Saturday, December 13 – Dublin: Another full-house at the Sport Ireland Campus raised the proverbial roof for a close encounter between Ireland and Belgium in the FIH Hockey Pro League, with England also beating Germany in another display of world-class hockey.
England and Germany Men warmed the crowd up in the morning with a thrilling tie, as onlookers enjoyed an action-packed second half after a scoreless first half. England’s James Gall broke the deadlock just after half-time before Henry Croft, Samuel Hooper, and Nicholas Bandurak put Germany to the sword.
By the afternoon, the sell-out crowd was primed for the main event as the Ireland Women faced Belgium in their penultimate outing in Dublin. Ireland’s Call bellowed around the National Hockey Pitch as Ireland hoped to build on their performance against England.
Belgium, however, started brightly, scoring twice in the opening quarter to surge ahead.
But Ireland, backed by the roaring crowd, came into their own in the second half. Sarah Torrans’ pulled a goal back in the latter stages of the third quarter and continued to ask questions, but the goal didn’t quite come, and Belgium completed their first stage with a perfect record.
The result, however, didn’t dampen spirits as young fans lined the sidelines in anticipation of meeting their idols, with the Ireland players joining them to sign autographs and take selfies.
Tomorrow see’s Ireland Women back in action at 2.00pm against England for the final game of this week’s epic FIH Hockey Pro League Dublin series.