benjamin Walker field goal 4-2 ahead. And finally in the 56th minute Lee Cole converted a late penalty stroke to secure a 5-2 win.

In doing so Lee Cole scored his 9th goal of the tournament to secure the tournament top scorer award. David Harte was voted goalkeeper of the tournament by the coaches and manager of the participating teams. Ireland’s captain Sean Murray was voted player of the tournament and todays player of the match tournament would have gone a long way to helping him in that win. Final score Ireland 5 Czech Republic 2

IRELAND: David Harte (GK), Charlie Rowe, John McKee, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (Capt.), Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Benjamin Walker, Jonathan Lynch , Lee Cole.  SUBS USED: Luke Witherow, Conor Empey, Sam Hyland , Ben Johnson, Nicholas Page;

UKRAINE: Bohdan Tovstolytkin (GK), Viacheslav Paziuk, Mykhailo Yasinskyi, Dmytro Luppa (Capt.), Volodomyr Kaplinskyi, Vitalii Shevchuk, Maksym Onofriiuk, Bohdan Kovalenko, Volodomyr Zhmereniuk, Andrii Koshelenko, Oleksandr Boiko, SUBS USED: Oleksandr Diachenko, Iurii Moroz, Oleksii Popov, Yurii Dzemukh, Volodomyr Kostechko, Oleksandr Yashinskyi;

Clean Sweep: L-R: Lee Cole, Top goalscorer of the Tournament, David Harte, Top Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Sean Murray, Top Player of the Tournament.

Pool C got underway on Friday to try and sort out the positions 5th to 8th in the Euro Hockey Championships II. World Ranking points and seedings for future tournaments on the line it meant that every team involved in the latter two days of this tournament had something at stake in their final games of the week.

3rd and 4th PLACE FINAL  

ITALY  1  SCOTLAND 4

Pool B winners Italy ended up in a Bronze medal match against Pool B runners-up Scotland on Saturday at Sports Campus Ireland. Scotland, coached by Irishman Jonny Caren, were beaten in their semi final 4-1 by Ireland whereas the Italian had lost 4-3 in a shoot out to Ukraine after a 3-3 draw in normal time.  Italy had beaten Scotland in their Pool match and took the lead on this occasion too through a Davide Arioso field goal. Italy led 1-0 at half-time. Fraser Moran equalised for Scotland in the third quarter with a 34th minute field goal and took the lead through one from Jamie Golden on 40 minutes to leave them 2-1 up. Andrew Lochrin added an open play goal on 53 minutes to leave Scotland 3-1 up . Italy having withdrawn their goalkeeper in favour of another attacker, conceded a fourth in the 57th minute when Jamie Golden’s second of the game left them 4-1 up. They soon reversed that and played out the remaining minutes of the game as normal.

Scotland win the bronze medal in the competition . For Italy is the consolation of being the potential replacement in the Olympic qualification group in January should one of the other quaIified nations decide they cannot participate for some reason or other.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC 7 TURKIYE 1

The Czech Republic’s bit to finish 5th in the tournament gained a lot of momentum after their win over Turkiye.  Denis Tomes opened the scoring with an 8th minute goal from open play. 1-0 to the Czechs. Lukas Plochy opened his account with a field goal on 17 minutes to make it 2-0.  He added another one in the 17th minute to leave the score 3-0 to the Czechs.  Captain Adam Uhlir added another from open play to leave the half time score Czech Republic 4 Turkiye 0.

Lukas Plochy completed his hat-trick early in the third quarter to make it 5-0 in the 33rd minute with a goal from open play. The Turks finally got on the scoresheet from a penalty corner in the 35th minute but that was about as good as it would get for them. Adam Uhlir restored his country’s five goal margin from a penalty corner in the 36th minute.   And Lukas Plochy got his fourth of the match  got a field goal to leave the final score Czech Republic 7 Turkiye

Lukas Plochy’s four goal haul in this game against Turkiye put him in contention for the tournament’s top scorer competition.

 

PORTUGAL 6  SWITZERLAND 4

Portugal got their first win in Pool C at a crucial time to clinch 7th position in the tournament, with a 6-4 win over Switzerland at Sports Campus Ireland on Saturday.  Portugal took an early lead when captain David Franco gave them a 1-0 lead converting a 12th minute penalty corner. They increased their lead on 16 minutes when Rodrigo Castro scored a field goal. Yannick Hug’s penalty corner in the 24th minute got the Swiss off the mark but the Portuguese restored their two goal advantage in the 39th minute when Rodrigo Castro scored his second goal of the day.

