Russia routed as Ireland retain top-tier status

Paul Revington is refusing to get carried away despite watching his ever-improving Ireland senior men’s side rout Russia 8-2 to retain A division status at the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Germany. It’s the first time Ireland have managed to stay put at the top level since the tiered system was introduced in Europe, a huge boost to the men’s game in this country as it ensures they’ll be back among the big guns in 2013. It also atones for the relegation suffered in 2007, when Ireland adopted an ultra-defensive approach yet somehow contrived to lose 1-0 to eight-man France in the decisive game.

This time around, they have matched Europe’s best in an attacking sense — as 16 goals in four games testifies — though Revington admitted there is still much work to be done defensively. Entering their first relegation pool clash after Wednesday’s 7-4 defeat to the Netherlands dashed hopes of a semi-final place and Olympic qualification, Ireland were irresistible in the first half once Mikey Watt had broken some initial stubborn Russian resistance via a corner rebound. Mitch Darling beat two defenders and rounded goalkeeper Roman Rogov for a fine solo goal and Eugene Magee dragged home a corner before Timmy Cockram’s neat interchange with Chris Cargo saw him dink the ball over Rogov and finish adroitly for the goal of the day. Cargo then setup a diving David Ames for number five 20 seconds later, before the shell-shocked Russia ns pulled one back just before the break through skipper Aleksandr Plantonov. Geoff McCabe — who went 89 caps without a goal but now has six in his last eight games — netted the sixth to put Ireland back on track, only for Pavel Plesetskiy to produce an amazing sweep-chip – successfully lobbing David Harte, who was standing tall at the time –  for 6-2. However, John Jermyn ripped home two drag-flicks in the final minutes — putting him just eight adrift of Stephen Butler’s all-time goals record of 79 — to put a gloss on the scoreline. With France losing 2-1 to Spain, they are relegated along with Russia while Ireland face Spain on Sunday (10am)  knowing a draw will be enough for an all-time best finish of fifth place by virtue of their superior goal difference. Meanwhile, Ireland’s senior women finally clicked into gear when it mattered to see off Azerbaijan 3-1 and keep their hopes of retaining their European ‘A’ division status alive at the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Germany yesterday. Having lost all three pool games with just a solitary goal against England to show for their efforts, Ireland had to win against the Azeris to avoid dropping to the B division for the first time. They went through many of their short corner routines in a bid to break the deadlock as five set-pieces were won in the first half, but it was a straight drag-flick from Michelle Harvey that eventually broke the deadlock three minutes before half-time. Gene Muller’s side, for whom Emma Smyth had a stormer on her 50th cap, added a second on 58 minutes via Emma Clarke’s tap-in after Lisa Jacob had been thwarted. Nikki Symmons notched the goal of the game five minutes later, firing home a a sweet reverse after good build-up work from Julia O’Halloran and Alex Speers. The Azeris did, however, get a vital goal back through Yoon Song Kim, putting them ahead of Ireland in the relegation pool on goal difference. Ireland now play Italy tomorrow (7.30am Irish time) needing to outdo Azerbaijan’s result against Belgium to stay up.