Black Sticks leave Ireland feeling blue

Ireland suffered Olympic heartbreak at the hands of New Zealand in Singapore this morning, as the Black Sticks grabbed a last-gasp strike to claim a 3-2 victory. Coach Dave Passmore claimed afterwards he was “truly gutted” for the side, while manager Una McCarthy praised the best performance she had ever seen in age-grade games. When storms again caused havoc – this time, the hit-off was delayed – New Zealand started better and forced a couple of saves from Jenna Holmes between the sticks for Ireland, before Rhiannon Dennison gave them a seventh-minute lead when rattling home a penalty corner.

But Ireland fought back with aplomb – as they had done in the 3-1 loss to the Netherlands 24 hours earlier – as Katie Mullan plundered a field goal equaliser on 22 minutes, smashing a thunderbolt home via the keeper’s pads. A stalemate ensued with the majority of the game played out between the 25s thereafter, though Ireland proved far more adept at carving out chances; one in particular when a shot was taken while a number of players awaited a ball to back post was particularly galling. A second Dennison goal, this time via a deflection, set up a grandstand finish with seven minutes to go; the girls in green were level on 66 minutes as Munster’s Rebecca Barry cracked home from the top of the circle following a switched corner move. Ireland made all the right moves in the closing minutes and dominated possession, only for a Kiwi break to yield a corner which Eley Miller converted – following multiple saves from Holmes – with just 60 seconds to go. Passmore said afterwards: “For such a young team to play so well against a physically strong Kiwi team was pleasing, but it is hard to stomach the fact we lost after playing so well for such long periods. I am truly gutted for the girls, who deserved more.” McCarthy was equally disappointed: “This is the best performance I have ever seen in years and years of junior Irish matches. The girls were magnificent.” Elsewhere, the Netherlands overwhelmed South Africa 13-0 to move top of the table. They, New Zealand and Argentina – who are Ireland’s next opponents on Thursday (11am Irish time) have six points from two games, with Ireland, Korea and South Africa yet to pick up a point.