Ireland draw 2-2 with Great Britain
June 23, 2015
Ireland began their World League campaign with a 2-2 draw against Great Britain, ranked 5th in the world. The Green Machine wore black armbands in remembrance of those who passed away in the tragedy at Berkeley, Lorcán Miller was an integral part of UCD Men’s Hockey team.
GB got off to a flying start, with Middleton and Griffiths giving the British a 2-0 in the first 8 minutes. But Ireland settled into the game and John Jackson rattled the post on a penalty corner effort; a sign of things to come.
Mitch Darling crossed the ball expertly into a waiting Kyle Good who duly scored to make it 2-1 before half time. 6 minutes into the second half Conor Harte slipped past 2 defenders and set up a goal mouth scramble which John Jackson took advantage of to score and draw the match level.
Both sides’ goalkeepers, Harte and Pinner, were called into action before the match came to a close. Great Britain’s Pinner denied Jackson in the final minutes as the ball was deflected onto the post before being cleared. The match finished 2-2.
Speaking after the match Coach Craig Fulton said “Overall we’re happy with the result. We were a bit nervous in the first quarter but settled in the 2nd quarter and got on the scoreboard. The second half was pleasing, we created some good phases of play which was more like us. We’re looking forward to the next game against Malaysiaâ€
Ireland play Malaysia on Thursday June 25th at 1pm and it will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 1.
Starting: D Harte, Jackson, Gormley, Watt, Cargo, Magee, O’Donoghue, Darling, Good, Gleghorne, C Harte.
Bench: Bell, Sothern, Dowds, Caruth, Shimmins, Carlisle, FitzGerald