Boris Stomps cut their lead to one with his 44th minute penalty corner and Tiago Ventosa gave Portugal a 4-2 lead from a field goal on 47th minute.  David Franco’s second penalty corner conversion of the day stretched Portugal’s lead to 5-2 in the 52nd minute. The Swiss responded with a Boris Stomps penalty corner in the 53rd minute to make it 5-3.  Portugal restored their three goal lead when Aidan Fourie scored from open play with five minutes remaining.  The Swiss got their fourth and final consolation goal when Lukas Hengartner converted a final minute penalty corner.

The Pool C final standings now look like this  

5th are the Czech Republic  with 7 points and a goal difference of plus 7

6th are  Switzerland with  4 points and a goal difference of plus 1

7th are  Portugal with 3 points and a goal difference of zero

8th are  Turkiye with 3 points with a goal difference of minus 8

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EuroHockey Championship II Men, Day 4 Match Reports

IRELAND 6 PORTUGAL 2 

Ireland secured the Pool A first place berth and a semi-final against Scotland on Friday evening with a 6-2 win over Portugal. It was a very close affair early on when Ireland raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to an 11th minute Benjamin Walker goal from open play and a converted penalty corner from Lee Cole on 19 minutes. Portugal responded through a David Franco converted penalty corner on 20 minutes to leave Ireland leading 2-1 at half time.

Sam Hyland was suspended for 10 minutes thanks to a 23rd minute yellow card which straddled the two halves and Portugal equalised on 33 minutes through a Rodrigo Rebelo penalty corner just as Ireland were about to revert to 11 players.

Jeremy Duncan restored Ireland’s lead through a field goal on 43 minutes to make it 3-2. Shane O’Donoghue converted a penalty corner on 53rd minute to give Ireland 4-2 lead. Within a minute Conor Empey got another goal from open play to make it 5-2 and a penalty corner in the final minute to secure a 6-2 win for Ireland .

Elsewhere in Pool A  Ukraine secured second place and a semi-final berth against Pool B winners Italy on Friday by beating Czech Republic 5-1. Oleksii Popov gave them the lead from open play on 7 minutes. Andrii Koloshenko converted a penalty corner on 19 minutes to make it 2-0. Viacheslav Paziuk converted a penalty corner on 27 minutes made it 3-0 to Ukraine. Maksym Onofriiuk made it 4-0 on 39 minutes and Bohdan Kovalenko added a fifth a minute later to leave Ukraine leading 5-0.

Denis Tomes scored a penalty corner for Czech Republic to leave the final score 5-1 to Ukraine.

IRELAND: David Harte (GK) ( James Milliken GK 31′), Charlie Rowe, Luke Witherow, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (capt.), Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Benjamin Walker, Sam Hyland, Ben Johnson SUBS: John McKee, Jonathan Lynch, Lee Cole, Conor Empey, Nicholas Page

PORTUGAL: Balthazar Portugal (GK), David Franco, Diogo Rocha, Aidan Fourie, Rodrigo Castro Ivo Moreira, Tiago Ventosa, Rodrigo Rebelo, Afonso Caramalho, Bartolomeu Portugal, José Santos SUBS USED: Helder Goncalves, Tomas Teixera, Simao Pinheiro, Joao Basilia, Santos Ferreira

 

POOL B

SCOTLAND 10 TURKIYE 0 

Struan Walker scored from open play in the second minute to give Scotland a 1-0 lead.

Alan Forsyth added another to make it 2-0 in the 6th minute. And added a third from a penalty stroke in the 21st minute. Struan Walker got his second of the game to make it 4-0 on 23 minutes. Alan Forsyth made it 5-0 a minute later and added a penalty corner for 6-0  in 39th minute. Jamie Golden added a 41st minute penalty corner to make it 7-0. He added two further goals in the 54th minute to make it 9-0. Alan Forsyth scored the final goal of the match on 56 minutes to make it 10-0 and clinch second spot in Pool B.

 

SWITZERLAND 1 ITALY 2  

Italy clinched the Pool B top spot with their third win of the campaign beating Switzerland 2-1.

Marco Moretto gave Italy the lead with a goal from open play in the 12th minute.

A field goal from Felix Dionisi Vici in the 47th minute left the Azzuri leading 2-0.

Loris Grandchamp converted a penalty corner in the 56th minute to give the Swiss a consolation goal it finished 2-1 to Italy.  Italy will face Ukraine in the first  semi -final on Friday afternoon

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EuroHockey Championship II, Men Overview

EuroHockey Championship II, Men

  

Ireland are hosting the Men’s  EuroHockey Championship II at the National Sports Campus, Abbotstown from July 23-29.

Eight teams will compete, divided into two Pools consisting of four countries each.

