The Irish U-21s have been competing solely in the Junior Celtic Cup on an ad hoc basis since 2004. Picture: Adrian Boehm

“The reintroduction of these teams fills a gap that has clearly been missing within our player development pathway, and indeed our elite coach development over the past few years.

“The programmes and budgets will require careful management but, with the desire on the ground to bring back these teams, I have no doubt we can achieve and overcome these aspects.”

Ireland last had an U21 side in 2004 when both teams were relegated in Europe to the second tier. The decision to reintroduce the teams has come about as a result of a review of the player pathway model. Players and parents were also consulted highlighting the support for the reintroduction of these squads.

The process for selection for the U-21 national squad will take place through the interpros held at Easter and a short preparation period will include the boy’s team competing in the senior men’s interpros. Both teams will also compete in the U-21 Celtic Cup before their European Junior Nations events in Lisbon (women) and Bratislava (men) on July 18-22, 2012.

Passmore was quick to add that the programs in 2012 would be focused around a short but intense period of preparation in June and early July.

Prior to the tournament, the South African had lamented a bizarre structure which saw all eight teams advance to the quarter-finals regardless of where they finished in the group stage.

There remained a suspicion, therefore, that the big teams were keeping their powder dry until the knockout stages, a theory given more legs as pool winners Ireland and South Africa were yesterday eliminated by basement sides USA and Spain respectively.

While Ireland nonetheless had plenty to be pleased about in their group stage wins over India and Azerbaijan and a draw with Spain — all three sides are ranked higher than the girls in green — they had no answer to the USA’s clever movement in attack yesterday.

Ireland’s outletting from defence had been problematic against the Spanish and the issue was magnified here by the Americans’ aggressive high press, encouraging the Irish backs to dump oceans of ball straight back to the visitors.

Ireland keeper Emma Gray toed an early Claire Laubach drag-flick around the post but Shannon Taylor had the US two goals to the good inside 20 minutes, benefiting from slick build-up play along the baseline from Melissa Gonzalez and Paige Selenski.

In a physical game that saw two yellows for USA players and five green card suspensions spread between the sides, Ireland could seemingly barely get out of their own half.

They conceded a third 60 seconds after the restart, Katie Reinprecht pulling the ball back for Rachel Dawson to smack home, while the in-form Gray was required to smartly save a Kayla Bashore-Smedly penalty stroke to prevent a rout.

But propelled by Emma Clarke and Aine Connery, the hosts found their feet thereafter and forced two quick-fire short corners.

Audrey O’Flynn’s first dragged effort was touched onto the post by American netminder Amy Tran-Swenson, but the Cork woman made no mistake second time round, rifling into the bottom corner to give Ireland a 49th-minute lifeline.

However, Alex Speers’ troops were left to rue two mis-trapped short corners thereafter, while Taylor saw the ball bobble over her outstretched stick from a foot out at the other end, denying her a hat-trick. The US closed the game out in relative comfort to advance to a semi-final meeting with Scotland tomorrow, with Spain
meeting Japan in the other tie.

Muller remained vehement in his opposition to the new tournament structure as all the good work of the group stages was rendered meaningless.

“It is flawed. In essence, all the form you get from the pool games is cancelled out and, certainly, in international hockey, you don’t want a competition which evens the playing field like this.

“Teams try and create that uneven field by winning matches and getting to semi-finals. It doesn’t make sense to me and I guarantee it won’t stay on. There’s too much resistance to it. Not a single coach here wants it and no one would have complained if they had kept the old format.”

As for the game itself, Muller conceded his side were outdone by a better team, a frustrating day out for the girls in green, as any rub of the green did not work in their favour.

“When you don’t have the momentum, those decisions go against you. They didn’t contribute to the outcome of the match but they certainly contributed to us not getting going. We had points in the match when we could have changed things. We mis-stopped two penalty corners at key times and it was all part of not being able to generate momentum.”

US goalscorer Dawson said: “We knew the crowd was going to be tough and an extra advantage for Ireland today. It was a great team effort.”

Ireland head into the fifth-eighth place play-offs looking to restore confidence and eke out vital world ranking points – their final position, not the results accrued along the way, will determine how many – as they again face Azerbaijan today (6pm) with India and South Africa also in the mix.

IRELAND: E Gray, M Harvey, C Sargent, E Smyth, E Clarke, A Speers, S McCay, J McDonnell, J O’Halloran, S McCarthy, N Symmons.

Subs: L Jacob, A Connery, A O’Flynn, C Watkins, L Colvin.

USA: A Tran-Swensen, R Dawson, K Reinprecht, K O’Donnell, M Kasold, C Nichols, P Selenski, C Laubach, K Falgowski, K Bashore-Smedley, L Crandall.

Subs: M Gonzalez, M Vittesse, M Cesan, S Taylor, J Reinprecht.

MEANWHILE, barring a Friday night horror show against Pakistan, Ireland are virtually assured a place in Saturday’s final after a stunning 6-1 win over France in Belfield tonight.

Knowing Ireland have inflicted big wins over the French in recent times – notably an 8-2 success in Dublin two years ago as well as last Saturday’s 7-1 win over their second string – captain Ronan Gormley was not getting overly excited about the scoreline.

Indeed, with potential battles in the INSEP Five Nations, the Champions Challenge II and, most importantly, the European championships.

“You can’t read too much into that game, nor is it the European Cup. We wanted to go out to test ourselves and test them and see how they react and the result is a bonus.

“On another day, a couple of those don’t go in and France are still in the game, nick another goal and the game can change very easily.”

David Ames was initially named as an inclusion but a back spasm late in the day saw him step out and Iain Walker taking his place on the bench with Ian Sloan the other player rested.

It took just 90 seconds to get off the mark, Chris Cargo picking out Mitch Darling whose first touch wrong-footed Matthias Dierckens and dribbled over the line.

France stepped up their game, holding sway in the middle stages of the half but David Harte was reasonably comfortable in clearing three limp efforts – the sum of the French attacking intent.

