Ireland fail to make Euro semis with Germany draw

Yahoo

3 days ago

Ireland produced their best performance of EuroHockey 2025, but a 0-0 draw against Germany wasn't nearly enough to claim a semi-final place.
Gareth Grundie's squad were markedly better than in defeat by France on Monday, but that is where the damage was done and needing to beat Germany by two goals to make the knockout stages was always going to be a tough task.
They had an early opportunity to take the lead but Hannah McLoughlin saw her penalty stroke saved and although they created other chances in an evenly fought contest, they never looked like gaining the two-goal deficit they required.
"Certainly pleased with tonight's performance," said Irish coach Grundie.
"I think we went toe-to-toe with Germany in front of their home crowd but for us really the damage was done on Monday.
"We didn't take our opportunity against France.
"If we'd gone into today's game with equal points and maybe even a superior goal difference, then I think we certainly would have put them under a bit of pressure."
Murphy keeps Germans at bay early
Germany started the game brightly but Irish goalkeeper Lizzie Murphy and her penalty corner defence kept them at bay.
As the opening quarter wore on, Ireland gradually began to control possession and they were gifted an opportunity to take the lead when Emily Kealy was fouled in the process of shooting.
However, Hannah McLoughlin saw her penalty stroke effort comfortably saved by Julia Sonntag.
It was a pivotal moment so early in the game.
Ireland were playing much better than at any stage against France but once again struggled in the attacking third to create clear cut chances as the game remained scoreless at the interval.
Sarah McAuley's intervention set up Katie Mullan for a shot early in the second half as Ireland continued to push forward but the former captain's effort went wide.
As they pushed harder, so their discipline slipped and Ireland ended the third quarter down to nine players with Roisin Upton and Niamh Carey serving two-minute suspensions.
Mikayla Power's strong shot was well saved as Ireland threw the kitchen sink at Germany in the final 15 minutes.
However, their penalty corner routine would fail to fire again. In the three Pool matches they didn't score from 22 short corners and you simply have to be better at this level.
They also failed to score from open play despite only conceding three goals.
"That's what we keep preaching every day in training," Grundie said of their inability to convert.
"It is about small margins at this level. We have to be able to execute so it's obviously disappointing.
"If one of the early ones goes in against France then it can be a different story.
"One of the early ones goes in tonight, then they're certainly under pressure and we can have a real go.
"It wasn't to be, but we'll build from this performance because it was certainly positive."
Ireland will now face Scotland and England in the competition for 5-8 places.