O’Donoghue to captain Ireland in EuroHockey Championship qualifier

SHANE O’Donoghue will captain the Ireland Hockey team in the EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B competition which will be held in the Sport Ireland Campus from today August 22 through to Sunday August 25.

Tumilty has made seven changes to the squad that travelled to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Mark Ingram and James Milliken are the two options in goal, replacing David Harte and Jaime Carr.

Luke Madeley returns following the injury that made him unavailable for Paris selection.

Jonny Lynch and Ali Empey make the step up from the reserve list to the full squad for the competition and are also joined by twins Louis and Charlie Rowe, and Luke Witherow.

Shane O’Donoghue has been bestowed the captain’s honours for the tournament in the absence of Sean Murray.

The format of the EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B is a knockout competition featuring Ireland and 7 other nations; Wales, Italy, Poland, Czechia, Türkiye, Malta and Luxembourg.

Each team will play a total of 3 games, beginning with a knockout game on Thursday, August 22.

The winners will progress onto Saturday’s Semi-Finals, while the losers will play their first of two ranking games on Friday Aug 23.

The final position of each side will be determined on Sunday, with all eight teams in action.

The Final, taking place at 16:00 on Sunday, August 25 will be the main event of the day with the winner securing that coveted spot in the 2025 EuroHockey Championships in Monchengladbach.

Speaking at the announcement of the squad Head Coach Mark Tumilty said: “There are a number of changes because of unavailability, but the new players will bring a freshness into the group.

“I am happy with this squad.

“I always thought there would be changes from the Olympic squad.

“Mark Ingram has missed a lot of international hockey over the years due to work commitments, but he has an opportunity to shine at this tournament.

“James Milliken has earned his chance to be involved as back up to Mark.

“Luke Madeley has been very unfortunate with injury to miss out on the Olympics, but hopefully he can get in a full season with Three Rock Rovers in 2024/25, and he will be another option at penalty corners.

“Luke Witherow has trained extremely well over the past three months and was unlucky not to make the Paris games.

“We let Charlie and Louis Rowe concentrate on the Under 21 EuroHockey Championships in the latter part of the summer and are delighted to have them involved this week.”