Their will appeared to be broken when Francois Scheefer howler opened the door for Ireland to punish their uncertain finishing. He miscontrolled, allowing Cargo to nip in, and the French skipper compounded his error by impeding the Reading man’s shot, resulting in a penalty stroke.

Cork man John Jermyn netted from the spot for 2-0, his 59th international goal, and number 60 came a minute later from Ireland’s first short corner.

And the goals continued to flow into the second half. Tim Cockram got a bizarre fourth, nut-megging Mathieu Dierckens after Mikey Watt’s diving deflection ballooned up in the air. Dierckens attempted to shepherd a spinning ball over the endline, it stopped in its tracks and Cockram flung a stick out and the ball squeezed through the hapless keeper’s feet and inched over the line.

Darling’s second was a classy finish, Cockram stealing the ball and feeding the striker who, with his back to goal, shimmied to his reverse and rolled behind Dierckens.

A right wing cross found Watt at the back post to tap in from a couple of inches for 6-0 in the 61st minute before Jean-Baptiste Pauchet got the consolation goal four minutes from time.

Ireland were happier with their performance between the 25s compared to Monday’s game but a few lessons could still be drawn, especially as France comprehensively won the corner count 5-1.

Comparing the two games, Gormley said: “Against China, we maybe didn’t play as well from 25 to 25 and defended the D a bit better and, attacking-wise, won a few more corners. Today we lost the corner count which is a stat the coaches always look at.

“But we were effective when we did get into the D. We had seven or eight entries in the first half and scored three goals but there is a little bit of improvement to do defensively.”

Looking forward to Friday’s tie with Pakistan, a more than likely potential fore-runner to the final a day later.

“As long we don’t get a big score against us against Pakistan. It shouldn’t happen but it’s good to get three points from both of the first two games,” Gormley concluded.

IRELAND: D Harte, G McCabe, R Gormley, M Watt, C Cargo, J Brennan, J Jermyn, M Darling, T Cockram, C Harte, S Loughrey

Subs: T Lewis, B McCandless, P Maguire, S O’Donoghue

FRANCE: M Dierckens, T Genestet, A Becuwe, F Magner, B Dierckens, Lucas Sevestre, Y Schambert, F Scheefer, J-B Pauchet, M Genestet, V Migneau

Subs: M Catonnet, Lois Sevestre, O Sanchez, S Wentworth, N Gagnard

PAKISTAN bounced back from Monday’s setback against France to get right back in the mix for the UCD 4 Nations Cup final, defeating China 3-2.

China now need results to go their way to have any chance of reaching the decider. They got off to a decent start, Xianting Liu finding a route through Salman Akbar from close range in the sixth minute.

But Sohail Abbas returned to the team after Monday’s rest to fizz in a trademark drag from his side’s first corner and Haseem scrambled the ball over the line from Shakeel Abbasi’s smacked pass to the back post.

Zhixin Sun tied the game for the second time in the 32nd minute but the winner came early in the second half when Zubair finished off in from close range three minutes into the second half.

And while the chances were not especially clear in the latter stages, the large Pakistani support greeted the victory with raucous celebrations aided by the IHA bang bang sticks, creating an excellent atmosphere.

Electric Ireland FIH Champions Challenge quarter-finals, Dublin

Scotland 3 (A Wylie, H Cram, A Bell) Azerbaijan 2 (K Aliyeva, E Jhoi);

Japan 1 (A Mitsuhashi) India 0

Spain 3 (R Huertas, B Malda, P Sanchez) South Africa 2 (S Damons, P Coetzee) (aet, golden goal);

Ireland 1 (A O’Flynn) USA 3 (S Taylor 2, R Dawson)

Today: 5th-8th place playoffs: India v South Africa (3.30pm); Ireland v Azerbaijan (6pm).

Tomorrow: Semi-finals: Scotland v USA; Spain v Japan.

Men’s UCD 4 Nations Cup

Ireland 6 (JJermyn 2, M Darling 2, T Cockram, M Watt) France 1 (Je-B Pauchet)

China 2 (Z Sun, XLiu) Pakistan 3 (S Abbas, M Zubair, Haseem)

Standings: 1. Ireland 6pts (+7) 2. Pakistan 3pts (-1) 3. France 3pts (-3) 4. China 0pts (-3)

Today: France v China (12.30pm); Ireland v Pakistan (8pm).

Gene Muller has seen his side show encouraging early signs from the controversial centralisation of players implemented last October, with Ireland turning on the style to beat India 2-1 before grinding out victory by the same scoreline against Azerbaijan 24 hours later, their first wins against higher-ranked sides since 2009.

And they got another good result against the world number 10 Spain, ensuring they finished the group stages with seven points — more than any of the other seven nations, and a rousing statistic for a side ranked second lowest of the sides ahead of the tournament.

There are mitigating factors, however; the tournament structure, bemoaned by Muller in the build-up last week, sees all eight sides progress to a quarter-final irrespective of their group stage performances, meaning the top sides could feasibly have been keeping their powder dry until the knockout stages.

Nonetheless, Ireland will approach tomorrow’s quarter-final tie against the USA — Group A’s basement side — with confidence after avoiding defeat against a Spanish outfit that hosed them 4-1 at the 2009 European championships.

On this evidence, Ireland are a side on the way up while Spain are heading in the opposite direction. Coach Muller felt brave enough to experiment defensively, resting Cliodhna Sargent and only sporadically using Sinead McCarthy, with Michelle Harvey and the impressive Shirley McCay forming a makeshift centre-back pairing. Pamela Smithwick was also preferred to Emma Gray in goal.

The hosts were the better side but neither could get a shot away in anger during a cagey opening half characterised by slack Irish outlet balls, with Spain telegraphing too many of the hosts’ passes.

Ireland came alive in the second period but Harvey’s three short corner efforts were repelled. Spain broke away with pace from the last of those in the 50th minute, Olalla Pineiro eventually squaring for Barbara Malda to rifle home past a stranded Smithwick.

