India keep brave Irish at bay

Ireland’s restorative powers couldn’t quite survive a big test from India as Andrew Meredith’s men went down 3-2 in yesterday’s crucial World League 2 tie in New Delhi. The ‘green machine’ were on the back foot for much of the first half and Rupinder Pal Singh’s pinpoint drag-flick put India – ranked four places above Ireland at 11th in the world – ahead. But Ireland ended the half in the ascendancy, equalising from a corner when Eugene Magee switched the ball behind his back to Conor Harte, and the Cork man potted a reverse.

VR Raghunath blasted an unstoppable drag past David Harte to put India in front again after half-time but Ireland levelled it midway through the half. A clever transfer to Eugene Magee saw the country’s most capped player hit a speculative backhand across goal. Goalkeeper Sreejesh made a mess of it with the Ireland forward hovering, and it found its way to the bottom corner. India always looked dangerous on the counter through, and Dharamvir Singh started and finished one such move before reversing through David Harte’s legs for 3-2. Harte made two world-class stops to deny Sunil and Danesh before Ireland poured forward late on, winning two corners in the final 90 seconds but Conor Harte and Shane O’Donoghue couldn’t convert. Minnows Oman are next up for Ireland on Saturday before Sunday’s crunch tie against China, where Ireland will need to avoid defeat to qualify for round three. Yesterday, Ireland had a facile 13-0 win over Fiji, the highlights of which – as well as the goals from Ireland’s 5-2 win over Bangladesh on Monday – can be seen below. Hero Hockey World League Rd 2, New Delhi: India 3 (Rupinder, Raghunath, Dharamvir) Ireland 2 (C Harte, E Magee); Fiji 1 China 4; Bangaldesh 4 Oman 1.