Late show unravels Ireland again

A luckless Ireland side conceded late on for the third game in a row and went down 3-2 to Korea at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore today, scuppering their chances of bringing home a medal.

The girls in green haven’t been able to catch a break at this tournament, and once again were left listless at the final whistle, following six last-gasp corners which culminated in Kim Sol netting the winner. Coach Dave Passmore was once again devastated for his players: “This young team gave everything today, and I feel so sorry for them. Hockey at this level is a hard place to be; they can hold their heads up high and now work to win their last two matches and clinch fifth place.” Ireland now play South Africa – who are also pointless but have conceded 27 times in five games, and have yet to look like winning any – twice, once in the regulation pool on Sunday and again in Tuesday’s classification matches, where they will bid to avoid the wooden spoon. Korea took a 10th-minute lead through Lee Yuri, something of a soft corner goal, before Ireland lost vice-captain Roisin Upton to injury for the remainder of the half. But they restored parity a minute later though Chloe Brown’s excellent strike off her back foot, and  led for the first time at this tournament on 16 minutes, when Joanne Orr tucked home a rebound after Katie Mullan’s effort had struck an upright. But as half time loomed, Korea drew level with a simple field goal from Lee Yuri, who finished high past Jenna Holmes. The second period was more devoid of chance, the best falling to Emily Beatty, who beat the Korean keeper all ends up but somehow her effort stayed out. Ireland survived five corners in the final five minutes and blocked down a sixth, only for the ball to fall kindly for Kim Sol to have a second, successful bite of the cherry and strike the winner past  Holmes’ outstretched right foot.