The participating countries will be Czech Republic, Ukraine, Portugal and Ireland in Pool A

and Scotland, Italy, Turkiye and Switzerland in Pool B .

 

Details regarding tickets can be found on www.hockey.ie

 

Ireland, who are ranked 13th in the World are in Pool A and play their first game on Sunday July 23rd at 6pm against Czech Republic who are ranked 31st in the World.

Earlier in the day 30th ranked Ukraine take on 40th ranked Portugal at 3:45 p.m.

 

IRELAND FIXTURES: EuroHockey Championship II men (IRELAND 13TH WORLD RANKING) 

 

Sunday July 23rd:  IRELAND V CZECH REPUBLIC (31ST WORLD RANKING) 6:00pm

Tuesday July 25th:  IRELAND V UKRAINE (30TH WORLD RANKING) 7:15pm

Wednesday July 26th IRELAND V PORTUGAL (40TH WORLD RANKING) 7:45pm

 

The current form line in 2023 sees Ireland with four wins and four losses from their eight outings so far this year.

  • Ireland have played Spain (twice) and three game series with Wales and Austria, already in 2023.
  • For the Czech Republic, they have one win, one draw and one loss from their three outings so far this year.
  • Ukraine has a record of one loss from their only outing so far this year.
  • Portugal have not played any international games thus far in 2023.

Historically Ireland has a 71% win rate against the Czech Republic and enjoy a 100% win rate against both Ukraine and Portugal in Men’s hockey.

 

QUALIFICATION FOR 2024 OLYMPICS IN PARIS

 

There are two potential spots for Ireland’s men from these Championships, which make a country eligible for the Olympic Qualifiers in January up for grabs.

However, as Great Britain participate in the Olympics (rather than England, Scotland or Wales), should Scotland finish in the top two, the third placed team would qualify for January’s Olympic qualifiers.

These qualifiers will be eight teams in two different locations Spain or Pakistan. Three teams from each qualification pool will qualify for the Olympics.

 

For the women, they will be playing in the top tier EuroHockey Championship in Germany next month. The teams playing in the competition will be Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, England, Scotland, Italy, and Ireland.

What is required here is a top six finish to make the January qualifiers. The winners will automatically qualify for the Olympics and England and Scotland will be represented by Great Britain, so unless Scotland win the tournament (which on current rankings is highly unlikely), Ireland are practically in those qualifiers next January in either Pakistan or Spain. A top three finish in those should see the women through to the Olympics in Paris.

 

THE TOURNAMENT ITSELF

 

The EuroHockey Championship II, Men gets underway on Sunday with a Pool B game between 26th World ranked Italy taking on Turkiye who are ranked 38th at 11:15am

The second game of the day in Pool B will see 20th World ranked Scotland take on 36th World ranked Switzerland at 1:30pm. This is followed by two Pool A games. Ukraine take on Portugal at 3.45pm and then Ireland play Czech Republic in their opening game at 6pm.

On Monday July 24th there are two games in Pool B with Switzerland taking on Turkiye at 3:15 p.m. followed by a second Pool B game between Italy and Scotland at 5:30pm

On Tuesday July 25th there are two games in Pool A with Czech Republic playing Portugal at 5pm followed by Ireland v Ukraine playing at 7.15pm

On Wednesday July 26th there will be two early games in Pool B. Scotland will take on Turkiye at 12.30pm and Switzerland will take on Italy at 2.45pm.

This will be followed up by a Pool A game at 5pm between Czech Republic and Ukraine, followed by Ireland v Portugal at  7:15pm.

 

On Friday July 28th the end of tournament positional play offs begin and semi-finals will take place.

On Saturday July 29th the gold medal match 3rd /4th place final and remaining play offs will take place.

 

As well as the EuroHockey Championship II for our Men’s National team taking place at The National Sports Campus, Abbotstown, there will be a host of other activities taking place during the week.

There will be a Fanzone with fun activities, hockey activities, with food and beverage concessions and merchandise available for sale.

In addition. there will also be an opportunity to see our women’s team in action as they have a number of friendly matches during the week.

 

Ireland Senior Women’s games.

 

Our women’s team continue their preparations for their EuroHockey Championship Tournament taking place in Monchengladbach, Germany from 18-27 August 2023 will be playing a series of warm up games against Italy and Chile and our senior women’s development team will also be in action against the same two countries as well.

 

WOMENS FIXTURES

Saturday 22nd July IRELAND V CHILE, 15:00 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Monday 24th July 20:00 ITALY V CHILE 20:00 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Tuesday 25th July IRELAND V CHILE 14:45 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Wednesday 26th July IRELAND DEVELOPMENT TEAM V ITALY 10:15 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Thursday 27th July IRELAND V CHILE 19:30 National Sports Campus, Abbotstown

Friday 28th July IRELAND DEVELOPMENT TEAM V ITALY 11:30 Three Rock Rovers Hockey Pitch, Grange Road. 

