Mullan and Gray retained but Carroll misses out

Katie Mullan and Nicola Gray are the two newcomers to retain their place in the Irish women’s panel from last week’s Wales’ series as they complete their formal match practice in Scotland from September 7-9.

It means there is no place for Catholic Institute’s Naomi Carroll, despite an excellent display against Wales on just her second international appearance last Sunday, which yielded her first two senior international goals. Otherwise, the panel for the series for the series at Auchenhowie, north Glasgow is an experienced one with 13 of the Olympic qualifying tournament panel travelling. Niamh Small, Niamh Atcheler and Anna O’Flanagan are the other three to complete the selection, stepping in to replace the missing quintet of Cliodhna Sargent, Emma Clarke, Shirley McCay, Lizzie Colvin and Nicci Daly. Interim coach Denis Pritchard said of the fixtures: “This series of games provides us with another test of our ability as individuals and as a team. Following some good performances against Wales, we need to consolidate our principles of play and reinforce some structures in order to be competitive at another level “ It is the last port of call for Ireland ahead of the world ranking FIH Champion’s Challenge I event that Ireland will host in Belfield. Ireland: Emma Gray (Hermes), Pamela Smithwick (Old Alex), Niamh Atcheler (UCD), Aine Connery (Hermes), Miriam Crowley (UCC), Nicola Evans (UCD), Nicola Gray (UCD), Michelle Harvey (Pegasus), Lisa Jacob (Hermes), Katie Mullan (UCD), Sinead McCarthy (Hermes), Audrey O’Flynn (Hermes), Anna O’Flanagan (UCD), Niamh Small (Loreto), Emma Smyth (Railway Union), Alex Speers (Railway Union), Nicola Symmons (Loreto), Chloe Watkins (UCD) Match schedule: Friday, September 7: Scotland v Ireland, 7.30pm Saturday, September 8: Scotland v Ireland, 2pm Sunday, September 9: Scotland v Ireland, 2pm