O’Donoghue targeting World Cup Finals berth

SHANE O’Donoghue is excited at the prospects, this year, for the Ireland Senior Men’s Hockey team.

The Knocklyon man has long been an integral part of Craig Fulton’s side, competing on the Olympic Games stage in Rio and more recently helping them to secure World League 3 qualification after winning the second phase of the global series in Stormont earlier in the month.

The Glenanne player feels the squad can build on this achievement and secure a berth in the 2018 World Cup at World League 3.

“World League Two was a very exciting challenge that we met head-on and had some really good results,” O’Donoghue told The Echo.

“There were new players in this squad, so it was a bit inexperienced.

“This group had only been together since the start of January and it was fantastic that we won it [World League 2].

“It was always going to be a test, a real challenger when you had the likes of Austria who have been together for a number of years

“The final against France, as you’d expect, was a tense and tight affair and we came through that. Now we’ll be looking to build on that,” he insisted.

Certainly the challenge will be upped for Ireland when they head into the final qualification phase, but O’Donoghue feels the side is well equipped to fulfil their goals.

“When you get to the final stages of World Cup or Olympic qualifiers you’re going to have the likes of Germany, Argentina, Belgium. You have to be prepared to play anybody,” he said.

“We now have a good combination of youth and players who have been to Rio and we feel we have a good chance of making it through.”

Delighted with the experience of winning World League 2 with a new-look side, O’Dono-ghue added “I really enjoyed playing with the younger players. They bring that new dynamic to the team.

“I was glad to put away a few set pieces and to help us through.”