Ireland fall short against Germany in a thrilling hockey encounter
The Ireland women’s hockey team produced a spirited display against Germany at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo earlier today before eventually falling to a 4-2 Group A defeat.
3-0 adrift with 40 minutes gone on the clock, Sean Dancer’s side bounced back with goals from Elena Tice and Hannah McLoughlin to set-up a tantalising conclusion to the contest. Franzisca Hauke eventually decided the contest by rattling the net in the 55th-minute, but Ireland (who feature the Loreto quartet of Nicci Daly, Liz Murphy, Hannah Matthews and Sarah Torrans amongst their ranks) can take plenty of solace from the way they worked themselves backed into contention.
In comparison to the Irish – who are appearing at the Summer Games for the very first time – this is the 10th Olympics for the German women.
Gold medalist in Athens 17 years ago, Die Danas also claimed silver at the 1984 and 1992 Games in addition to a bronze place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Following Wednesday’s action, both Germany and the Netherlands (who defeated Ireland on Monday) are already guaranteed spots in the quarter-final with two pool games to play.
As it stands, Ireland are still in line to join them in the knockout rounds and could well seal their last-eight place with victory against India on Friday (11.45am local time/3.45am Irish time).
Currently ranked third in the FIH World Rankings, Germany flexed their muscles from very early on in this encounter.
Lisa Altenburg and Cecile Pieper both grabbed goals to give Xavier Reckinger’s outfit a 2-0 lead at the interval.
When Altenburg added her second shortly after Rathgar native Anna O’Flanagan was sent to the sin-bin, it looked like Ireland were heading for a resounding reversal.
However, there is a steely mental resolve within this squad and former Loreto star Tice (who made her international debut while at the Rathfarnham-based club in 2015) pulled a goal back on 42 minutes.
From a position where the tide appeared to be blowing against them, Ireland suddenly found themselves on the brink of sharing the spoils when McLoughlin fired home in the 51st-minute. Yet this helped to spark Germany back into life and Hauke’s finish four minutes later ultimately determined the outcome.
