IRELAND 5 – 3 CZECHIA
Sunday, July 27 – Portugal: The Ireland Men’s Hockey team came back from 3-1 down against Czechia to secure a 5-3 win in their opening Pool stage match of the EuroHockey Championship II in Lousada, Portugal. Having trailed 3-1, an impressive third quarter display saw Ireland take control of the game, with Johnny McKee, Matthew Nelson and a Lee Cole brace giving Ireland a lead that they saw out to secure the win.
Ireland dominated possession in the opening minutes, with Matthew Nelson’s early effort deflected over the bar by the Czech defenders. Johnny McKee earned Ireland the first penalty corner of the match after Louis Rowe did well to release his Banbridge teammate on the break. Lee Cole’s effort from the corner was well saved.
Czechia, however, would draw first blood, breaking the deadlock just before the end of the first quarter, a deft touch in the circle from a crash ball beating Jaime Carr in the Irish net.
Ireland’s attacking dominance continued into the second quarter with early chances falling for Sean Murray and Louis Rowe, both being denied by the Czech defence. Czechia added a second to their tally halfway through quarter 2, after winning a fortuitous penalty corner to extend their lead.
Ireland pulled a goal back just before half-time thanks to some individual brilliance from Daragh Walsh. Walsh cut inside from the right-hand side and beat two players before finding Johnny McKee on the penalty spot to strike into the back of the net.
Czechia’s pace on the break continued to cause Ireland problems in the second half, as they won a penalty corner after 2 minutes, which Ireland did well to defend initially. However, Czechia eventually found the net from the follow-up, much to the frustration of Ireland who believed there was an infringement in the build-up.
Ireland responded immediately, McKee getting his second and a great pass from Matthew Nelson to fire in on his reverse from a tight angle. With the momentum now in their favour, Ireland launched another attack, McKee yet again getting involved with his effort at goal blocked on the line by a Czech body to win Ireland a penalty stroke, which Lee Cole dispatched to draw Ireland level at 3-3.
Sean Murray and Matthew Nelson combined to put Ireland ahead for the first time in the game, Murray weaving his way along the baseline and calmly flicking towards goal for Nelson to touch into the net.
Ireland pressed immediately from the restart, with Lee Cole eventually winning ball on the edge of the Czech circle and drawing a heavy foul to win a second penalty stroke, which he again dispatched to extend Ireland’s lead to 5-3.
Ireland cruised for the majority of the final quarter, with a handful of opportunities coming their way to extend their lead. In the closing minutes, Czechia opted to withdraw their keeper, with Ireland reduced to 10-players not long after following a yellow card for Daragh Walsh. A series of penalty corners for Czechia gave them a chance to close the gap to just a single goal, but Ireland defended well to maintain their two-goal cushion.
Speaking after the game, Ireland Head Coach Mark Tumilty said:
“We made that difficult for ourselves today. Any time they got into our circle they looked dangerous. We have enough experience in this competition to know how difficult it can be, but we need to manage those challenging patches better.”
Discussing Ireland’s comeback, Tumilty said:
“The positive was quarter 3 where we played better hockey, were more aggressive in the press, and scored some good goals.”
Ireland will face Italy in their next game of Pool A on Tuesday, July 29 at 15:15 Irish Time, with the game available to watch live on the TG4 Player and EuroHockey TV.