Ireland were squeezed out of a maiden EuroHockey Nations Championships semi-final berth on goal difference after a 2-2 draw with England saw the green machine fall just short in Boom, Belgium yesterday.
It was another painful near miss for this emerging team, who last year saw their Olympic qualification hopes dashed with seven seconds to go of the final qualifier against Korea.
Since then they have changed coaches and rebuilt the squad, failing initially to reach the giant-killing heights reached under Paul Revington with the exception of a shock bronze at the Champions Challenge I.
But going so close to a win against the English – ranked 11 places above Ireland in fourth – and a heartbreaking late defeat to the third-ranked Dutch suggests Andrew Meredith has began to work the oracle.
The challenge for Ireland now is to prove they can keep the intensity up after this disappointment, and match the fifth place finish of 2011 as they head into relegation pool clashes with Spain and the Czech Republic.
The damage was done in the opening half as Tom Carson stole in to claim two close-range goals, England’s counter-attacking game working a treat as they sat deep and allowed Ireland plenty of possession but little penetration.
But the game was turned on its head in the final quarter, as the green machine were awarded two penalty strokes – both hotly contested to no avail by the English, who had lost their video referral as early as the fourth minute.
UCD hitman Shane O’Donoghue showed composure beyond his 20 years to calmly pick his spot on both occasions, tying the game with 13 minutes to go.
It was the precursor to a huge final Irish effort, inspired by Peter Caruth, but the breaks did not go Ireland’s way as Michael Hoare somehow got a touch to deny Mikey Watt while another deflection flashed inches wide.
“Extremely disappointing,” said Meredith afterwards. “We played for long periods with complete control of that game. They played surprisingly deep given the distance in the world rankings but, nonetheless, I thought we distributed the ball well. We weren’t as effective as the English in the first half. As a game progressed, the statistics were heavily in our favour but what we was frustrating is we couldn’t get that goal.”
Meanwhile, An utterly dominant Belgium eventually undid Ireland women’s brave defensive resistance to take a semi-final berth on home turf with a 3-0 win in Boom on Wednesday.
Darren Smith’s side could have few complaints as only some awesome last-ditch defence from Nikki Symmons, Emma Gray, Audrey O’Flynn and Cliodhna Sargent prevented a heavier defeat.
Anouk Raes kicked things off with a sharp short corner shot in the first half but Ireland – needing a win to make the last four – kept it to just that and were given a golden opportunity when Belgian goalkeeper Aisling D’Hooghe fouled Alex Speers for a penalty stroke.
But Lisa Jacob’s effort struck the post and Anne-Sophie De Scheemaekere made it safe with 14 minutes to go before a third penalty corner goal, a sharp rebound from Erica Coppey, augmented the scoreline.
**Reports from all of Ireland’s relegation pool games will be on the site on Monday; I realise we’re a little behind developments in Belgium with these reports, but we are running two camps this week so these must take priority! The Hook is in Belgium doing some incredibly comprehensive reportage on the tournament should you require some further reading
TriFinance EuroHockey Nations Championships, Boom, Belgium
Women
Pool A: Belgium 3 (A Raes, A-S De Scheemaekere, E Coppey) Ireland 0; Netherlands L Belarus L.
Final standings: 1 Netherlands 9pts; 2 Belgium 6pts; 3 Ireland 3pts; 4 Belarus 0pts.
Pool B: England 2 Scotland 1; Germany 1 Spain 0.
Final standings: 1 Germany 9pts; 2 England 6pts; Spain 3pts; Scotland 0pts.
Men
Pool A: Germany 3 Czech Republic 0; Belgium 2 Spain 2.
Standings: 1 Belgium 7pts; 2 Germany 6pts; 3 Spain 4pts; 4 Czech Republic 0pts.
Pool B: Ireland 2 (S O’Donoghue 2) England 2 (T Carson 2); Netherlands 12 Poland 0.
Standings: 1 Netherlands 9pts (+14) 2 England 4pts (+2) 3 Ireland 4pts (+1) 4 Poland 0pts (-17)
But going so close to a win against the English – ranked 11 places above Ireland in fourth – and a heartbreaking late defeat to the third-ranked Dutch suggests Andrew Meredith has began to work the oracle.
The challenge for Ireland now is to prove they can keep the intensity up after this disappointment, and match the fifth place finish of 2011 as they head into relegation pool clashes with Spain and the Czech Republic.
The damage was done in the opening half as Tom Carson stole in to claim two close-range goals, England’s counter-attacking game working a treat as they sat deep and allowed Ireland plenty of possession but little penetration.
But the game was turned on its head in the final quarter, as the green machine were awarded two penalty strokes – both hotly contested to no avail by the English, who had lost their video referral as early as the fourth minute.
UCD hitman Shane O’Donoghue showed composure beyond his 20 years to calmly pick his spot on both occasions, tying the game with 13 minutes to go.
It was the precursor to a huge final Irish effort, inspired by Peter Caruth, but the breaks did not go Ireland’s way as Michael Hoare somehow got a touch to deny Mikey Watt while another deflection flashed inches wide.
“Extremely disappointing,” said Meredith afterwards. “We played for long periods with complete control of that game. They played surprisingly deep given the distance in the world rankings but, nonetheless, I thought we distributed the ball well. We weren’t as effective as the English in the first half. As a game progressed, the statistics were heavily in our favour but what we was frustrating is we couldn’t get that goal.”
Meanwhile, An utterly dominant Belgium eventually undid Ireland women’s brave defensive resistance to take a semi-final berth on home turf with a 3-0 win in Boom on Wednesday.
Darren Smith’s side could have few complaints as only some awesome last-ditch defence from Nikki Symmons, Emma Gray, Audrey O’Flynn and Cliodhna Sargent prevented a heavier defeat.
Anouk Raes kicked things off with a sharp short corner shot in the first half but Ireland – needing a win to make the last four – kept it to just that and were given a golden opportunity when Belgian goalkeeper Aisling D’Hooghe fouled Alex Speers for a penalty stroke.
But Lisa Jacob’s effort struck the post and Anne-Sophie De Scheemaekere made it safe with 14 minutes to go before a third penalty corner goal, a sharp rebound from Erica Coppey, augmented the scoreline.
**Reports from all of Ireland’s relegation pool games will be on the site on Monday; I realise we’re a little behind developments in Belgium with these reports, but we are running two camps this week so these must take priority! The Hook is in Belgium doing some incredibly comprehensive reportage on the tournament should you require some further reading
TriFinance EuroHockey Nations Championships, Boom, Belgium
Women
Pool A: Belgium 3 (A Raes, A-S De Scheemaekere, E Coppey) Ireland 0; Netherlands L Belarus L.
Final standings: 1 Netherlands 9pts; 2 Belgium 6pts; 3 Ireland 3pts; 4 Belarus 0pts.
Pool B: England 2 Scotland 1; Germany 1 Spain 0.
Final standings: 1 Germany 9pts; 2 England 6pts; Spain 3pts; Scotland 0pts.
Men
Pool A: Germany 3 Czech Republic 0; Belgium 2 Spain 2.
Standings: 1 Belgium 7pts; 2 Germany 6pts; 3 Spain 4pts; 4 Czech Republic 0pts.
Pool B: Ireland 2 (S O’Donoghue 2) England 2 (T Carson 2); Netherlands 12 Poland 0.
Standings: 1 Netherlands 9pts (+14) 2 England 4pts (+2) 3 Ireland 4pts (+1) 4 Poland 0pts (-17)