But Ireland were level soon after, vice-captain Emma Clarke’s persistence paying off as she battled past three Spaniards before bashing home from six yards.

Ireland had to survive a few nervy defensive moments — notably when Maialen Garcia ballooned a volley over the bar when she opted for brute force instead of accuracy — but also threatened themselves to the end, Nicci Daly touching one crash ball into the side netting while Julia O’Halloran saw a wicked reverse-stick effort blocked.

Meanwhile, Belfield witnessed a world record yesterday as South Africa’s Pietee Coetzee notched a 12-minute hat-trick to become the sport’s record international goalscorer, before notching another for good measure.

Coetzee now has 222 international goals following her side’s 5-5 draw with the USA, which saw them top their pool on goal difference to go into tomorrow’s quarter-finals as top seeds alongside Ireland.

Post-match, Coetzee was presented with a “221 and counting” t-shirt while her team-mates donned ones bearing the words “I played with Pietee when she broke the world record”.

South Africa will now take on Spain, with India meeting Japan and Azerbaijan locking horns with the Scots.

IRELAND: P Smithwick, M Harvey, E Smyth, E Clarke, A Speers, J O’Halloran, S McCarthy, N Symmons, A O’Flynn, L Colvin, N Daly

Subs: S McCay, J McDonnell, L Jacob, A Connery, C Watkins.

SPAIN: I Barguno, J Menendez, R Ybarra, B Bonastre, M Prat, S Munoz, B Perez, B Malda, P Sanchez, M Comerma, G Oliva

Subs: M Lopez, A Puig, M Garcia, A Flores, O Pineiro.

FIH Women’s Champion’s Challenge I, Day 3

Group A

South Africa 5 (P Coetzee 4, L Marais) USA 5 (K O’Donnell 2, P Selenski 2, K Laubach)

Scotland 1 (N Kidd) Japan 1 (S Otsuka)

Final Group A standings: 1. South Africa 5pts (+4) 2. Scotland 5pts (+2) 3. Japan 4pts (-3) 4. USA 2pts (-3)

Group B

India 6 (S Anjum 3, R Rampal, D Thakur, J Handa) Azerbaijan 1 (K Aliyeva)

Ireland 1 (E Clarke) Spain 1 (B Malda)

Final Group B standings: 1. Ireland 7 pts (+2); 2. India 4 pts (+4); 3. Azerbaijan 3 pts (-5); 4 Spain 1 pt (-1).

Quarter-finals (tomorrow): South Africa v Spain (10am); India v Japan (12.30pm); Scotland v Azerbaijan (3pm); Ireland v USA (5.30pm)

Ireland celebrate a goal against China. Picture: Adrian Boehm

Belfield was rocking as a large Pakistani contingent from the early game was joined by flag-bearing Chinese fans as the teeming rain saw people huddle up under the main stand.

Coach Paul Revington had made a full 16 changes to the side who won the Celtic Cup a day earlier. Included in the changes was 17 year-old Cookstown man Ian Sloan who made his debut, following in the footsteps of his father Marty who captained Ireland over 100 times.

He started on the right of midfield while Stu Loughrey and Shane O’Donoghue were the other youngsters involved, the former starting at left-back and defending particularly well.

A fast and furious opening yielded few chances as the Chinese – currently ranked five places above Ireland in the world list – showed some sharp touches in the clinches.

Two red corners were charged down in the 16th minute before Watt turned the tables, winning a set-piece at the far end. John Jermyn provided a wonderful finish for the lead.

Phelie Maguire made it 2-0 six minutes later, owing a huge amount to Bruce McCandless’ finely judged control, weaving some space just outside the 25.

With base-line runners on either post, the Banbridge man picked out Timmy Cockram on the right who squared to the left where Maguire slide in to score from close range.

Mikey Watt made it three with a solo goal, using Maguire as a foil to dodge to his left and flash a brilliant reverse from the top of the circle.

And, in the 34th minute, Cockram finished off another excellent build-up. Chris Cargo continued his excellent form, using soft hands to take in a long pass and take Yongbo Yin on, one-on-one.

He dummied the keeper on his forehand before rolling it behind his back across the circle for the Lisnagarvey man who still had plenty to do but finished with aplomb, reversing past the lone covering defender.

China made a good fight of it in the second half and grabbed a lifeline when Na Yubo’s scrambled effort following Long Sun’s auto-pass from the left wing. Jermyn smacked the crossbar with his second drag while another McCandless piece of magic almost created a fifth.

But China closed the match much stronger. Yixian Liu’s excellent drag-flick ensured a nervy closing seven minutes but, with an immense showing from Conor Harte, Ireland stayed clear.

Ireland: D Harte, T Lewis, G McCabe, C Cargo, J Jermyn, I Sloan, M Darling, P Maguire, C Harte, S Loughrey, R Gormley
Subs: M Watt, J Brennan, B McCandless, S O’Donoghue, T Cockram
China: Y Yin, W Wo, E Liguang, F Lu, X Liu, L Ye, Y Cui, Y Na, L Sun, T Sun, Y Liu
Subs: Z Sun, R Xu, Y Dong, W Ao, W Qui

France 4 (J-B Pauchet, T Genestet, O Sanchez, M Catonnet) Pakistan 2 (Rizwan Senior, M Tousiq)
France produced somewhat of a surprise when they thumped world number eight side Pakistan 4-2 in the UCD 4 Nations Cup opening tie.

Soaking up plenty of pressure, they struck on the counter to build a 3-0 lead by the 41st minute and Pakistan – who rested world record goal-scorer Sohail Abbas – never got within range.

It was a far cry from the French second string who shipped 16 goals in three Celtic Cup games over the weekend as they were sharp at both ends, stifling the Asian side’s creativity. Jean-Baptiste Pauchet got the first when he poked past Salman Akbar with Tom Genestet’s left-wing ball in the impetus.

Creator turned scorer in the 32nd minute as a series of corners were cleared but the follow-up long corner was worked to the near post, squared and Genestet gleefully volleyed home.

