Archive for category: International

Player of the match Shane O’Donoghue made it three goals in three games as his penalty corner drag flick separated Ireland and South Africa in their final group game in Potchefstroom, South Africa today. The set-piece goal was enough to ensure Ireland go into the semi-finals of the Nations Cup on Saturday in top spot in Pool A.

Mark Tumilty’s charges showed composure both on the ball and in defence, and in the end it was that composure that proved the difference between the two sides that had gone into this match unbeaten.

South Africa will look back at this clash and consider it an opportunity missed. Had they taken their chances and turned Ireland over, it would have been their first win against the boys in green. The host nation’s ill-discipline saw them reduced to 10 players four times during the match with three green cards and a yellow as compared with Ireland’s single green card.

Ireland began the game well, winning two penalty corners in the first quarter – the second of which they scored through veteran O’Donoghue. It was the striker-turned-defender’s third goal of the competition and 110th of his 203-game career. Ireland continued to dictate the pace in the opening 15 minutes and remained in front going into the break.

South Africa won their first corner early in the second quarter but Ireland dealt with it well, and it was Ireland who dominated those initial stages of the second period with sustained pressure on their opposition’s defence. But the host nation will be satisfied with how they dealt with the testing of their defence; they then had their best period of the game as Ireland were forced to defend South Africa’s second corner as well as bright passages from open play.

Ill discipline was the order of the day for South Africa as they squandered good attacking opportunities, and made it easy for Ireland when coming out of defence with unforced errors.

The third quarter featured plenty of entertaining individual skill, but as both teams tired, they tended to overrun the ball, losing it after taking on one too many defenders. The game became more physical, with injuries to South Africa’s Jethro Eustace and Ireland’s John McKee. Both umpires used their video referrals, as did both teams as Ireland had a yellow card overturned, and South Africa a goal disallowed in an action-packed second half.

The closing stages lacked the quality of the first half but Mark Tumilty was happy with how his team absorbed pressure in the final quarter by staying patient in defence and waiting for their opposition to make a mistake as South Africa pushed for an equaliser. “It was a tough game and it was good to get out the other side of it with three points,” said the Ireland coach.“I thought we created enough chances today, possibly, to extend our lead to make it more comfortable but it was pleasing that we defended well in the second half.”

O’Donoghue acknowledged that it was a scrappy match. “Both teams are very competitive, wanting to win, and it came down to fine details and I think we weathered their purple patch well. It was an absolute dog fight, no question about it, and we came out on top so we’re happy to progress to the semi-final now,” he said.

“These tournaments are all about momentum and getting better game on game; I think we have. We’ve made improvements, there are definitely areas still to improve and there are definitely some competitive teams in the crossover games,” O’Donoghue added.

Speaking after the game, defender Lee Cole said Ireland are used to close matches. “It’s been a very tough three games,” he admitted. “All of our games have gone down to the wire which is kind of the Irish way, especially today when we went up early and then defended for a lot of the rest of the game.”

Looking ahead to their semi-final, Cole says it will be another tight match. “We’ve had a couple of good battles against Malaysia over the years. They look pretty hot, especially in their last 15 minutes against Japan today – they seemed to really turn it on – so they’ll be another tough test.”

Ireland face Malaysia in the first of the two semi-finals at 11.30 am on Saturday, with the winner playing in the final on Sunday at 1.15 pm.

Ireland made it two wins from two in the FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup when they ran out 3-1 winners against Pakistan this morning. With less than 24 hours to recover after their opening match, Mark Tumilty’s team started a little slowly in the heat in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Pakistan went in front in the first minute of the second quarter and it was the wake-up call Ireland needed as they hit back almost immediately through Conor Empey. Ireland captain Sean Murray was the catalyst for the goal; he took a quick free and found Jeremy Duncan in the circle who passed first time to Empey who had the final touch.

Both teams looked tired as the first half went on, the heat and heavy legs starting to tell with mistraps and unforced errors. Pakistan looked dangerous in attack as Ireland defended a couple of penalty corners, the first adjudged too high and the second shot wide. Ireland’s forwards were making the right runs but the final connection just wasn’t there as the half drew to a close with the scores level.

Ireland came out with renewed impetus in the second half with several chances in the first few minutes, including, arguably, the play of the game. Kyle Marshall found Murray who passed first time to Empey in the circle, who squared immediately for player of the match Benjamin Walker. The speed of the move was what unlocked the Pakistan defence and gave Ireland the lead. Pakistan continued to threaten, their one-on-one skills particularly impressive when in the final third of the pitch.

The third quarter was end to end as both teams drew saves from their opposition goalkeepers. James Milliken was between the posts for the men in green, as Tumilty opted to rotate his keepers. Ireland retained their narrow lead going into the final quarter, and they showed their experience in the final stages, winning two more penalty corners, the second of which Shane O’Donoghue converted when he flicked home past the player on the right post to give Ireland some breathing room.

Not content to play the game out, Ireland continued to push and had chances to widen the gap but were unable to find the mark. Pakistan won a corner late on and a goal could have made the finishing stages interesting by reducing their deficit, but the shot went wide and Ireland closed out the match to win comfortably by three goals to one.

Speaking after the match, head coach Mark Tumilty was happy with how the match went. “I’m pleased with the result today. It was always going to be a tough challenge coming off the back of the France game and Pakistan offered something unknown to us. I’m delighted that we executed a penalty corner late on to get us a bit more comfortable towards the end. I thought that at times we played some really good hockey, and at other times it wasn’t so good but the second goal was a fantastic team goal which was really pleasing because it’s something we have worked on this past number of months. So, more progress was made with the group and we build towards the game with South Africa on Thursday.”

Player of the match Ben Walker felt the team still has more to give. “We responded well to going one goal behind, we equalised quite quickly. But there are maybe still some things we need to work on. We obviously have a rest day and we know we probably need a result on Thursday to guarantee progression to the semi-final so we are focused on that now,” he said.

Ireland’s final group game is on Thursday at 1 PM when they face hosts South Africa. The top two teams in the group of four move on to the semi-finals on Saturday.

Sean Dancer’s charges went down to a ferocious Dutch side that looked every bit of their number-one ranking spot this afternoon in Utrecht. Ireland was on the back foot immediately when player of the match, Yibbi Jansen, hit home to put her team in front in the first minute. The Dutch played at an immense pace under new coach Paul van Ass and went two goals ahead in the first quarter when Jansen was again on target – this time from a penalty corner.

Ireland recovered in the second quarter and defended well against the World Champions, but it was the Netherlands who scored after a number of missed chances, this time through JoosjeBurg. Ireland remained three goals behind going into the half-time break.

The girls in green grew into the game in the second half, entering the Dutch circle several times but without any end result. The third quarter was the best period of the match for Ireland as they held the Dutch scoreless, launching several attacks themselves. But the Netherlands came out with renewed determination in the final quarter with Jansen again on the mark from a broken-down penalty corner. Joosje Burg then put the game beyond any doubt when she scored her second of the afternoon, her team’s fifth and the final one of the match as the Dutch won by five goals to nil.