Late goals from captain John Jackson and Stuart Loughrey rescued a desperate situation for Ireland as they salvaged a 3-3 draw with the Czech Republic to keep European ‘A’ division status by the skin of their teeth.
Ireland had been widely expected to thump a Czech side who they beat 7-2 and 9-0 last year, but it left coach Andrew Meredith relieved as it helps Ireland retain top 16 status as well as shortening the qualification campaign for the 2016 Olympics.
“It is vital for the squad looking at 2014 and the qualification for Rio,” he said. “They showed great character and heart. You see the guys come in at 18-years-old who show the same character and fire, making interceptions and running things down as the guys who had the guys with the most caps. That’s a really great platform to work from.”
Ronan Gormley’s dithering allowed Lukas Plochy to nip and the back-tracking Bruce McCandless turned in his intended cross. That came in the fourth minute and, soon after, Stepan Bernatek got a brilliant second, picking out the top corner with a near post deflection.
Conor Harte got one back in the 17th minute from a corner that appeared to steady the nerves somewhat as Ireland controlled much of the ball.
But the Czechs were physically aggressive and backed up by a top drawer goalkeeper in Filip Neusser, and the game looked to be up when Martin Babicky was set free down the right and laid on a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Ondrej Vudmaska.
He provided a sublime first time finish, chipping into the top corner from a 45 degree angle to leave Ireland in disarray at 3-1.
Spurred by stirring words from Jackson, however, Ireland kept pushing forward. Peter Caruth’s cross found the unlikeliest of finishers as Loughrey – coming forward from the back – bravely dove full-length to flip the ball over Neusser.
A lunging tackle on O’Donoghue outside the circle drew a penalty corner three minutes later; it was switched left to Jackson and made Neusser scurry across his goal line. The Reading-bound defender plunged the shot through the goalkeeper’s legs and the Irish crowd erupted.
There was no such luck for Ireland’s women, who wasted eight short corners in a 3-1 loss to Scotland on Saturday which saw them demoted to the B division for 2015.
A lovely team goal finished off by Anna O’Flanagan had Ireland in front but Scotland picked off three of their five corners to retain top tier status and condemn Ireland to the second tier.
It’s a second disappointment for coach Darren Smith and the squad, after faltering during February’s World League 2, and comes on the back of the U18 side suffering a similar fate.
“The girls have been working incredibly hard,” said Smith. “You have a group that are immensely committed and want to play well. So, from my perspective and the girls, it is really hard when we don’t string it together. Tough week but that’s life.”
The New Zealander also bemoaned Ireland’s set-piece malfunctions: “We struggled to get a shot away. Our pull-outs haven’t been on the ground and we haven’t provided a good platform for Audrey [O’Flynn]. That’s not just today. It was highlighted today because we had eight corners and didn’t get a meaningful shot.
“That was down to good work from Scotland and also our inability to do the basics on a tough pitch. It is frustrating because it should be a source of goals but prior to today, they weren’t operating either.”
Ireland’s teams had been left in the do-or-die scenarious after they both lost to Spain in the first of their relegation games, the women falling 1-0 Silvia Bonastre’s 19th-minute reverse-stick effort while a disappointing performance from the men saw them lose 4-0.
TriFinance EuroHockey Nations Championships, Boom, Belgium
Men
Relegation Pool C: Ireland 0 Spain 4; Ireland 3 (C Harte, S Loughrey, J Jackson) Czech Republic 3 (L Plochy, S Bernatek, O Vudmaska).
Final: Germany 3 Belgium 1; 3rd/4th place playoff: Netherlands 3 England 2
Final standings: 1 Germany; 2 Belgium; 3 Netherlands; 4 England; 5 Spain; 6 Ireland; 7 Poland; 8 Czech Republic.
*Poland and Czech Republic relegated to B division for 2015
Women
Relegation Pool C: Ireland 0 Spain 1; Ireland 1 (A O’Flanagan) Scotland 3 (C Ralph, N Kidd, H Cram).
Final: Germany 4 England 4, Germany win 2-0 after shootout competition; 3rd/4th place playoff: Belgium 1 Netherlands 3.