The third was the pick of the day, Pauchet working well with the ball patrol to take a quick sideline ball and caught Pakistan unawares. His through ball was timed perfectly to match the run of Olivier Sanchez who struck first time at full tilt in the 40th minute. Muhammad Rizwan responded instantly, a sharp reverse-stick rebound after Shakeel Abbasi’s initial incursion.

But any comeback was cut short when Matthieu Catonnet grabbed a fairly tame goal for the French, poking home from one yard after Fabien Magner’s shot squeezed under Akbar’s pads.

Muhammad Tousiq’s drag reared up off Henri Lhomme’s pads to the top corner for 4-2 with 14 minutes remaining but, while Muhammad Zubair and Rizwan were both denied, France held up reasonably well.

Bastien Dierckens also took one off the line, perhaps knowing little about it but his stick bunted the ball over the bar to keep two goals in the margin.

UCD 4 Nations Cup: France 4 (J-B Pauchet, T Genestet, O Sanchez, M Catonnet) Pakistan 2 (Rizwan Senior, M Tousiq); Ireland 4 (J Jermyn, P Maguire, M Watt, T Cockram) China 2 (N Yubo, Y Liu)
Standings: 1. Ireland 3pts (+2) 2. France 3pts (+2) 3. China 0pts (-2) 4. Pakistan 0pts (-2)

Fixture schedule:
Wednesday: China vs Pakistan, 6pm; France vs Ireland, 8pm
Friday: France vs China, 12.30pm; Pakistan vs Ireland, 8pm

Words: Stephen Findlater

Gene Muller’s women made light of being ranked second bottom of the teams of the Champions Challenge I in Dublin, by defeating world number 11 India 2-1 on Saturday before seeing off Azerbaijan by the same score 24 hours later.

The victory over Azerbaijan was one made in Cork as former Mount Mercy schoolgirls Audrey O’Flynn and Julia O’Halloran notched the first-half goals in a 2-1 win.

O’Flynn dragged through the  visitors’ short corner defence for the opener on 13 minutes only for an  improvised flicked finish from  Myungsoon Mammadova levelled the scores four minutes later.

However, a sizzling volley from O’Halloran from six yards restored  Ireland’s lead, and they rarely looked in trouble thereafter.  The visitors failed to get a shot in on Emma Gray’s goal in the second  period, but Ireland will have been  annoyed to have let four other penalty corner chances go begging, ensuring the result was still in the balance until the final whistle.

“It was a very different game to yesterday a whole lot more attritional,” said Muller. “This game demanded mental strength and resilience. The team are obviously delighted to have won consecutive games against higher ranked opponents.”

“It’s never going to be pretty when you play against Azerbaijan. I’m obviously delighted with the win. They had a lot of possession but not a lot of chances so we had to be fairly dogged.

It was a big morale booster for Ireland who had, before this weekend, not won against a side above them in the world rankings since the 2009 Europeans.

Now, though, Ireland have two in two days – a decent set of early signs following the introduction of the CPP. A point on Tuesday will secure top spot in the pool but the tournament structure may not do Ireland any favours, a point Muller offers a wry smile to following his assertion that the tournament does not reward consistency.

Top seeds Japan and USA’s travails mean they could be potential opponents in Thursday’s quarter-finals. “Luckily, I was critical of the format before the tournament so I don’t feel I’m just saying it now. The sadness for us is every nation is still in it but we knew that going in. It is frustrating, though,” he said.

On Saturday, Nikki Symmons batted in a corner rebound at shoulder height to put Ireland in front against India, before their attractive, expansive hockey was rewarded with a stunner from Chloe Watkins, who squeezed the ball home at the near post after being found on the baseline following slick build-up play from Lisa Jacob and Aine Connery.

Although Ireland conceded a field goal to India’s Jasjeet Kaur Handa with nine minutes to go, they held out to secure a famous win, with Muller observing: “India are unpredictable, they’re complex and I think we might have got them on an off day. But we did create the circumstances for an off day. We neutralised their creativity and created a whole lot more than what they did through individual flair.”

Next up for Ireland is a clash with Spain tomorrow (6.30pm) with a draw guaranteed to put Ireland through to the classification matches as shock pool winners; India’s 1-1 draw with Spain last night means Ireland are already guaranteed a top two finish in the group.

Meanwhile, David Ames will link up with the Irish team for tonight’s opening Four Nations clash with China (8pm) with heavy legs but happy memories of Cardiff, as he helped a second-string Ireland side retain the Celtic Cup in some style.

The Cookstown-born Beeston starlet is the only player to participate in both tournaments, as coach Paul Revington picked two distinct panels for two tournaments in such close proximity. And Ames signed off in style with two goals as Ireland thrashed hosts Wales 4-0 to end the tournament with a 100% record.

Having edged out Scotland 2-1 on Friday night, with Andy McConnell netting a winner nine seconds from time, Ireland ran riot against an under-strength France, with Peter Blakeney claiming four of their goals in a 7-1 victory.

Monkstown tyro Kyle Good made his international debut in that game and subsequently netted his first goal in an Irish shirt by opening the scoring against the Welsh; his club colleague Richard Sykes had done likewise against the French, while the duo’s captain at club level, Gareth Watkins, skippered Ireland yesterday, becoming the first Monkstown man to do so since 1904.

It was a defiant showing from a side which featured a series of players looking to force their way into the reckoning for the European championships’ squad. Davy Carson, Ronan Flannery, Jonny Bruton and Kenny Carroll were all making their tournament debuts.

They were bolstered by Cork C of I man David Hobbs who returned for the first time since October 2009, a late replacement for Chris Cargo. The Reading man has been drafted into a more established Ireland panel for the UCD 4 Nations Cup which begins on Monday in Belfield. Eugene Magee’s injury necessitated Cargo’s redeployment.

The Cork C of I man, Hobbs, is the country’s most experience current international with 143 caps to his name but has been outside the panel since missing the November 2009 World Cup qualifiers through injury.

