Argentina, December 13: Argentina scored with the last play of the game to deny Ireland a share of the points in their second game of the 2024/25 FIH Pro League campaign.
After an evenly matched game of hockey, with few clear chances for either side, Ireland looked to be heading for a second draw in as many games against Argentina. With seconds left on the clock the hosts threw a hail Mary aerial into the Ireland circle towards an Argentine player who appeared to be marked by Ireland’s Peter McKibbin. The umpire awarded a free out to Ireland and the hooter blew for full-time, but Argentina asked to use their video referral, claiming that McKibbin encroached, in an effort to gain a penalty corner. The video umpire sided with the hosts, a call that the Irish players vehemently disagreed with. With the resulting penalty corner Argentina’s Thomas Domene drag flicked the ball into the bottom corner to snatch a win for Argentina.
Keen to build on yesterday’s strong performance, Ireland came out of the gates quickly, opting to press Argentina high up the pitch. Conor Empey was the first to test the keeper, striking a ball at goal which was saved by debutant Joaquin Ruiz. Ireland had another chance to take the lead in the final seconds of the first quarter, when Louis Rowe was found free in the circle. Ruiz was alive to the danger, stepping out to smother the Banbridge man’s effort.
The sides remained locked for the remainder of the first half, with few other clear-cut chances coming down either end.
Argentina returned from half-time with a newfound intensity, creating several scoring opportunities, two of which flashed inches past the post, just needing a deft touch to put them in the back of the net.
While Ireland’s second half-chances were less frequent, they did manage to put the ball in the back of the net, but a free out was awarded in the buildup and the goal did not stand.
With mere seconds left in the game, Argentina launched a hopeful aerial into the IRL circle, where Peter McKibbin and his opposing number stood. The umpire blew in favour of Ireland, judging that McKibbin was the receiver, which signalled the end of the game. However, still retaining their video referral, Argentina opted to refer the decision to the video umpire, claiming that McKibbin encroached, a view that the video umpire agreed with, much to the disbelief of the Irish team.
From the penalty corner, Argentina opted to go direct through Thomas Domene, a call that they were rewarded for as Domene found the net to snatch the victory for Argentina.
Speaking after the game Mark Tumilty said:
“Players surrounding an umpire in order to get him or her to use their video referral rather than the team referrals creeping into our game, and I spoke to the Umpires manager after the previous game about this very issue. The decision, by the video umpire, to award the penalty corner, I don’t think anybody can understand that decision. These things happen in sport, extremely disappointed, frustrated. We need to regroup, a day’s rest tomorrow we need to go again against England. These things happen but we don’t want to dwell on the decision.
There are some positives to take out of that game. I thought there were opportunities out there that we didn’t take. We didn’t create enough in the final third and we didn’t create any penalty corners, it is difficult in these conditions and in the heat.
I think we had the better chances in the first half. They had a few near misses across the face of the goal in the second half. Daragh [Walsh] had a good reverse stick effort, Conor Empey had one and Louis [Rowe] had one well just need to convert those chances.
If the players want to refer something to the video umpires they should use their own referrals, Umpire referrals should not be used at the behest of players instead of team referrals ”
Ireland now have a day to recover after back-to-back games, before they play England and Argentina again on Saturday and Sunday.
ARGENTINA: Joaquin S. Ruiz [GK]; Facundo Zarate; Tomas Ruiz;
Lautaro Domene; Matias Andreotti; Tomas Domene; Lucas Martinez; Tadeo Marcucci; Ignacio Ibarra; Thomas Habif; Lucio Mendez.
SUBS USED: Nicolas Keenan [4 MINS]; Santiago Tarazona [4 mins]; Matias Rey [C] [5 Mins]; Bruno Correa [7 mins]; Agustin Bonanno [8 mins]; Inaki Minadeo [8 Mins].
IRELAND: James Milliken [GK]; Tim Cross; Daragh Walsh; Kyle Marshall [C]; Peter McKibbin; Ben Walker; Jonathan Lynch; Peter Brown; Ben Nelson; Lee Cole; Nicholas Page.
SUBS USED: Luke Witherow [3 Mins], Ben Pasley [5 Mins]; Louis Rowe [5 Mins], Adam Walker [5 mins], Cono Empey [4 Mins], Fergus Gibson [4 Mins].