Saturday 29th July IRELAND V ITALY 09:00 Three Rock Rovers Hockey Pitch, Grange Road

 

 

 

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U18 Boys and Girls European Championships Reports

EUROPEAN UNDER 18 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS   POOL A DAY 1

FRANCE  3   IRELAND  1

Ireland Under 18 girls team began their Pool A campaign at the European Championships in Krefeld with an opening game against France which ended in a 3-1 defeat. Philippine Delemazure gave France a 1-0 in the first quarter from open play. It remained 1-0 at the end of quarter two going into the half time break.

A scoreless third quarter was followed by a dramatic fourth quarter.  France increased their lead from a penalty corner. Paola Le Nindre converting it to put France 2-0 ahead. France added a third in the final minute from Emilie Santé to make it 3-0.  Ireland responded with a consolation goal in the final minute through Milla Fulton to leave the final score 3-1 to France.

Elsewhere in Pool A Belgium beat Scotland 3-1 which makes them level in third with Ireland at the bottom of Pool A. Pool B commenced on Sunday when the Netherlands beat England 1-0 and Spain beat Austria 10-0.

 

EUROPEAN UNDER 18  GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS POOL  A  DAY 2  

BELGIUM 5 IRELAND 1 

This game began well as Ireland took the lead through Rebecca Carthy in the 5th minute. Mien Palfliet had the Belgians level within two minutes to make it 1-1. Hélene Devla put the Belgians 2-1 ahead from open play in the 24th minute and that was the half-time score.

Louise Van Hecke converted a penalty corner  and made it  3-1 to Belgium on 40 minutes. Lisl Denef also converted a penalty corner on 44 minutes to make it 4-1 to Belgium and Louise Dewaet added a fifth in the 52nd minute to make it 5-1.

Elsewhere in Pool A  Germany defeated Scotland 4-0. In Pool B  England defeated Austria 9-0 and Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0.

 

EUROPEAN UNDER 18 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS POOL A DAY 3  

IRELAND 2 SCOTLAND 1 

Ireland got their first pool A win of the tournament against Scotland. Mikayla Power converted a 28th minute penalty corner to put Ireland 1-0 ahead. Amelia Jerman increased their lead from another penalty corner in the 29th minute to put Ireland 2-0 ahead.

Scotland got what proved to be a consolation goal in the third quarter when Lexie MacMillan scored from open play on 33 minutes and it finished 2-1 to Ireland.

Elsewhere in Pool A Germany beat France 5-0.

The first Round 4 games didn’t involve Ireland as Pool A contained five teams and one team was idle on each game day. Scotland and France drew 1-1 and Belgium and Germany played out a scoreless draw.

 

EUROPEAN UNDER 18 GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIPS  POOL A DAY 4 

IRELAND 1 GERMANY 2 

Ireland took on hosts Germany in their final pool game in Krefeld at the Euro Under 18 Championships. Germany took the lead through Lynn Krings in the 28th minute when she converted a penalty corner.  The score remained 1-0 to Germany until the 59th minute when Ireland equalised through a penalty corner converted by Mikayla Power. Literally seconds later Germany secured victory when Katharina Becker scored from open play and it ended 2-1.

 

7TH-8TH PLACE PLAY OFF 

IRELAND 0 SCOTLAND 2

Perhaps this 5th game was a game too far for the Ireland Under 18 girls as they lost 0-2 to Scotland against an opponent they had beaten 3-2 earlier in the week.

Lucy MacMillan scored from open play to give Scotland the lead in the 19th minute. It was 1-0 at the break to the Scots.

Scotland sealed victory in the 40th minute when Cara Falconer scored from open play to leave the final score 2-0 to Scotland. Ireland end the tournament in 8th place.

EUROPEAN UNDER 18 BOYS  CHAMPIONSHIPS   POOL A  DAY 1

AUSTRIA  3  IRELAND  1

Ireland Under 18 Boys team got off their Pool A campaign at the European Championships to a disappoint start losing 1-3 to Austria in their debut game.  Ireland began well and took the lead in the 22nd minute when James Evans gave them the lead from open play.

Ireland’s lead only lasted seven minutes as Austria equalised through a penalty corner converted by Erik Shiesser,  their captain, in the 29th minute. It remained 1-1 at the half-time break.