The 29 year-old subsequently took a break from international hockey for 2010 but announced his intentions to get back into the national panel with a man of the match performance in the Munster Senior Cup final.

A more familiar-looking Irish outfit will take to the Belfield turf against China tonight, having warmed up with a 3-2 friendly defeat to Pakistan — who they face next weekend — on Saturday night.

Women’s FIH Champions Challenge I, Dublin

Group A

South Africa 2 (P Coetzee, I Davids) Scotland 2 (L Baxter, N Kidd)

Japan 2 (A Murukami, R Komazawa) USA 1 (K O’Donnell)

South Africa 5 (S Russell, T Bright, P Coetzee, D Chamberlain, K Hubach) Japan 1 (R Komazawa)

Scotland 3 (N Kidd, S Judge, A Bell) USA 1 (K O’Donnell)

Standings: 1. South Africa 4pts (+4) 2. Scotland 4pts (+2) 3. Japan 3pts (-3) 4. USA 0pts (-3).

Group B

Ireland 2 (N Symmons, C Watkins) India 1 (J Kaur Handa)

Azerbaijan 2 (K Aliyeva, Z Suleymanova) Spain 1 (P Sanchez)

Ireland 2 (A O’Flynn, J O’Halloran) Azerbaijan 1 (M Mammadova)

India 1 (P Rani) Spain 1 (S Bonastre)

Standings: 1 Ireland 6 pts (+2); 2 Azerbaijan 3 pts (0); 3 Spain 1 pt (-1); 4 India 1 pt (-1).

Men’s Celtic Cup, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Ireland 2 (A McConnell 2) Scotland 1 (K Bain)

Wales 2 (B Edge, M Shaw) France 1 (J-D Koch)

Ireland 7 (P Blakeney 4, P Caruth, R Sykes, GWatkins) France 1 (J-D Koch)

Wales 1 (A Cornick) Scotland 3 (K Bain, A MacKenzie, D Coultas)

Ireland 4 (D Ames 2, K Good, P Caruth) Wales 0

France 4 (S Martin 2, V Condemine, Y Schambert) Scotland 6 (M Christie 2 M Bremner, A Forsyth, C Grassick, F Dunn)

Final standings (goal difference in brackets): 1 Ireland 9 pts (+11); 2 Scotl;and 6 pts (+3); 3 Wales 3 pts (-5); 4 France 0 pts (-9).

Senior International Friendly, UCD

Ireland 2 (S O’Donoghue, T Cockram) Pakistan 3 (A Haseem, R Butt, M Imran);

Today: UCD Four Nations, Belfield: Pakistan v France (6pm); Ireland v China (8pm).

Gene Muller: "“The tournament format does not reward consistency. The first three matches just determine pool ranking but there’s not a top two and a bottom two."

It is the first of a series of high profile tests for the country in the coming week, pitted also against Spain and Azerbaijan in the group stages before moving into the knock-out stages.

But it is the India tie – and their unique approach to the game – which is currently occupying his focus, promising an expansive game to counter the ‘five-five’ formation his opponents are likely to implement. Ireland fell last summer 6-0 to India but Muller says that is not a likely outcome this time around.

“I’m really looking forward to playing India. We had a disaster last time. It was bizarre, we had an even amount of circle penetrations and more corners than they did but they beat us considerably. It’s the one that is most in our mind. It’s fun playing them, it’s the way hockey should be played.

“Five designated attackers, the rest designated defenders. It’s exciting and fun to play, fast and extremely skilful. I just hope we’re not mesmerised by it. We still have to play well.

“You make a mistake if you don’t play some form of expansive hockey against them. If they play that expansive, they’ll be open to counters.

“The balance of structure and looseness is critical. If we’re too structured, we won’t generate quality chances and they will pick you off.”

It’s a bold statement of intent for what can be seen as coming out party, a debuting of what has been going on in the cocoon of the central participation programme over the winter months.

The trade-off for the increased training meant a marked reduction in international fixtures. How Muller’s side gels on the pitch remains to be seen but he is happy with how his side is entering the competition.

“We arrive at this tournament at a much better stage than ever before, physically, technically, tactically. I’m more comfortable with where we are at. Certainly, there is an expectation we will play well because we have trained hard enough to deserve to play well.

“Whether that’s enough, you don’t know. We’re close to the bottom of the rankings [of the eight teams involved]. Five of these teams went to the last World Cup, they’re good teams, generally well prepared. They are so close, you need to play well or you will get beaten.”

And he adds that it is a far cry from the difficulties endured in Ireland’s last world level competition – the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Chile.

A tournament beset by issues, most notably the ash cloud which meant the team’s travel, four games and acclimatisation to a 20 degree temperature shift within seven days was a severe test.

Ireland captain Alex Speers with her counterparts Khatira Aliyeva of Azerbaijan, Lauren Crandall of the USA and India's Saba Anjum. Picture: Sportsfile

Muller says it was the “toughest tournament he ever coached in” but says the lessons learned have underpinned his strategy ever since, believing serious overhaul of the prior structures were a must.

“In Chile, I really felt I had pushed the team too hard in preparation. The team was tired arriving there, there wasn’t much flow when we were over there.

“Having said that, the turning point for this group of players came in the game against Chile over there. We won 3-0 and the players just willed themselves to turn things around, even being fatigued. To me, I will always remember that game. Something happened there that changed the mind of the players. Do we want this to continue or to change it?”

After hours in the UCD gym and training away from the public’s gaze, the Irish team now have the chance to express themselves.

Moreso, the format of the Champion’s Challenge means they are guaranteed a quarter-final place even if they were to lose all their group games. It is a structure which Muller does not see the logic in, placing undue influence on each side’s fourth game in the competition.

“The tournament format does not reward consistency. The first three matches just determine pool ranking but there’s not a top two and a bottom two.

