Personal landmarks not motivating Jermyn

Compliments from Dutch coaches and goalscoring records are mere asides according to Ireland midfielder John Jermyn, who says his sole focus is attaining Ireland’s first Olympic qualification in hockey since 1908. The Cork Church of Ireland midfielder is now one of the elder statesmen of the Irish side, but is as important as ever as Paul Revington’s number one drag-flicker. He netted five times at last month’s European championships – including a pair of penalty strokes in the vital 2-0 win over France – and his performances prompted Dutch coach Paul van Ass to label him, Eugene Magee and fellow Cork man David Harte as “world class” in the aftermath of Ireland’s 7-4 defeat to the world number three side.

Jermyn modestly bats aside such praise though – “It was very gratifying to get a compliment from a coach of a team of the quality of the Dutch” – and also says he isn’t too fussed about potentially eclipsing Stephen Butler’s all-time Irish goalscoring record. Jermyn’s 71 strikes have him eight short of Butler’s tally, prompting the Belgium-based former Glenanne man to joke on Twitter that he should have put a sniper in the stand at the Euros in Germany. Butler says he “couldn’t think of a nicer guy or better player to break the record” but it’s not something that weighs too heavily on Jermyn’s mind. “It would be a nice to tick off the list,” he told the Cork Independent, in an interview with Brian Hayes Curtin, often a rival of his on the pitch when C of I take on the latter’s Cork Harlequins side. “But my major goal in hockey is to qualify for the Olympics. If the record comes along the way, that would be great.” Echoing the feelgood vibes surrounding this Irish men’s team, Jermyn is setting his sights high following three trophies and a highest-ever fifth-place finish at the Euros. “Yes, it’s very exciting and we genuinely believed that we could win. I think there is a strong possibility that we could qualify for the Olympics in the Olympic qualifying tournament, which will be on in the spring,” he said. “It was always going to be difficult against England and Holland, but we are on the up now and pretty confident. Qualifying for the Olympics would be huge for hockey in Ireland and hopefully it would increase its status as has happened with Irish cricket over the last few years. I’m disappointed that we didn’t qualify this time.” Jermyn is now in his 10th season as an international hockey player, but – as alluded to by the Harte twins prior to the Europeans –  he says belief is the main difference between Ireland of the present and previous sides. “We always been close to the level of the top teams but we proved it by winning (the INSEP Five Nations) this summer…the psychological difference has been massive for this team, we believe that we can match up against the best. “(Ireland coach Paul Revington) has successfully created the conditions needed for success, despite an extremely limited budget. He is doing a great job.”