Final standings: 1 Germany; 2 England; 3 Netherlands; 4 Belgium; 5 Spain; 6 Scotland; 7 Ireland; 8 Belarus.
*Ireland and Belarus relegated to B division for 2015
“It is vital for the squad looking at 2014 and the qualification for Rio,” he said. “They showed great character and heart. You see the guys come in at 18-years-old who show the same character and fire, making interceptions and running things down as the guys who had the guys with the most caps. That’s a really great platform to work from.”
Ronan Gormley’s dithering allowed Lukas Plochy to nip and the back-tracking Bruce McCandless turned in his intended cross. That came in the fourth minute and, soon after, Stepan Bernatek got a brilliant second, picking out the top corner with a near post deflection.
Conor Harte got one back in the 17th minute from a corner that appeared to steady the nerves somewhat as Ireland controlled much of the ball.
But the Czechs were physically aggressive and backed up by a top drawer goalkeeper in Filip Neusser, and the game looked to be up when Martin Babicky was set free down the right and laid on a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Ondrej Vudmaska.
He provided a sublime first time finish, chipping into the top corner from a 45 degree angle to leave Ireland in disarray at 3-1.
Spurred by stirring words from Jackson, however, Ireland kept pushing forward. Peter Caruth’s cross found the unlikeliest of finishers as Loughrey – coming forward from the back – bravely dove full-length to flip the ball over Neusser.
A lunging tackle on O’Donoghue outside the circle drew a penalty corner three minutes later; it was switched left to Jackson and made Neusser scurry across his goal line. The Reading-bound defender plunged the shot through the goalkeeper’s legs and the Irish crowd erupted.
There was no such luck for Ireland’s women, who wasted eight short corners in a 3-1 loss to Scotland on Saturday which saw them demoted to the B division for 2015.
A lovely team goal finished off by Anna O’Flanagan had Ireland in front but Scotland picked off three of their five corners to retain top tier status and condemn Ireland to the second tier.
It’s a second disappointment for coach Darren Smith and the squad, after faltering during February’s World League 2, and comes on the back of the U18 side suffering a similar fate.
“The girls have been working incredibly hard,” said Smith. “You have a group that are immensely committed and want to play well. So, from my perspective and the girls, it is really hard when we don’t string it together. Tough week but that’s life.”
The New Zealander also bemoaned Ireland’s set-piece malfunctions: “We struggled to get a shot away. Our pull-outs haven’t been on the ground and we haven’t provided a good platform for Audrey [O’Flynn]. That’s not just today. It was highlighted today because we had eight corners and didn’t get a meaningful shot.
“That was down to good work from Scotland and also our inability to do the basics on a tough pitch. It is frustrating because it should be a source of goals but prior to today, they weren’t operating either.”
Ireland’s teams had been left in the do-or-die scenarious after they both lost to Spain in the first of their relegation games, the women falling 1-0 Silvia Bonastre’s 19th-minute reverse-stick effort while a disappointing performance from the men saw them lose 4-0.
TriFinance EuroHockey Nations Championships, Boom, Belgium
Men
Relegation Pool C: Ireland 0 Spain 4; Ireland 3 (C Harte, S Loughrey, J Jackson) Czech Republic 3 (L Plochy, S Bernatek, O Vudmaska).
Final: Germany 3 Belgium 1; 3rd/4th place playoff: Netherlands 3 England 2
Final standings: 1 Germany; 2 Belgium; 3 Netherlands; 4 England; 5 Spain; 6 Ireland; 7 Poland; 8 Czech Republic.
*Poland and Czech Republic relegated to B division for 2015
Women
Relegation Pool C: Ireland 0 Spain 1; Ireland 1 (A O’Flanagan) Scotland 3 (C Ralph, N Kidd, H Cram).
Final: Germany 4 England 4, Germany win 2-0 after shootout competition; 3rd/4th place playoff: Belgium 1 Netherlands 3.
Final standings: 1 Germany; 2 England; 3 Netherlands; 4 Belgium; 5 Spain; 6 Scotland; 7 Ireland; 8 Belarus.
*Ireland and Belarus relegated to B division for 2015