“Everyone gets to play a live game four. You could have disastrous three games, win one game and be in the top four. You could also be fantastic going into game four and then have an off day and end up in the bottom four. It’s difficult with this tournament format to attach a result to it because consistency doesn’t necessarily lead to an outcome.”

He also questions why this is the format for this second tier event but the world’s elite are not using a similar format.

“There must be a reason why they’re not doing this at the Champion’s Trophy. The reason, I imagine, is that the top teams would not accept it.

“It’s probably to create more life [in the classification matches] but I’m not sure that is a strong enough argument. I can’t see it staying for important events in the future.

“We could benefit or be done in by it but at least we know that going in. I don’t really want to make waves around it because it is what it is.”

Cork girls Julia O'Halloran, Audrey O'Flynn and Cliodhna Sargent pose with the Champions Challenge trophy. Picture: Sportsfile

Nonetheless, the quality of opposition is a huge draw and Muller says that while the calibre of opposition may cause his side a few problems, their presence could not come at a better time.

“I am delighted we’re playing a home tournament, against quality opposition. It will be ideal preparation for us for the Europeans.

“These teams will exploit our weaknesses but with enough time to address them. Had the distance between the two tournaments been further apart, you lose lessons; too close there’s not enough time to fix things. It couldn’t be better for us.

“We’ll be exploited at this tournament. It’s the nature of the game, the opponents and coaches are good enough to test us on many different levels. In some ways, they will be doing us favours.”

** To hear the full interview with Gene Muller from the Champion’s Challenge I media day, click the ‘Listen’ button on the following link.

***Interviews and article kindly provided by Stephen Findlater and reproduced with permission from The Hook.

For the Celtic Cup, which gets underway on Friday at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, the Irish coach has named an inexperienced selection with eight of 18 making their tournament debuts.

Indeed, Three Rock goalkeeper Stephen West and former club mate Kyle Good could make their debut in Wales. Chris Cargo returns to this panel having claimed a bronze last Sunday in the EuroHockey League with Reading for his first international appearance of the summer.

David Ames: The only Irish player who will participate in both the Celtic Cup and UCD 4 Nations tournaments. Picture: Adrian Boehm

Ever presents from the Wales’ series, Andy McConnell, Ronan Flannery and John Jackson are included in this first selection. Two Munster exiles – Jonny Bruton of YM and Lisnagarvey’s Jason Lynch – are both included here.

Revington subsequently makes 17 changes then for the high profile UCD4 Nations tournament gets underway in Dublin on Monday with Pakistan, France and China visiting Belfield. David Ames, pictured, is the only player in line to play in both tournaments with the latter certainly featuring the more established names.

Again, there are a few possible newcomers with teenage prospect Ian Sloan – son of Irish legend Marty who captained the country over 100 times – included along with Leaving Cert student Shane O’Donoghue.

Loughborough’s Stu Loughrey is the other inexperienced name but captain Ronan Gormley is back involved, again following an EHL medal, silver with Spanish side Club de Campo.

Beyond that trio, 12 of the side have over 50 caps – Joe Brennan the latest of them, hitting the half-century against Wales on Sunday. In the Welsh series, Ireland used 27 players while, over the next 12 days, that number will rise to 35.

Speaking about the two selections, Revington said: “Both events take place very close to one another and while school and university exams have also dictated how we select through this period, this challenge allows the squad another opportunity to test our strength in depth and also expose several younger players to a higher level of international competition.”

Irish Celtic Cup Squad (caps in brackets, June 17-19, Sophia Gardens): David Ames (Beeston, 32), Peter Blakeney (Three Rock Rovers, 16), Jonny Bruton (YMCA, 2), Chris Cargo (Reading, 18), Kenny Carroll (Railway Union, 2), Davy Carson (Corinthian, 3), Peter Caruth (Annadale, 27), David Fitzgerald (Monkstown, 2), Ronan Flannery (Pembroke, 4), Paul Gleghorne (Instonians, 25), Kyle Good (Monkstown, 0), John Jackson (Mossley, 59), Jason Lynch (Lisnagarvey, 12), Michael Maguire (Three Rock Rovers, 13), Andy McConnell (Hurley, 33), Richard Sykes (Monkstown, 1), Gareth Watkins (Monkstown, 9), Stephen West (Three Rock Rovers, 0); Coach: Paul Revington; Manager: Peter Jackson; Physio: David Richards; S&C/Video: Jonny Caren.

UCD 4 Nations Squad (June 20-25, Belfield): David Ames (Beeston, 32), Joe Brennan (Glenanne, 50), Tim Cockram (Lisnagarvey, 114), Mitch Darling (Den Bosch, 59), Ronan Gormley, Ronan (Club de Campo, 112), Conor Harte (SCHC, 58), David Harte (SCHC, 62), John Jermyn (Cork Church of Ireland, 118), Tim Lewis (Krefelder, 70), Stu Loughrey (Loughborough, 2), Eugene Magee (Dragons, 118), Phelie Maguire (Leuven, 94), Geoff McCabe (Santander, 80), Bruce McCandless (Banbridge, 14), Shane O’Donoghue (Glenanne, 1), Ian Sloan (Cookstown, 0), Iain Walker (YMCA, 31), Mikey Watt (Santander, 70); Coach: Paul Revington; Manager: Peter Jackson; Assistant Coach: Arul Anthoni; Physio: David Richards; S&C/Video: Stephen Barry; Video: Tristan Seaton-Stedham.

Words: Stephen Findlater

Chris Cargo and Ronan Gormley are Irish international team-mates, but they’ll be in opposition this weekend as the former’s Reading side meet the latter’s Club de Campo outfit in the last four of the EHL in The Hague tomorrow (11.30am).

Among the 14 Irish squad members to ply their trade abroad this season, the duo have both enjoyed productive seasons at club level. Bangor hitman Cargo has been instrumental in Reading becoming the first English side to reach an EHL semi-final; he is the tournament’s third top scorer with four goals and is looking forward to locking horns with his international colleague.