Austria finished stronger in quarter four taking the lead through Theodor Morowec who converted a penalty corner in the 54th minute to put Austria 2-1 ahead. They sealed the win with a Benedikt Meisel goal from open play on 58 minutes to leave the final score 3-1 to Austria.

Elsewhere in pool A, Belgium beat Scotland 8-1 leaving Ireland in 3rd position in the pool after game 1 on goal difference. Pool B commenced their games on Monday with a 2-2 draw between Spain and England and a 7-0 win for Netherlands over Poland .

 

DAY  2   EUROPEAN UNDER 18 BOYS  CHAMPIONSHIPS POOL A    

BELGIUM 8 IRELAND 0

Charlie Langedries opened Belgium’s account in the 10th minute from a penalty corner 1-0 Belgium.

Jean Cloetens field goal made it 2-0 in the 11th minute. Lucas Balthazar added another to make it 3-0 from a penalty corner in the 15th minute. Larry Fauchey made it 4-0 in the final minute of the first half. Lucas Balthazar grabbed his second of the game to make it 5-0 from a penalty corner. Guerlain Hawaux  got a field goal to make it 6-0 in the 40th minute. Two further goals from Charlie Langedries in the 43rd and 57th minutes respectively completed his hat-trick and an 8-0 thrashing for the Belgians

Elsewhere in Pool A,  Germany defeated Scotland 2-0 and in Pool B there were a 3-0 win for Spain over the Netherlands and  England thrashed Poland 8-0.

 

EUROPEAN UNDER 18 BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS POOL A  DAY 3   

IRELAND 3  SCOTLAND 2

Murray Griffiths scored a field goal to give Scotland a 1-0 lead on 10 minutes.  Johnny Bradley increased their lead converting a penalty corner on 21 minutes to make it 2-0 to Scotland. Ireland got back on terms when James Evans scored a field goal in the 24th minute.

It was 2-1 to Scotland at half time. It was lead they held on to until late in the fourth quarter when Ireland got an equaliser from a 55th minute penalty stroke scored by Matthew McKee. James Evans scored from open play a minute later to give the Boys in Green their first pool win 3-2 over Scotland .

Elsewhere in Pool A  Germany thrashed Austria 12-0.

The first Round 4 games didn’t involve Ireland as Pool A contained five teams and one team was idle on each game day. Scotland beat Austria 2-1 and Belgium beat Germany 3-2.

 

EUROPEAN UNDER 18  BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS POOL A DAY 4

IRELAND  0 GERMANY 6

Ireland completed their Pool A programme with a game against hosts Germany in Krefeld. German captain Jonas Cofalla led by example scoring a penalty corner in the 15th minute to give his country a 1-0 lead. He added a second from a subsequent penalty corner two minutes later to leave the hosts 2-0 ahead.  Morten Berendts converted a third penalty corner in the 33rd minute to give Germany a 3-0 lead. Ben Hasbach added a fourth from open play in the 38th minute. Lukas Kossel added a fifth in the 54th minute and Justus Warweg made the score 6-0 in the 58th minute. Final score Ireland 0 Germany 6  leaving Ireland in 5th place in Pool A .

By finishing in 5th place in Pool A Ireland go into a Saturday play off against Poland who finished in 4th place in Pool B. The winners of this will go into a 7th-8th place play off on Sunday against Austria.

IRELAND : Sam Chapman, Aaron Baxter, Mark Cuddy, Ben Pasley (captain), Matthew MocKee, Ben Pollock, Robert Olden, Joshua Gill, Matthew Stevenson, Alex Lynch, Matthew Spence, Ben Walker, James Evans, Tommy Dobson, Tommy Maxwell, Max Caulwell, Samuel Dale SUB GK :  David Persse

 

POOL B SUMMARY 

The final round of Pool B matches saw Spain beat Poland 5-0 and the Netherlands narrowly beat England by 4-3. This left the final standings as follows

1st  Spain 2nd Netherlands 3rd England 4th Poland

 

PLAY OFFS  7TH -9TH  PLAY OFF SATURDAY  JULY 15TH 2023

IRELAND 6 POLAND 1

Ireland beat Poland 6-1 to qualify for the 7th-8th place play off. Robert Olden converted a penalty corner on 22 minutes to give Ireland a lead.  Matthew McKee made it 2-0 from a field goal on 28 minutes. Matthew McKee converted a penalty stroke on 32 minutes to make it 3-0. A second Robert Olden penalty corner on 43 minutes made it 4-0. Emil Witczak got Poland on the score sheet from open play on 47 minutes to make it 4-1. Matthew McKee with a second converted Penalty stroke made it 5-1 on 52 minutes and Samuel Dale converted a penalty corner in the 59th minute to round out the scoring.

