MENS European Hockey Championships

IRELAND 4 (2) Conor Harte 6m PC; Shane O'Donoghue 28m OP; Eugene Magee 44m PC
POLAND 2 (1) Adam Chwalisz x2 11m & 69m OP

Ireland were back in action at the Europeans today in a must win encounter against Poland where they carried out their duty with a 4-2 win in their second pool match of this tournament. The match opened with Ireland defending a Polish crash attack inside 25 seconds, but Harte in goals reacted well and skipper Jackson won Ireland their first real chance with a penalty corner opportunity. Conor Harte's ensuing drag effort was charged down well by the Polish first runner to deny Ireland taking the lead. Ireland did not have to wait long to have another penalty corner opportunity and this time the slip from Eugene Magee to Conor Harte enabled him the time to fire his dragflick home for the 1-0 lead on the six minute mark. Just five minutes later the Polish levelled the sides when some confusion in the Irish circle gave Adam Chwalisz the chance to sweep the ball up on the reverse to put it past David Harte in goals.

Ireland had chances through Ronan Gormley and Peter Caruth who were both denied by the posts and a couple more penalty corners but it wasn't until the 27th minute that the Green Machine took the lead once again thanks to Peter Caruth and Mitch Darling combining setting O'Donoghue up to squeeze a reverse stick shot through three Polish defenders making it 2-1. Despite a corner count of 4-3 to Ireland the sides closed out 2-1 to Ireland at half time.
Ireland started keenly in the second half securing a penalty corner in the first minute but Shane O'Donoghue's effort was charged down as was Harte's subsequent effort. Poland were out to score and were keen to attack going close with a penalty corner effort in the 42nd minute but David Harte in goals got a glove to a good Polish attempt. The Polish secured another couple of set piece plays but Ireland kept the defence solid.

Ireland's next real chance came from a great interchange between Chris Cargo and Eugene Magee, Cargo unlucky to be denied by the post. But the follow up penalty corner gave Ireland the breathing space they were after with a switch left and a Eugene Magee high drag making it 3-1 on 44minutes.
Ireland put the game beyond the Polish reach when Michael Watt displayed his pace down the wing firing home from the top right stranding the keeper and making it 4-1 with just five minutes left on the clock. Not content with that Ireland looked to extend their lead but Stuart Loughrey could only find the side net from his diving reverse shot on a tight angle. The Polish however got a late consolation goal in the 69th minute when Adam Chwalisz capitalised off a bouncing ball on the near post.
Coach Andrew Meredith was pleased to have three points in the bag commenting "You could certainly see that yesterday's excellent performance against the Dutch came with a cost and with only a 16 hour turnaround I am very happy to get the result."

"We had phases where we had the opportunity to finish the game off, but full credit to the Polish on pushing us the whole game. We targeted this game prior to the tournament to get a result and we have met that challenge, and it is perhaps a sign of the group's development that we can still achieve important results playing below our capabilities."

Ireland will now go into their final pool game against England at 10.30 on Wednesday, with a chance of securing a spot in the final four.
Starting XI: David Harte, John Jackson, Ronan Gormley, Chris Cargo, Eugene Magee, Mitch Darling, Kyle Good, Conor Harte, Peter Brown, Stuart Loughrey, Shane O'Donoghue
Reserves: Johnny Bell, Michael Watt, Stephen Cole, Peter Caruth, Kirk Shimmins, Bruce McCandless, David Fitzgerald
Ireland face England in their final pool B game on Wednesday 10.30 Irish Time
Wednesday 21st August Ireland v England 11.30 (Local Time)
Pool A: Germany (1); Spain (6); Belgium (9) & Czech Republic (21)