Chris Cargo: EHL's joint third top scorer having notched four goals for Reading. Picture: Adrian Boehm

“It will be really good to see Gormo out there, I enjoy playing with him in an Irish shirt and from training with him I know that it will be a hard battle against him,” he said.

“We have had a little bit of banter online (on Twitter) but I haven’t seen him in person since a quick hello at the KO16 due to our busy schedules.

“Most importantly though, I think it has been fantastic for Irish hockey as a whole in the EHL with the performance of Glennane and Pembroke plus the likes of David Ames for Beeston, Eugene Magee for Dragons and now the knowledge that there will be at least one Irish player playing in the final on Sunday. Hopefully it can really help the international side this summer.”

Gormley’s Club de Campo outfit come into the game off the back of a bitterly disappointing loss to Atletic Terrassa in the Spanish league title playoffs, Terrassa gaining revenge for their defeat to the Madrid side in the EHL’s last eight.

Prior to that, defender Irish international skipper Gormley had the mixed feeling of being on a Campo side that set a tournament record by beating the Dubliner’s beloved hometown club Pembroke Wanderers 11-0 in the KO16.

The Irish international captain nonetheless seems to be loving life in Madrid. His Twitter handle is @spaniardireland and he is routinely the subject of good-natured abuse from his Irish team-mates along such lines; for instance, Cargo stoked the fires this week by labelling him a “Spanish gringo” who “needs a shave and a haircut”.

Whoever comes out on top will become just the third Irish international to play in an EHL final, though none has yet lifted the trophy. John Jermyn, now of Cork C of I, and Iain Lewers — who has since switched his international allegiance to England and Great Britain — were both in the side for Dutch club HGC who lost the inaugural decider to Uhlenhorster.

The other semi-final is an all-Dutch affair, with surprise package Oranje Zwart taking on HGC, who ended the hopes of Cookstown native David Ames’ Beeston side. The two clubs were on opposite sides of the draw but their progression to the last four invoked an EHL rule that means clubs from the same country must play each other if they reach the semi-finals.

Elsewhere, Ireland will also be guaranteed a finalist in the top tier of womens’ European club action as Slough’s Hannah Bowe takes on Leicester’s Emma Clarke in the semi-final of the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup, also in the Hague.

Meanwhile, Loreto will be hoping a lengthy lay-off from competitive action won’t hinder their chances as they begin their EuroHockey Club Champion’s Challenge II campaign, the fourth tier of club competition, in Lille today.

The club last played 10 weeks ago, providing plenty of difficulties regarding motivation and availability of exam-tied players for training, prompting coach Gar Evans to hit out at the EHF on The Hook for scheduling a club tournament during the international season.

Furthermore, Nikki Symmons and Nicci Daly both have Irish commitments in next week’s Champion’s Challenge, meaning their involvement with Loreto is likely to be limited.

Loreto’s fifth-place finish in the division above last year — and Railway Union’s bronze medal in it this season — suggests the Dubliners can aim for a final berth in Lille, where the hosts, Swansea and Austria’s HTC Wien are their pool opponents.

**Meanwhile, a patchy Irish performance from an inexperienced side yielded a 3-2 win at Belfield last night as first half goals from Andy McConnell, Peter Blakeney and Peter Caruth made the difference.

Wales pulled back two goals back in the second half and had a trio of penalty corners but found Dave Fitzgerald in decent form to hold on for a decent win in which Richard Sykes made his debut.

Despite the sketchy second half, assistant coach Arul Anthoni took the positives from the game: “Winning a capped match is always important and it gives us an extra boost and we’ll take this confidence into the next games. It’s a younger side, there are only four of the side who are regulars so it will put pressure on the established players as we build a bigger pool of quality players.”

Ireland: David Fitzgerald, Gareth Watkins, David Ames, Alan Giles, Peter Blakeney, Michael Maguire, Peter Caruth, John Jackson, Andy McConnell, Ronan Flannery, Paul Gleghorne
Subs: Johnny Bruton, Kenny Carroll, Richard Sykes, Jason Lynch, Davy Carson

Wales: Iwan Williams, Jonny Gordon, Peter Swainson, Ben Croxall, Joe Naughalty, Lewis Prosser, Andy Cornick, Rick Gay, Gareth Furlong, Rufus McNaught-Barrington
Subs: Matt Ruxton, Chris Bowen, Rhys Gowman, Mike Shaw, Ben Edge

The 28-year-old Railway Union hitwoman was a relative newcomer to international hockey despite her goalscoring exploits in Leinster, having received her first cap against Scotland just last July.

But a maiden international hat-trick in a 6-0 win over an experimental Scottish side brought McDonnell’s tally to five in eight games in green, and appears to have swayed coach Gene Muller’s thinking.

Jean McDonnell: 5 goals in 8 games for Ireland. PIcture: Adrian Boehm

Another to impress at last weekend’s Celtic Cup was Hermes’ Aine Connery, and she has also made the cut this time.

Miriam Crowley and Hannah Bowe – sister of Irish rugby international star Tommy – are the two from the Celtic Cup 18 to miss out here,  with Nikki Symmons – who could pass the 150-cap landmark at this tournament – and Nicci Daly returning. Both were unavailable last weekend due to Loreto’s EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge II preparations.

Ireland have been drawn in Pool B against world number 10 Spain, India (11th) and Azerbaijan (14th), with Scotland, Japan, South Africa and the USA making up the other pool at the competition, which will run from June 18-26 at Belfield.

Meanwhile, Ireland U18 girls coach Richie Malone has finalised his squad for next month’s EuroHockey U18 Nations Championships in Utrecht, Holland.

The most eyebrow-raising selection is that of Katie Froeling, an exciting Dutch forward with Craeyenhour HC in Utrecht whose mother hails from Carlow.

Although unable to partake in this year’s interpros, Froeling committed to travelling to Ireland and fulfilling a criteria of attending every training session. She follows in the footsteps of Nicole Laarhoven, a Dutch defender with a Waterford mother who was part of last year’s Home Nations-winning Irish side.