 

7TH-8TH PLACE PLAY-OFF  SUNDAY JULY 16TH 2023

IRELAND 2 AUSTRIA 1 

Ireland took the lead through Max Caulwell on 4 minutes from open play. Adrian Fink converted a 13th minute penalty stroke to equalise for Austria. Seventh place was secured for Ireland by a goal from open play scored by captain Ben Pasley leading by example. It ended 2-1 to Ireland.

Despite beating Austria 2-1 in this play off final and technically finishing 7th, Ireland have been relegated out of the top tier of European Under 18 Boys hockey and will compete in Division B next time out despite closing out the tournament with a record of 3 wins from 6. Finishing bottom of Pool A was enough to secure relegation.

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Seventh Heaven for Ireland Men

 

Ireland – 7 Austria -0

Ireland bounced back from their opening day defeat to Austria with a comprehensive 7-0 win over the visitors in the second of the three-game series.

Michael Robson converted a penalty corner in the 5th minute to put Ireland 1-0 up. Lee Cole scored from open play in the 12th minute to make it 2-0 to Ireland. John McKee got his first of the game a minute later to put Ireland 3-0 up. Jeremy Duncan added a fourth on 28 minutes to leave the half time score at 4-0.

Shane O’Donoghue converted a 33rd minute penalty corner to make it 5-0 to Ireland. Ben Johnson grabbed a goal to make it 6-0 in the 52nd minute and Johnny McKee got his second of the game to make the final score 7-0 three minutes from time.

After the game, Coach Mark Tumulty was pleased with the clinical nature of the finishing from the team and the improvement over the first game. He stressed the need for the team to achieve a level of consistency and is looking for more of the same from their third game on Saturday afternoon.

IRELAND:  David Harte, Luke Madeley, Johnny McKee, Kevin O’Dea, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (c), Peter McKibbin, Michael Robson, Lee Cole, Conor Empey, Ben Johnson

AUSTRIA: Mateusz Szymczyk (GK), Oliver Binder, Benjamin Koelbl, Benjamin Stanzl, Franz Lindengrun, Nikolas Wellan, Fabian Unterkircher, Leon Thoernblom, Fulop Losonci, Xaver Husun (C), Oliver Kern.

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Game 1 Match Report. IRL V Austria

 

IRELAND 1 AUSTRIA  2

Ireland opened their three game series on Thursday with a 1-2 defeat against Austria. The games, which are part of the final preparations ahead of the European Championships II, are hosted by Ireland from July 23-29 in Abbotstown. They are taking place over the next few days, finishing on Saturday July 15th with an afternoon game against the same opponents.

On a wet and miserable evening in Abbotstown, the home side started strongly and Conor Empey put Ireland 1-0 up in the 12th minute from open play. Austria equalized through a field goal by Josef Winkler on the stroke of  half-time.

It was 1-1 at the break. One of the remarkable aspects of the game was how few Penalty corners were awarded .

Then they grabbed what proved to be the winner through Fulop Losonci’s field goal in the 43rd minute. Although Ireland did try to get back on terms, it was to no avail and it ended 2-1 to Austria.

 

IRELAND: James Milliken (GK), Luke Madeley, Daragh Walsh, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (c), Mark McNelis, Louis Rowe, Sam Hyland, Mark Samuel, Nicholas Page, Alistair Empey. SUBS: James Carr (GK), Kevin O’Dea, Jeremy Duncan, Jonathan Lynch, Conor Empey

AUSTRIA: Mateusz Szymczyk, Oliver Binder, Benjamin Koelbl, Benjamin Stanzl, Franz Lindengrun, Fabien Unterkircher, Leon Thoernblom, Fueloep Losonci, Xaver Hasun (C), Oliver Kern. SUBS: Peter Kaltenboeck; Daniel Froehlich, Moritz Frey, Josef Winkler, Mateusz Nyckowiak, Clemens Rusnjak

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IRELAND SQUAD FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP II ANNOUNCED

Coach Mark Tumilty has announced the 18 players who will represent Ireland in the European Championship II which Ireland will be hosting at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown between July 23-29, 2023.

Ireland begin their campaign with a game against Czech Republic on Sunday 23rd July with a 6pm start. They follow this with a game against Ukraine on Tuesday 25th July with a 7:15pm start and complete their pool section with a game against Portugal on Wednesday 26th July with a 7:15pm start. Tickets are available at www.hockey.ie.

The squad, which has a rich blend of youth and experience as well as players in the mid-part of their careers, seems ideally suited to the task of getting Ireland back into Europe’s top tier and ultimately the Olympics in Paris for 2024.

