Ireland off to a difficult start

Andrew Meredith’s reign as Irish coach has thus far been marked by frustration as Ireland have failed to pick up a point at the Champions Challenge I in Argentina in two games. Having led the hosts 2-0 in Quilmes on Saturday, Ireland ultimately went down 4-3 before they dominated against Japan a day later, forcing almost 30 circle entries but being hit on the break in a 3-0 defeat. The losses put them on a collision course with either Korea or Malaysia in Thursday’s quarter-finals; both carry significant emotional baggage for the green machine, with former coaching pair Paul Revington and Arul Anthoni in charge of Malaysia while Korea denied Ireland at the death in March’s Olympic qualification final.

Midfielder Geoff McCabe admitted Ireland hadn’t taken their chances against the Japanese: “Anybody who saw the match knows that there is not such a difference between Japan and Ireland. We created a lot of opportunities today in the circle but couldn’t score, and they scored in the counter-attack. “From yesterday we improved our structure, we moved the ball better but we have to improve other things as well. We want to win every game and we played for it, but the tournament’s format suggests that you don’t have to win your first three games. The fourth game is the most important, so we have time to improve our skills for the next games.” Andrew Meredith added: “We didn’t see the game through. We had eight corners and 28 circles penetrations and didn’t score. We have to be more clinical. If we don’t finish the opportunities that we create, then of course we don’t win games.” The Argentina reverse was all the more frustrating given the early lead Ireland enjoyed through John Jermyn’s penalty stroke – coming on the Cork man’s 150th cap – and an artful Timmy Cockram reverse off a corner rebound. Argentina, though, scrambled and soon started to gain traction when young star Gonzalo Peillat sunk a penalty corner and Lucas Vila scored from play a minute before the interval, making it 2-2 at the break. And they kept that momentum going in the second period, enjoying the box seat for much of the second half. Peillat dragged them into the lead but the margin remained a narrow one until just three minutes from the end. Vila got that clincher and while Mikey Watt nipped in amid a crowded circle in closing phases, it was too late to turn the tide. Speaking following the 4-3 defeat, Meredith said: “It was a disappointing performance overall with too many inconsistent phases in both halves. There were some real positive phases where we looked good on the ball but there were far too many technical errors to really stamp our authority in any phase.” Ireland, who were always going to be up against it with a new regime only just in place and with just a single training camp behind them, will hope to turn things around against South Africa tomorrow. *To view some excellent photos from Ireland v Argentina by Matias Correa Arce, click here. Short video highlights of the game can be viewed here. FIH Champions Challenge I, Quilmes, Argentina Group A: Korea 2 (J-J Hyun 2) Canada 0; Malaysia 4 (Muhammad Razie Abd Rahim, Nabil Fiqri Mohd Nor, own goal) Poland 0;  Malaysia 4 Korea 2; Canada 3 Poland 3. Standings: 1. Malaysia 6pts (+6) 2. Korea 3pts (0) 3. Canada 1pt (-2) 4. Poland 1pt (-4) Group B: Ireland 3 (J Jermyn, T Cockram, M Watt) Argentina 4 (G Peillat 2, L Vila 2); South Africa 4 (G Glutz, L Norris-Jones, N Gonsalves, I Malgraff) Japan 4 (T Tachibana 2, K Tsubouchi, K Nagasawa); Ireland 0 Japan 3 (K Tsubouchi, T Ono, S Kawauchi); South Africa 1 (M Guise-Brown) Argentina 2 (G Peillat, W Schickendantz) Standings: 1. Argentina 6pts (+2) 2. Japan 4pts (+3) 3. South Africa 1pt (-1) 4. Ireland 0pts (-4) Tuesday, November 27, Group B: Ireland vs South Africa, 4.30pm; Japan vs Argentina, 7pm; Group A: Korea v Poland, 11.30am; Canada v Malaysia, 2pm November 29: Quarter-finals; December 1: Semi-finals/classifications matches; December 2: Final/bronze medal match/classification matches.