Ireland's EuroHockey Championship ends in defeat to England
Ireland's EuroHockey Championship campaign ended with a fourth defeat in five matches in Mönchengladbach on Sunday morning, their 2-1 loss to England meaning they finished bottom of the placings for the first time in the tournament's history.
Ireland, however, avoid relegation as the event will be expanded to 12 nations next time around.
It was poor enough fare from two sides who've had a sorry time of it in Germany, England having failed to reach the semi-finals of the tournament for only the second time.
It was England who took the lead in the 16th minute when Sarah McAuley suffered the misfortune of deflecting Tessa Howard's cross past Holly Micklem with her outstretched stick. Mikayla Power was desperately unlucky not to level moments later, her goal-bound shot inadvertently blocked by team-mate Katie Mullan on the line.
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But Mullan made up for that mishap in the 23rd minute with a superbly taken goal. After being picked out by Niamh Carey, she made her way past one England defender before chipping the ball over Sabbie Heesh.
The deciding goal came a minute in to the third quarter when Darcy Bourne capitalised on shoddy Irish defending to send a reverse strike past Micklem. It was England's first shot on goal in the game, a measure of their struggles in that department.
Emily Kealy had a shot well saved by substitute England goalkeeper Miriam Pritchard, while Ireland were indebted to a brilliant Katie Larmour tackle that prevented Maddie Axford from making it 3-1. Micklem, winning just her sixth cap, made a fine save too from the only penalty corner of the game.
After England's Elizabeth Neal was yellow-carded and Micklem was taken off, Ireland had a two player advantage outfield in the closing moments, but they were unable to take advantage, giving them their 11th European Championship defeat to England in 11 meetings.
It was a sobering tournament for Ireland, the chief frustration being that they produced their best displays against teams ranked above them, but lost to France and Scotland, both ranked below them.
Next in the schedule is their debut appearance at the FIH Pro League, which gets under way in November, where they'll come up against the world's top eight nations. The challenges get tougher.
IRELAND:
H Micklem; E Curran, H McLoughlin, C Perdue, S McAuley; K McKee, S Hawkshaw (capt), C Hamill; S Torrans, K Mullan, N Carey.
Rolling subs:
E Murphy, M Carey, R Upton, C Beggs, K Larmour, M Power, E Kealy.
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