The squad is backboned by players who were Youth (U17) Olympians in Singapore last year, including Catholic Institute duo Róisín Upton – the current U18 Irish player of the year – and Rebecca Barry, as well as Cork C of I’s Amy Kate Trevor.

Elsewhere, Ireland’s men begin their summer campaign tonight with the first of a three-game series against Wales at Belfield but they will do so without some of their big hitters.

A dozen of the panel have returned from their time on the continent but Reading’s Chris Cargo and Club de Campo’s Ronan Gormley will be in the Hague as part of their respective clubs’ EuroHockey League bids. Den Bosch’s Alan Sothern, meanwhile, is ruled out due to a metatarsal injury sustained in camp this week.

Finally, Irish officials will be spread far and wide this summer as the country provides umpires, judges, umpire’s managers and technical directors to tournaments around the continent.

Olympic umpire Carol Metchette will once again have an extremely busy summer following the confirmation of her place on the roster for the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Monchengladbach in August.

Nikki Symmons could pass the 150-cap mark for Ireland at the Champions Challenge. Picture: Adrian Boehm

This coming weekend, she will officiate at the conclusion of the women’s EuroHockey Club Championships finals in the Hague and will be involved in a pair of world level events – the Champion’s Challenge I in Dublin and the Pan-American Games in Mexico.

Geoff Conn heads to the men’s equivalent of the Europeans as well as being Ireland’s Champion’s Challenge II representative in Lille while fellow senior umpire Kieran Bolger is off to the Pannonia Cup in Slovakia in July.

IIRELAND v Wales, Senior Men’s Series, Belfield, UCD: Today, 8pm; Saturday, 4pm; Sunday, 2pm.

IRELAND women’s squad for Champions Challenge I, Dublin, June 18-26: Emma Gray (GK, Hermes, 22 caps), Pamela Smithwick (GK, Old Alex, 3); Michelle Harvey (Pegasus, 49), Cliodhna Sargent (Cork Harlequins, 77), Emma Smyth (Railway Union, 35), Emma Clarke (Leicester, 103, vice-capt), Alex Speers (Railway Union, 87, capt), Shirley McCay (Old Alex, 103), Jean McDonnell (Railway Union, 8), Lisa Jacob (Hermes, 77), Julia O’Halloran (Railway Union, 57), Sinead McCarthy (Hermes, 15), Aine Connery (Hermes, 18), Nikki Symmons (Loreto, 145), Audrey O’Flynn (Hermes, 26), Chloe Watkins (UCD, 11), Lizzie Colvin (HGC, Holland, 45), Nicci Daly (Loreto, 13).

IRELAND U18 GIRLS squad for EuroHockey U18 Championships, Utrecht, Holland, July: Aisling Naughton (Mount Anville/Old Alexandra), Amy Cooke (Ballyclare HS/Pegasus), Amy-Kate Trevor (Scoil Mhuire/Cork C of I), Dora Gorman (Taylors Hill/Greenfields), Emily Beatty (Alexandra College/Old Alexandra), Emma Russell (Holy Child Killiney/Hermes), Freddie Timmins (Yeats College/Galway), Jenna Holmes (GK, Carrickfergus Grammar/Ballymoney), Joanne Orr (Royal School Armagh/Armagh), Katie Froeling (Gymnasium Sorghvliet/Craeyenhout), Katie Mullan (Dalriada/Ballymoney), Kerri McDonald (Banbridge Academy/Armagh), Leah Ewart (Royal School Armagh/Armagh), Lisa McCarthy (Mount Anville/Railway Union), Lucy Camlin (GK, Ballyclare HS/Pegasus), Lucy McKee (Banbridge Academy/Armagh), Rebecca Barry (Laurel Hill Colaiste/Catholic Institute), Roisin Upton (Crescent Comprehensive/Catholic Institute). Non-travelling reserves: Erika Hinkson (Alexandra College/Old Alexandra), Kate Lloyd (Loreto Dalkey/Railway Union), Katie Morris (Methodist College/Lisnagarvey), Natasha Cooke (GK, Colaitse Iognaid/Galway)

Ireland tonked Wales 5-0 on Saturday to set up a winner-takes-all clash with Scotland — 6-0 victors over the Welsh on Friday — at Largs yesterday, as the girls in green bidded to annex a first title since 2006.

But Nikki Kidd converted the Scots’ only penalty corner 10 minutes from time to secure a 1-0 win and a third straight title for the hosts, with Ireland left to rue six corners that went astray.

That was a reflection of the greater amount of chances they carved out, and while ruthlessness remains a worry, Muller — as is his wont — chose to look on the bright side.

“It was obviously very disappointing to lose the match,” he said. “(But) we created more scoring chances than in previous matches against them so I did take a lot of positives out of today.”

Ireland’s best chance came halfway through the second half when striker Lisa Jacob picked up a stray ball from a broken down penalty corner to beat the keeper, only to be denied by the woodwork.

Ireland get an immediate chance to even up the score, even if there will be no silverware on the line, as they play the Scots again today (1pm) in a friendly before returning home to begin their preparations for the visit of some of world hockey’s big hitters at the Champions Challenge in Dublin in 12 days’ time.

The main plus for Muller has come in the form of shown by Áine Connery this weekend. The Kilkenny woman appeared to fall out of favour for a few couple of seasons but is now back in the international reckoning after a couple of storming seasons with Hermes.

Connery netted a stunning goal — her first in Irish colours — against Wales, roofing a flicked shot after deftly controlling a left-wing crash ball. Before that, there were two Michelle Harvey drag-flicks, a bullet of a corner strike from Cliodhna Sargent and one from skipper Alex Speers.

Meanwhile, the Irish men’s team have revealed they have so far succeeded in raising more than 7,000 towards their bid to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

With the squad personally contributing 18,000 thus far, they have been bidding to make up the shortfall required for their training and travel requirements, including last month playing against seven Dublin club teams in one day, cycling from venue to venue.

To contribute or for more details, click here.