Ireland defeat Canada in second test
The Electric Ireland Senior Women's team bounced back from yesterday's disappointment to emerge 2-1 victors over Canada in wet and windy UCD today.
Darren Smith's team were tougher in their fifty-fifty battles and breached the Canadian press much more so than in their first test.
Ireland made the better start and won their first penalty corner in the fourth minute when a pass from Watkins found O'Flanagan in the circle, popping the ball onto a Canadian foot.
Harvey's drag was run down at the top, and minutes later Canada forced a corner of their own when a baseline run came of Meeke's foot. The resulting flick lead to a re-award and the ball was flung wide.
Ireland began to find more flow and fluidity through the backline and midfield, but the final pass was missing and they struggled to penetrate the Canadian circle with any success.
With two minutes left in the half O'Flanagan took the initiative off a side-line ball on the right. Her mazy run beat four Canadian players but her reverse effort was saved high by the goalkeeper, and a penalty corner awarded.
With seconds left on the clock Michelle Harvey stepped up from the back to give the Green Army a 1-0 lead from a pin-point drag flick low to the keeper's right.
Half time and the score board read Ireland 1 Canada 0.
Canada made the brighter start to the second half, clipping a shot over the cross-bar and forcing Grace O'Flanagan to smother well from a tight angle.
They won their third penalty corner of the game nine minutes after the restart, after an Irish break down on the half way line led to a Canadian break away force a foot in the circle.
The ensuing set piece was again well saved from O'Flanagan, and minutes later Ireland won a corner after good work from Jacob on the right forced a stick-chop.
Harvey's flick was saved but Watkins did well to win another. This time Harvey made no mistake as her low fling found O'Flanagan flying in from the left to touch home and put the Green Army 2-0 up.
Canada won two corners in a period where Ireland found themselves unable to maintain possession when under pressure. The first was well saved by O'Flanagan and the second went dangerously into the face of Niamh Atcheler before the rebound found the back of the net.
Time was stopped for the blood injury but after umpire deliberation the goal stood. Atcheler received a nasty gash on her forehead for her troubles and took no further part in the game.
Another corner with 13 minutes left in the half forced Dillon to concede a stroke when the resulting flick hit her body on the line. O'Flanagan stood tall to make a reflex save high to the right and Ireland's slender one goal lead remained.
It was then Ireland's turn to attack as they went in search of a third. Duke and Beatty were particularly effective going forward, the latter finding Evans who shot just wide of the upright with minutes to go.
Time fizzled out along with Canada's chances of snatching an equaliser, and the score finished 2-1 to the Green Army.
Smith was happier with his side's performance but still felt improvements need to be made:
"It was a better performance from the girls today, with increased energy through the game. I'm pleased to be able to introduce other players to the series and be confident they can perform."
"Tuesday's decider will be a tough game, where we will need to fix our mistakes to win the series."
The series now stands at one apiece, with the decider to be played on Tuesday evening, 7.30pm in UCD.
Ireland seal amazing comeback win at World League
Ireland staged a remarkable fight to comeback from 4-0 down to France early in the 2nd half to claim a truly amazing 6-4 victory and claim 7th place at the World League Semi-Finals in Rotterdam.
Ireland's World League adventure appeared to be coming to a disappointing end as France racked up a 3-0 first half lead with clinical goals from Genestet, Deront & Sevestre coming in a frantic 9 minute spell that saw France's clear dominance rewarded in a first half that also featured a considerable delay as torrential rain interrupted proceedings.
Andrew Meredith's half time team talk initially looked to have fallen on deaf ears as within 90 seconds of the restart France looked to have Ireland dead and buried as Martin-Brisac pounced to give the French what looked like an unassailable 4-0 lead.
Even the most loyal of Green Machine supporters must have felt that this game had already slipped away as Conor Harte grabbed Ireland's first goal in the 42nd minute following up his own rebounded penalty corner to give Ireland a glimmer of hope.
