Countdown to Tokyo: “We’ve got to believe in ourselves and not be overawed by the occasion” -Matthews

By Stephen Leonard

HANNAH Matthews believes the Ireland Women’s Hockey team will have sufficient preparation behind them when they take to the field for the first game of their Olympic programme against South Africa on July 24.

One of four Loreto players, along with Nicci Daly, Sarah Torrans and goalkeeper Liz Murphy, who earned selection for Tokyo, Matthews insists the manner in which the players dealt with lockdown together with the experience gained at the recent European Championships will leave them on a sound footing for the start of their Group A campaign.

“We did very well with training before Christmas to keep everyone motivated and keep training hard, but it was obviously incredibly difficult to train through Covid” she said.

“We’ve seen across a load of teams, not just ourselves, we picked up a lot of injuries and some pretty serious ones, so that’s also been difficult.

“I think we’ve just got to go out there and believe in ourselves and not be overawed by the occasion” she added.

While they were unable to secure further passage to the World Cup from last month’s European Championships in which they finished sixth, Ireland will be drawing on the experience gained against some top opposition including tournament hosts Netherlands.

“It was just great to get that quality of matches even in preparation for Tokyo” stressed Matthews.

“Considering the year that’s been in it, they’re so hard to come by, so it’s been incredible preparation.

“It’s just the most brutal tournament on the hockey calendar I think, so just to be able to play against that quality of opposition and finish on a high in a pressure game against Italy was really good.

“I think we have a pretty clear picture of how we need to perform when we go over there.

“We’re up against the top sides in the world and we’re going to be up against it, we’re aware of that.

“We’re kind of walking in a little blind. We keep hearing that it’s going to be different from any other tournament and the conditions over there are going to be pretty tough.

“But we always have that belief in ourselves and we back ourselves, but we’re just going to take each match as it comes” Matthews insisted.

Delighted at getting the opportunity to compete on the Olympic platform with several of her Loreto clubmates, Matthews said “It’s incredible for the club.

“They’re just so supportive of us, so to be able to represent them as well as Ireland when we’re over there is great.

“I’d say that they’re just absolutely raging that they can’t come and watch because they love nothing more than a trip” she laughed.

Ireland ignite their Group A campaign against South Africa on Saturday, July 24 before later taking on Netherlands, Germany, India and Great Britain.