Mark Tumilty’s selection sees the welcome return of some veteran players such as David Harte who was FIH World Goalkeeper of the Year on two occasions, who has been out of international action for almost 4 years.

There are players in the squad who have considerable previous tournament experience of events such as Rio 2016 and the 2019 Hockey World Cup in Bubaneshwar as well as players who were too young to have experienced the bitter disappointment of missing out on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the 2023 World Cup.

Ireland preparations continue this weekend as they begin a three match series with Austria also at the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown. On Thursday July 13th at 7:45pm Ireland play their first game with Austria. Game two takes place the following day Friday July 14th at 7:45pm and the series is completed by a game with Austria at 3:30pm on Saturday July 15th

 

David Harte GK
Jaime Carr GK
Peter McKibbin Outside Back
Lee Cole Outside Back
Luke Witherow Outside Back
Luke Madeley Centre Back
Kyle  Marshall Centre Back
Shane O’Donoghue Centre Back
Nick Page Centre Midfielder
Sean Murray (Captain) Centre Midfielder
Jonny Lynch Outside Midfielder
Charlie Rowe Outside Midfielder
Michael Robson Outside Midfielder
Ben Walker Forward
Ben Johnson Forward
Conor Empey Forward
Johnny McKee Forward
Jeremy Duncan Forward
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IRL V Wales Day 3 Match Report

IRELAND 3 WALES 0

Ireland clinched their series against Wales in style with a decisive 3-0 win in the final game of the  series on Sunday.

Ireland started off well and forced a penalty corner which was converted on 9 minutes by Luke Madeley. As had been the case on Saturday when the Welsh fell behind, they came more into the game as the half wore on. There were no further goals for either team in the rest of the first quarter or in the second quarter. It remained 1-0 at half time.

The third quarter became a bit of a Ben Walker show as he opened his account on 39 minutes to put Ireland 2-0 ahead. Ben, then got his second goal of the afternoon, sixty seconds later in the 40th minute to leave the score 3-0 to Ireland.

That might have been the end of the scoring, but it was far from the end of the action. In a hectic final quarter Wales had a goal overturned on an Irish appeal. They were also awarded a stroke which was saved by David Harte.

Wales were reduced to 10 during that final quarter for 2 minutes when Jacob Draper was green carded. Double goalscoring hero Ben Walker was green carded in the 59th minute, meaning that Ireland finished the game with 10 players on the field.

Next up for Ireland’s men is a three game series with Austria beginning July 13th at the Sports Ireland Campus in Abbotstown.

 

IRELAND: Jamie Carr. Luke Madeley, John McKee, Kevin O’Dea, Peter McKibbin, Michael Robson, Ben Walker, Jonathan Lynch, Sam Hyland, Ben Johnson  SUBS: David Harte (GK), Charlie Rowe, Shane O’Donoghue, Mark McNellis, Jeremy Duncan, Conor Empey, Nicholas Page

WALES: Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, Daniel Kyriakides, Alf Dinnie, Jacob Draper, Rhys Bradshaw, Jolyon Morgan, Hywel Jones, Jack Pritchard,  Benjamin Francis, Luke Hawker, Gareth Griffiths.  SUBS: Rupert Shipperley , Rhodri Furlong, Owen Sutton, Owain Dolan -Gray, Fred Newbold

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IRL V Wales Game 2 Match report

IRELAND 5 WALES 2 

Ireland came back into the series with an emphatic victory over Wales in the second game of the three game series.

Ben Walker had two chances in the first three minutes of the opening quarter of the second game in the Ireland -Wales series at Comber Road. Ireland took the lead a few minutes later. Luke Madeley’s free was shot to the net by Johnny McKee in the 8th minute. 1-0 to Ireland. Wales had a succession of short corners in the final minute of the first quarter. Jamie Carr made a point blank save from the first one. The next one hit an Irish foot producing a third. This one deflected off an Irish stick forcing Carr to palm it over the bar at the expense of a long corner. Having withstood all the Welsh pressure it remained 1-0 to Ireland at the end of the quarter.

A succession of penalty corners for Ireland in the second quarter from the 23rd minute on resulted in a penalty stroke being awarded and Lee Cole made no mistake 2-0 to Ireland. Wales had a number of circle entries between then and the rest of the quarter, without creating any clear cut opportunities. It was 2-0 at the half time break.

In the third quarter it was honours even early on. Ireland were awarded a penalty corner in the 35thminute which was saved by Wales goalkeeper Reynolds-Cotterill at point blank range. Wales forced two penalty corners in succession which produced a shot wide of the post from Jacob Draper. But their pressure finally paid off on 39 minutes when Fred Newbold shot to the net following a succession of penalty corners to get Wales on the scoreboard. 2-1. Ireland increased their lead in the final minute from a penalty corner won by captain Sean Murray. Conor Harte converted the 44thminutepenalty corner into the net to leave Ireland leading 3-1 going into the final quarter.

