The mantra in Pembroke Wanderers is “keep calm and give it to Alan Sothern”, and the striker showed why he is so highly regarded by his club by firing Ireland to a 5-2 win over Bangladesh in New Delhi yesterday.
Andrew Meredith’s side were opening their World League Round 2 campaign as second seeds for the tournament after favourites India, but found themselves in real trouble as they were 2-0 down to the Asian minnows inside 20 minutes.
On a pitch described afterwards by Meredith as “barely fit for international hockey”, Ireland recovered as Sothern – back playing tournament hockey after a lengthy injury absence – turned in Mitch Darling’s shot.
Sothern then converted a pass from 18-year-old Peter Brown, who impressed on his tournament debut before Chris Cargo potted a rebound for a 3-2 half-time lead.
Shane O’Donoghue (left) congratulates Alan Sothern on one of his three goals. Picture: Stephen Findlater
Ireland stepped it up a gear after the break but only got some breathing space when Shane O’Donoghue winged in a drag-flick on 55 minutes before Sothern got a sweet touch to Eugene Magee’s cross to complete his hat-trick.
Next up for Ireland is a tie with Fiji – hammered 16-0 by India yesterday – tomorrow (10.30am Irish time) with the hosts lying in wait on Thursday.
Earlier, Meredith had labeled the International Hockey Federation (FIH) as “amateurish” following a late decision to adjust the tournament parameters.
Initially, the aim was to finish inside the top two to progress to third round that will act as a qualifier for the 2014 World Cup.
But the FIH threw a spanner into the works at the manager’s briefing over the weekend, saying that only the three best placed runners-up from the four round two events will now advance along with the tournament winners.
With Ireland the second highest ranked side in the competition after hosts India, Meredith is acutely aware of the consequences of this adjustment to the rules.
“You come into a tournament and two days before it, they change the rules – there’s no other world organizational body that would be so amateurish,” he said. “Can you imagine FIFA doing this? It’s really incredible.”
For a sport with well-documented financial issues, the change could have wider consequences.
Should Ireland finish second this week, they will have to wait until June before knowing if they have progressed. In turn, they will also not know whether they will be drawn to play the third round in either the Netherlands or Malaysia in July.
Given that the former would cost €30,000 while the Asian venue would cost closer to €90,000, it makes financial planning nigh on impossible in Meredith’s eyes.
“Where do you come up with a huge sum like that? It’s financially delusional.
Ireland’s pre-match huddle before their clash with Bangladesh in New Delhi. Picture: Stephen Findlater
“The cost or world hockey is escalating beyond some organisations’ means. Secondly, even if you have access to the funds, you can’t approach the Sports Council due to the timing. We only found out about India in November to travel in February and it will be the same in the summer.”
World League Rd 2, New Delhi: Ireland 5 (Alan Sothern 3, Shane O’Donoghue, Chris Cargo) Bangladesh 2 (Moinul Islam, MR Chayan); China 4 Oman 0; India 16 Fiji 0
Andrew Meredith quotes and words with thanks to Stephen Findlater, who is in situ in New Delhi this week. Check out The Hook for the full Meredith interview and the best coverage of the WL2 you’ll find anywhere. A live stream for all the games is also available here.
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