Veteran Conor Lehane keen to make his mark for Cork after 12-year wait for return to All-Ireland final stage
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Ireland on cloud nine with big pool win over Portugal in EuroHockey Championship
Mark McNellis and Fergus Gibson both got on the scoresheets to open their senior international accounts, with Louis Rowe bagging a brace, and Ben Nelson, Jonny Lynch, Lee Cole, Seán Murray, and Jeremy Duncan also finding the net in Ireland's 9-0 victory. The win secures top spot in Pool A, setting up a semi-final against Scotland on Friday August 1 at 5pm Irish time. Aware of their opportunity to top their pool with maximum points, Ireland began the game brightly, continuing their domination of possession from previous games. Two great chances fell for Jeremy Duncan early on, with Portuguese goalkeeper alive to both to keep the game scoreless. Ireland broke the deadlock in the tenth minute from a penalty corner won by Matthew Nelson. Louis Rowe's initial effort was saved, but Mark McNellis met the rebound to fire into the net to score his first senior international goal. Ben Nelson almost added a second for Ireland as he tried to deflect the ball under Carlos Pedro after an excellent counter-attack, but the keeper was again alive to the effort to clear. Ireland almost made the perfect start to the second quarter when Lee Cole won the ball on the left flank and threw an aerial to Matthew Nelson who was free in the circle, but the Lisnagarvey forward's shot was just wide of the post. Fergus Gibson added Ireland's second with six minutes left in the first-half, getting on the end of an excellent delivery from Ben Nelson to extend Ireland's lead to 2-0. Ireland added two more goals in the minutes that followed, Ben Nelson firing in on his reverse, followed by a tidy Louis Rowe finish to extend the lead to four goals, a lead Ireland held going into the break. Ireland picked up from where they left off with Jonny Lynch weaving his way along the baseline and finding the net from a tight angle for Ireland's fifth. Louis Rowe got his second of the game, and Ireland's sixth not long after when he was found in acres of space on the penalty spot, giving him the time to calmly flick into the net. Lee Cole added a seventh from a penalty corner before the end of the third quarter, scoring his third of the competition. Ireland closed out the game with two more goals. Seán Murray grabbed Ireland's eighth from a penalty corner, before Jeremy Duncan added the team's ninth, finishing off a great attacking move down the right-hand side. Speaking after the match, Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty said: 'We set the team the task of improving the standard of play with the ball. They got off to an early start with a goal. It was great to see some good team goals being scored. Discussing their semi-final opposition, Tumilty said: 'It's going to be tough, and there is still lots to come in order for us to achieve our goals of reaching the final of this tournament and making the 2027 EuroHockey Championships, and getting a place in the FIH World Cup Qualifiers. We'll pay Scotland the utmost respect.' Ireland end the pool stages of the EuroHockey Championship II top of Pool A with the maximum of nine points. The side will progress to the semi-finals on Friday August 1 at 5pm Irish time where they will face Scotland. A win would see the side guarantee promotion to the EuroHockey Championships in 2027 and a place at the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup qualifiers.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Champions League debutants Athlone Town slay Cardiff City
Women's Champions League, first round ATHLONE TOWN 4 (Izzy Groves 15, Róisín Molloy 40, 43, Hannah Waesch 49) CARDIFF CITY 0 Wales got the better of Ireland for a Euros spot but there was a sinew of revenge on the club front by Athlone Town dumping Cardiff City out of the Champions League. This was the first time in 42 years for Athlone Town to sample the European stage – the first time for the women's team – and they made their mark with an emphatic first-half blitz to slay the Welsh dragons. Athlone's women's team has always carried a transatlantic influence, with four in the starting team from USA and Canada, but Róisín Molloy from Gurteen in Sligo was the star that shone brightest. A marauding presence from the right flank, she teed up captain Izzy Groves to fire home a 15th minute breakthrough before swelling the lead with a brace within three minutes approaching the break. Hannah Waesch slotted in from close-range within four minutes of the restart to complete the rout, allowing manager Colin Fortune to rest players with Saturday's second round tie against Croatian side ZNK Agram in mind. Shannon Evans of Cardiff City tries to keep a shot from Roisin Molloy from crossing the line. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Former Ireland manager Vera Pauw criticised Uefa for recalibrating Uefa's sole women's competition in favour of the larger powerbrokers, suppressing any slim prospect of an outlier emerging from the shadows to cause a shock. Restructuring changed the old 16-team group stage that kicked off the competition into an 18-club league phase. That entails three rounds of qualifying – beginning with this Celtic derby in the first round of the Champions Path. It means a quick turnaround for Athlone but at least to do again have home advantage. That worked a treat on this occasion, for the sold-out sign was raised four hours before kick-off, leading to queues around a Lissywollen Stadium that struggles to attract 400 for the men's team. As it transpired, an historic number of 1,916 was declared for a crowd that did include Ireland assistant manager Alan Mahon. At 23, Molloy is someone the international management could be minded to consider with the Uefa Nations League playoff against Belgium approaching in October. ATHLONE TOWN: M Plaschko; K Brennan (I Ryan 85), S Brennan, N McNally, K Shine; H Waesch, I Groves (K Slevin 70); R Molloy (A Murphy 82), S Rice, M Gibson; K Brady (H Donegan 70). CARDIFF CITY: C Chamberlain: L Owen, F Price, H Evans, N Jenkins; F Barry, K Walklett, L Billingham, M Cook; H Evans, L Curnock. Referee: Karoline Marie Jensen (NOR)
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Ireland hammer hosts Portugal to complete perfect pool stage and set up Scotland semi-final
Ireland showed their quality in front of goal to get their third win from three in the pool stages of the EuroHockey Championship II, thrashing hosts Portugal 9-0 in Lousada. Mark McNellis and Fergus Gibson both got on the scoresheets to open their senior international accounts, with Louis Rowe bagging a brace. Ben Nelson, Jonny Lynch, Lee Cole, Sean Murray, and Jeremy Duncan also found the net in Ireland's 9-0 victory. The win secures top spot in Pool A, setting up a semi-final against Scotland on Friday at 5pm. Ireland began the game brightly, continuing their domination of possession from previous games, and two great chances fell for Duncan early on, with Portuguese goalkeeper alive to both to keep the game scoreless. Ireland broke the deadlock in the tenth minute from a penalty corner with Rowe's initial effort saved, but McNellis met the rebound to fire into the net. Ben Nelson almost added a second as he tried to deflect the ball under Carlos Pedro after an excellent counter-attack, but the keeper was again alive to the effort to clear. Ireland almost made the perfect start to the second quarter when Cole won the ball on the left flank and threw an aerial to Matthew Nelson who was free in the circle, but the Lisnagarvey forward's shot was just wide of the post. Gibson added Ireland's second with six minutes left in the first half, getting on the end of an excellent delivery from Ben Nelson to extend the lead. Ireland added two more goals in the minutes that followed, Ben Nelson firing in on his reverse, followed by a tidy Rowe finish to make it four going into the break. Ireland picked up from where they left off with Lynch weaving his way along the baseline and finding the net from a tight angle for the fifth, while Rowe got his second of the gamenot long after when he was found in acres of space on the penalty spot, giving him the time to calmly flick into the net. Cole added a seventh from a penalty corner before the end of the third quarter, scoring his third of the competition, and Ireland closed out the game with two more goals. Murray grabbed number eight from a penalty corner, before Duncan added the ninth, finishing off a great attacking move down the right-hand side. "We set the team the task of improving the standard of play with the ball. They got off to an early start with a goal. It was great to see some good team goals being scored," said Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty. "It's going to be tough," added Tumilty, when asked about the semi-final. "And there is still lots to come in order for us to achieve our goals of reaching the final of this tournament and making the 2027 EuroHockey Championships, and getting a place in the FIH World Cup Qualifiers. We'll pay Scotland the utmost respect."
