Seventh heaven for classy Ireland

Ireland’s senior teams endured wildly contrasting fortunes yesterday, as the men routed hosts France 7-0 to retain the Celtic Cup at Le Touquet, while the women were humbled 6-0 by India at the Four Nations in Germany. The Irish men retained their title with an experimental side for the second year running, capping a memorable weekend for skipper Ronan Gormley.

The defender notched two rare goals in Saturday’s 4-0 defeat of Wales, before marring his 100th cap by giving away an early penalty stroke against France. But goalkeeper Iain Walker saved the captain’s blushes, and a Eugene Magee drag flick in the 18th minute set them on their way, with Mitch Darling bagging a hat-trick in an easy win, their biggest ever over the French. Irish manager Peter Jackson said: “This was an outstanding tournament for the Irish lads who put in maximum effort throughout all games. “It is particularly pleasing to see that we only conceded one goal in the three matches and scored 14 in total.” The women crashed 6-0 to India in the midday German heat to take the wooden spoon at the tournament in Essen, a disappointing end to the tournament following a much better performance in Saturday’s narrow 3-1 defeat to Germany. Emma Smyth’s strike had Ireland level at half time in a game which saw Eimear Cregan break Rachael Kohler’s all-time caps record, making her 167th appearance, while Julia O’Halloran was making her 50th appearance. There was better news for the Irish U18 boys – for whom C of I’s Nick Burns was the sole Munster player involved – as they completed a series whitewash of their Scottish counterparts at Hillsborough. Burns was on target for his second of the series in Saturday’s 4-0 win, while Ireland also claimed a 2-1 victory on Sunday in the narrowest of the three games. They are in action again on Tuesday night against Belgium at Belfield, the first of another three-game series, with Burns’ C of I team-mate Ben Dobson one of nine new faces in the squad. Celtic Cup, Le Touquet, France Ireland 7 (M Darling 3, E Magee, A Sothern, A Giles, P Caruth) France 0; Ireland 4 (R Gormley 2, P Gleghorne, P Caruth) Wales 0; Ireland 3 (C Cargo, C Harte, T Cockram) Scotland 1 (K Bain) Standings (points/goal difference): 1 Ireland 9pts (+13) 2 Wales 6pts (-2) 3 Scotland 3pts (-1) 4 France 0pts (-9).

U18 Series, Hillsborough, Co Down Ireland 5 (N Burns, S O’Donoghue, W Edgar, T Samuel, A Williamson) Scotland 1; Ireland 4 (N Burns, O Magee, R Sykes 2) Scotland 0; Ireland 2 (O Magee, S O’Donoghue) Scotland 1. Women’s Four Nations, Essen, Germany Ireland 1 (E Smyth) Germany 3 (L Geyer, T Bachmann 2); Ireland 0 India 6; Ireland 0 Australia 4; Final standings: 1 Australia 7pts (+8) 2 Germany 5pts (+2) 3 India 4pts (+3) 4 Ireland 0pts (-13) For GF Cohen’s Celtic Cup pictures, click here (Facebook page). For more of Adrian Boehm’s photos from Saturday’s game between Ireland U18 and Scotland U18, click here.