Ireland forced two penalty corners in a row in the 49thminute. The second of which was dispatched to the back of the net by Luke Madeley for his second goal of the game to leave Ireland 4-1 up.

Wales were awarded a penalty corner a minute later when captain Sean Murray was green carded. A second penalty corner followed for the visitors but it resulted in a shot wide of goal. Ireland put the result completely beyond doubt in the 54thminute when Lee Cole Harte converted a penalty corner to make the score 5-1.

Goalkeeper David Harte made a welcome return to International hockey , after an absence of four years late in the fourth quarter and almost his first task was picking the ball out of the net as Owain Dolan Gray got a last minute consolation goal for Wales .

Speaking after the game Ireland coach Mark Tumilty said ,“The most pleasing thing about today’s game was the performance. We adjusted our press from the previous game. I was pleased with our attacking play. We were much better from corners. We have options. I am happy with where we are with penalty corners. I am pleased to get the win. It’s important to get the winning mentality ahead of the European Championships later this month. There is more in this group and we have to go again tomorrow for the final game in the series”.

 

IRELAND: Jamie Carr, Luke Madeley, Peter McKibben, Lee Cole, Charlie Rowe, Jonathan Lynch, Jeremy Duncan, Jonathan Lynch, Nick Page, Sean Murray (Capt.), Conor Empey, Ben Walker. SUBS: David Harte (GK), Conor Harte, Sam Hyland, Kevin O’Dea, Johnny McKee, Ben Johnson

WALES: Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, Daniel Kyriakides, Jacob Draper, Rupert Shipperley (Capt.), Rhodri Furlong, Stephen Kelly, Jolyon Morgan, Jack Pritchard, Hywel Jones, Gareth Griffiths, Fred Newbold. SUBS: Dewi Roblin (GK), Alf Dinnie, Rhys Bradshaw, Michael Wood, Owain Dolan -Gray, Benjamin Francis, Luke Hawker

 

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IRL V Wales Game 1 Match Report

IRELAND 0  WALES 2

Coach Mark Tumilty began the final preparations in earnest for European Championships II in July with the first game of a three-game series against Wales at Comber Road last night.

Ireland are taking on Wales at the home of  Lisnagarvey in a series spread over four days, ending on Sunday, which will resemble the sort of demands which will be placed on the players when they host the European Hockey Championships II in the Sports Ireland Campus, Abbotstown in late July. The target from those Championships is to secure promotion back to the top tier of European Championships and ultimately to reach the next Olympics in Paris 2024.

The first game didn’t go to plan as two goals from Welsh player Jack Pritchard, one in the second quarter and the other three minutes from time, were enough to give Wales a first win in the series by 2-0.

Ireland lost goalkeeper James Milliken at the end of quarter one with Jamie Carr going into goal at the start of the second quarter.

One consolation was that these goals came from open play and not from penalty corners.  A largely even first quarter ended scoreless with Jack Pritchard grabbing his first goal from open play, coming in the 23rd minute. Wales led 1-0 at the break.

Ireland tried to get back into the match in the third quarter but were unable to put the ball into the net. Their cause was not helped by being reduced to 10 players on 51 minutes when John McKee was green carded and then 9 players when captain Sean Murray was also made to sit out on a green card a minute later.

However, there was no further scoring during Ireland’s period of being shorthanded. As the game was nearing its end in the fourth quarter, Jack Pritchard got his second of the match on 57 minutes to secure a first win for Wales in the series. Both sides will resume the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. following a rest day on Friday. The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

IRELAND:  James Milliken, Conor Harte, Shane O’Donoghue, Mark Samuel, Peter McKibben, Michael Robson, Sean Murray (C), Charlie Rowe, Alistair Empey, Johnny McKee, Jeremy Duncan

SUBS:  Mark McNellis, Rory Patterson, Johnny Lynch, Kevin O’Dea, Louis Rowe, Ben Walker, Jamie Carr (GK)

WALES: Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, Daniel Kyriakides, Jacob Draper, Rhodri Furlong, Stephen Kelly, Owain Dolan-Gray, Jolyon Morgan, Hywel Jones, Benjamin Francis, Luke Hawker(C), Gareth Griffiths

SUBS: Rupert Shipperley, Owen Sutton, Jonathan Fleck, Jack Pritchard, Fred Newbold, Rhys Bradshaw.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS FOR THE 2 REMAINING GAMES, CLICK HERE

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