Men finish 2nd at Investec Cup
July 14, 2014
ENGLAND 2 (1) Alistair Brogdon 6th; David Condon 49thm
IRELAND 2 (0) Eugene Magee 36m; Mitch Darling 69th minute.
Ireland met hosts England in the final of the Investec Cup taking place in London today pushing it all the way through to a penalty shoot-out after it finished 2-2 after normal time. Ireland came out the wrong side of the shoot-out England nipping the win 4 goals to 2 after a thrilling game.
England opened the scoring early in the 6th minute leaving Ireland chasing the game at half time but Eugene Magee came out with a blazing goal in the 36th minute with a bullet of a shot from the top of the circle to level 1-1.
England took the lead back once again after a melee around the goal mouth seeing David Condon’s close range shot taking an Irish stick deflection en route into the goal to make it 2-1. Ireland left it right to the end to level the sides after they attacked throughout the second half and it was Mitch Darling who converted off a great baseline drive and reverse stick pass from Alan Sothern to make it 2-2 and push the game into a shoot-out.
Two of Ireland’s shoot outs resulted in a penalty stroke award which Alan Sothern duly converted twice but England’s clinical shoot out conversions ensured they secured the Investec Cup Title.
Commenting after the match Coach Fulton said “I am very proud of the performance
today and happy we got the score back to two all. I am very excited to see some of the young talent on show but it’s a pity we couldn’t finish it off with a win.â€
“I am delighted that we competed so well getting the belief back into the Green Machine and getting the hockey community’s support behind us, it makes all the difference as we continue on the Road To Rio, we need all the support we can get behind these players, these are exciting times with a very talented group of players.â€
