Ireland gearing up for EuroHockey semis
IRELAND senior men’s hockey team will be gearing up for their clash with Scotland in the semi finals of the EuroHockey Championship II in Gniezno, Poland tomorrow (1.45pm Irish time).
A 6-0 thrashing of Croatia yesterday propelled the Green Machine into the last four of the tournament and, along with it, came a berth in the World Cup qualifiers.
Glenanne’s Shane O’Donoghue twice found the target in this match after Sean Murray had opened the scoring for them early on when he got on the end of Jonny McKee’s ball in and smacked home.
Knocklyon man O’Donoghue, having just hit the upright from a corner moments before, doubled Ireland’s advantage by way of another set-piece attempt prior to the halftime break.
Jeremy Duncan got his name on the scorers’ list before McKee bagged a brace himself and O’Donoghue rounded off the scoring for his 114th international goal.
Pleased with the performance of his side who were eager to bounce back from their 1-1 draw with Italy the day before in which O’Donoghue also scored, Ireland coach Mark Tumilty said “That was our main goal coming into the tournament to give ourselves a chance at that World Cup qualifier.
“I am pleased with the performance, bouncing back well after yesterday [against Italy]. That was a tough one to take, but I thought the guys worked hard and it was a good game all round.
“We have to deal with whatever comes along and we have seen in this tournament all the teams are competitive.
“Each game in those qualifiers will be a big challenge but, for now, the focus is on Friday to do what we can to get to the final and a better chance of hosting the European qualifiers next summer” he said.
