Monday, January 19 – Prague, Czechia: The Ireland Women’s Indoor Team ended their first topflight European campaign on a high as they beat Lithuania in their final match of the 2026 Women’s EuroHockey Indoor Championships in Prague. The team ended a 36-year wait for both a topflight appearance and a topflight win, as they lined out against the world’s best Indoor Hockey sides.
Drawn in Pool A alongside eventual champions Germany, Bronze medallists Austria, Belgium and Switzerland, it was always going to be a challenging pool stage for the IRL Women, but a challenge they were more than up for.
A tough opening day saw the team suffer two defeats to Germany and Austria, followed by losses to Switzerland and Belgium on day 2, with the side improving with every performance and grabbing goals against both day 2 opponents in much more even encounters.
Their fifth-place finish in Pool A set up a meeting with Lithuania as a final outing in Prague, providing the team an opportunity to end their campaign with a positive result, an opportunity the team did not pass up.
Ireland dominated the opening quarter, wasting little time in opening the scoring as Caroline Spence found the back of the net from a penalty corner after just five minutes.
Lithuania pulled a goal back in the dying embers of the first quarter, but Ireland remained in control, restoring their lead after a flurry of penalty corners, with Caroline Spence completing her brace early in the second half.
As a last throw of the dice, Lithuania withdrew their keeper, but Ireland defended well, managing the extra outfield player well and launching an attack that ended in a penalty corner, which Chloe Brown dispatched to put the game out of reach, securing a 3-1 win for Ireland and ninth place overall.