Ireland were thankful for John Jermyn’s composure as the Cork Church of Ireland hitman tucked away two penalty strokes to secure a nerve-shredding 2-0 victory over France at the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Germany yesterday.
Torrential rain in Moenchenglandbach made for a poor spectacle as Paul Revington’s side saw a number of chances go a begging against a side who had relegated them to the B division at the 2007 Euros.
They’ve beaten the French four times and drawn once this summer, but victory here was imperative to keep hopes of a semi-final berth – and potential Olympic qualification – alive after Sunday’s 4-2 loss to England.
Jermyn slotted his first after Mitch Darling was barrelled over by two French defenders en route to goal on 56 minutes, and he went to the same spot three minutes from time when Geoff McCabe’s shot was illegally blocked on the line by a covering Arnauld Becuwe.
That was Jermyn’s 69th international goal, leaving him just 10 short of Stephen Butler’s all-time record. But more importantly, it gives Ireland a shot at the Netherlands tomorrow (5pm Irish time) in a bid to make the last four, while also giving the side three vital points to carry over into the relegation pool stages should they end up there instead.
On Sunday, Ireland’s men were left frustrated as a poor middle third of their opening tie, littered with individual errors and a glut of penalty corner concessions, saw them unstuck by the holders England, on a 4-2 scoreline.
Chris Cargo’s crackerjack finish highlighted an excellent opening quarter but Paul Gleghorne’s yellow card seemed to kickstart the world number four side’s response, as Matt Daly, skipper Barry Middleton and Ashley Jackson put England 3-1 to the good.
Ireland rallied again with John Jermyn ripping home a drag-flick before James Fair’s stunning save denied the Cork C of I man an equaliser.
With Ireland piling forward in the latter stages, a swift English counter nabbed an insurance goal, Rob Moore picking out Middleton to slide home his second and make sure of the points.
Iain Lewers — who won 89 caps for Ireland but is now playing with England after serving a three-year international wilderness period since defecting in 2008 — was involved in the build-up to that strike, and he showed little emotion when quizzed regarding any emotional hang-ups about playing against Ireland, replying simply: “No, not really.”
Ireland’s women, still smarting from defeats to Germany and Belgium, play a dead rubber against England today (12pm Irish time) with one eye on the relegation pool, where they’ll likely face Azerbaijan and Italy.