OLYMPIC GAMES HOCKEY/ POOL B: IRELAND 0 INDIA 2
TUESDAY JULY 30, PARIS: Ireland took on India in their third Pool B game of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and it was also their third competitive match of 2024 against the 2021 Olympic bronze medallists. Coaching the Indians at present is former Ireland Men’s National Team Coach Craig Fulton. Ireland were coming into the game having narrowly lost to Australia the day before, in a game where they opened their goal scoring account in Paris through a Lee Cole drag flick. India came in unbeaten having won and drawn their opening two games in Pool B. This was a game which both sides were likely targeting as a possible victory as they both vie for a place in the Quarter Finals.
India took the lead in the 12th minute when they were awarded a penalty stroke converted by Harmanpreet Singh. He added a second from the third of three penalty corners in the 20th minute to make it 2-0 to India. It was 2-0 at halftime. Despite a considerable fight back from Ireland in the second half, they could not overcome the two-goal deficit. They produced several goalscoring opportunities in the second half, including 10 penalty corners, but couldn’t convert, resulting in a 2-0 loss.
India started strongly and were awarded a penalty corner in the 2nd minute. Harmanpreet Singh’s drag flick was blocked. India continued to apply pressure and won a long corner in the 4th minute which led to Sumit hitting a high and dangerous ball toward goal which resulted in a free hit out to Ireland. Ireland launched their first attack of any real note in the 7th minute but were unable to force a shot on target. In the 10th minute Johnny McKee and Peter Brown combined down the left wing but were unable to get a cross into the goalmouth.
In the 11th minute Kyle Marshall’s pass was intercepted by an Indian player giving them the opportunity to break. Shane O’Donoghue’s challenge in the area was penalised with a stroke. India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh converted the stroke despite Harte’s best efforts. It was 1-0 at the end of the quarter.
In the 17th minute Lalit had a shot for India which deflected into the side netting. India opted to use their video referral, claiming the ball had struck an Irish foot. The video umpire did not agree, and they lost their video referral. A minute later David Harte saved a shot at the expense of a penalty corner.
Harmenpreet Singh’s drag flick was blocked by Duncan’s foot and he needed to go off the field temporarily for some treatment. Another penalty corner was awarded to India, Harmanpreet’s second drag flick was also blocked but they were awarded another penalty corner. This time he converted at the third attempt to put India 2-0 up in the 20th minute, it was his fourth goal of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The sides went into half time with India leading 2 – 0.
Quarter 3 saw a momentum shift occur in favour of Ireland, with the side managing to get a foothold in the game.
India had a penalty corner after 35 minutes, but Rohidas fired wide. In the 41st minute Shane O’Donoghue’s drag flick was saved by Sreejesh and bounced up in the air. Jeremy Duncan tried to beat Sreejesh who managed to block his effort, but a second penalty corner was awarded.
An error at the top of the circle from Ireland forced O’Donoghue to improvise. He pulled the ball onto his reverse, shooting at goal. Despite finding the back of the net, no goal was given as the initial shot was ruled to be too high, resulting in a free hit to India.
India went on the attack in the 42nd minute but Ireland launched a counterattack. Matthew Nelson worked the ball to Ben Walker who lifted the ball over India goalkeeper Sreejesh but it sadly floated wide of the post.
In the 44th minute Shane O’Dononghue’s drag flick was yet again saved by Sreejesh at the expense of a fourth penalty corner. The follow up penalty was saved, and India managed to clear the danger.
In the final seconds of the third quarter Kyle Marshall’ s aerial pass found Ben Johnson to the right of the Indian circle, the tackle from the India defender went over the sideline. Johnson’s quick thinking won him a penalty corner as the IND defender failed to retreat the required 5 meters. This one was injected by Michael Robson who found O’Donoghue, but his effort was blocked. There was another PC to Ireland awarded just on the hooter at the end of the third quarter which eventually fell to John McKee who shot wide. It remained 2-0 to India.
Ireland started the fourth quarter much as they had ended the previous one and were awarded a penalty corner in the 47th minute. Lee Cole stepped up this time, but his effort was blocked by Manpreet Singh, the advantage came to nothing, and no follow up penalty corner was awarded.
Ireland were temporarily reduced to 10 players when Matthew Nelson was green carded. But that was nullified soon afterwards when Harmanpreet Singh was green carded by the umpire for his persistent disagreement with the umpire and video umpire’s decision to overturn India’s corner thanks to another effective use of the video referral from Ireland.
With only five minutes remaining Shane O’Donoghue came up from defence into the Indian semi-circle and passed to Sean Murray whose effort hit the outside of the net. Ireland were awarded their tenth penalty corner of the game in the closing seconds for illegal use of a backstick by an Indian defender. O’Dononghue’s drag flick was saved by Sreejesh at the expense of a Iong corner.
But time ran out and Ireland ended up losing 2-0.
Speaking after the game Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty said:
“I didn’t think we started the game very well. We gave them a little too much respect, which they exploited to be fair, and they were very well set up. Our basics let us down in the first and second quarters. We just looked a little bit off it – which is probably the best way to describe it.”
Speaking about the team’s improved performance in the second half, Tumilty stated:
“We asked for a lot more intensity in quarters three and four and I thought we got it. But at this level we need to execute from penalty corners.
I was impressed with how the team coped with the heat and conditions, we were the ones on the front foot in quarters three and four which is important for us.”
Speaking about Ireland’s Penalty Corners, Tumilty said:
“Sreejesh is a world class goalkeeper, and they will definitely miss him when he goes. He had an exceptional game today, but did we really test him enough? With our corners, probably not. We have a rest day tomorrow and we need to have a think about how we improve our corners against Argentina and New Zealand. I’ve never really spoken about how far we want to get in this tournament. The focus has been more about producing performances of a high standard. I think we’ve done that in the three games so far and it is also our goal in the next two games.”
Speaking ahead of Ireland’s final two games of Pool B, Tumilty said:
“It’s a very tight group and I would expect it to stay like that. We won’t know what is required from the next two games until Belgium play Argentina later tonight. I was very impressed with Argentina when I saw them play two nights ago. But we are at the Olympic Games, and it’s supposed to be the 12 best teams in the World. I am sure there are teams that won’t want to face certain other teams in the knockout stages. We have seen how open it is. Anybody can win it!”
INDIA: Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran (GK); Jarmanpreet Singh; Abhishek Abhishek; Manpreet Singh; Hardik Singh; Mandeep Singh; Harmanpreet Singh; Amit Rohidas; Shamshar Singh; Sukhjeet Singh
SUBS USED: Sanjay; Lalit Kumar Upadhyay; Raj Kumar Pal; Vivek Sagar Prasad; Gurjant Singh
IRELAND : David Harte; Tim Cross; Shane O’Donoghue; Lee Cole; Kyle Marshall; Sean Murray (C); Michael Robson; Peter Brown; John McKee; Matthew Nelson; Jeremy Duncan
SUBS USED: Peter McKibbin; Nick Page; Daragh Walsh; Ben Johnson; Ben Walker