The hope raised even more a mere 90 seconds later when Timothy Cockram fired a penalty corner home to make the score line 4-2 and breathe extra life into Ireland's comeback mission. It didn't take long for expectations to reach fever pitch as Ireland grabbed their 3rd goal in 5 minutes following brilliant play by Peter Caruth to set up Chris Cargo to tap home and reduce the deficit to one.
At this point, the Green Machine were in full flow with confidence seeping right from Davey Harte in the Ireland goal though the spine of the team. The comeback was complete when the ever reliable Peter Caruth won Ireland a penalty corner off Martin-Brisac's clumsy challenge in the 63rd minute and young UCD man Shane O'Donoghue powered home a delightful drag flick to send the Rotterdam crowd into a spin as Ireland pulled the game level at 4-4.
Remarkably the Green Machine were not finished yet as France were reduced to 9 men initially as Verrier and Sevestre headed to the side-line for yellow card infringements and Ireland went in search of the winning goal. They only had to wait a minute for that moment to come as Conor Harte rocketed a low drag into the French goal to give Ireland a 5-4 lead and send the travelling Green Machine fans into delirium.
And still the Green Machine were not finished as they finally sealed the game when the impressive Caruth won a bully and fired the ball home following moments of madness involving a French outfield player, playing in a bibbed shirt in place of the subbed goalkeeper, making an unbelievable save with his foot which was awarded as a penalty stoke but overturned on video referral to the bully that resulted in Caruth grabbing Ireland's 6th of the game.
The remarkable fight back was completed and as the final hooter went, Irish players celebrated wildly at a result and game that those who witnessed tonight will never forget for as long as they live.
Speaking to FIH TV after the game, Irish player Conor Harte was naturally delighted with the outcome following a shaky first half "I think that was our worse 40 minutes of hockey in this tournament and to come back from 4-0 down in International Hockey is fantastic. It just shows great team spirit and that's exactly what the Green Machine is about."
The result tonight means that Ireland finish in 7th position at the World League Semi-Finals
Symmons earns 200th cap as Ireland fall to Canada
The Electric Ireland Irish Women's team were beaten 3-2 by Canada at a wet & windy UCD today as Irish International Nikki Symmons earned her 200th cap for the Green Army. It is a phenomenal achievement for the Loreto Hockey Club player who was presented to the crowd at the National Hockey Stadium before taking the field to become the first Irish Hockey International to reach 200 caps for their country. Today also saw a 1st cap for Ireland's Emily Beatty and a 50th Cap for Nicci Daly.
Ireland's performance on the pitch however did not match the occasion and a sluggish start to the game saw Emma Gray in the Ireland goal called into action early as Canada created the best of the early chances before taking a deserved 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Ireland fought back well though and equalised through a well-executed Audrey O'Flynn penalty corner.
The teams headed for the break all-square but it took less than 6 minutes for Canada to regain the lead. That lead was extended further to 3-1 mid-way through the 2nd half and Ireland were left with an uphill task to come back into the game.
To their credit Darren Smith's side kept plugging away at the resolute Canadian defence and finally opened them up following great play by Pinder who set up Mullan to expertly to slide the ball home with less than 10 minutes to play.
Ireland hustled and harried their North American opposition in an effort to draw level but were unable to find the goal they desperately sought.
Speaking to hockey.ie after the game Electric Ireland Irish Senior Women's Coach Darren Smith said "We didn't have a good day today. We were well below our potential. I thought we lacked a little bit of courage in some of the options we took and lacked composure in certain situations. We were a bit anxious and rushed at times and that has caused us a few problems today"
Ireland's now 200th capped player, Nikki Symmons told us "It was a huge honour to receive my 200th cap in front of our home fans and was great to see so many familiar faces here at UCD. It was just disappointing though that we didn't play particularly well as a team today. We need to regroup and come back stronger tomorrow to try to get the win"