Ireland's EuroHockey Championship Semi-Final hopes hanging by a thread after shock loss to France
France – the 17th-ranked nation in the Women's FIH rankings, six places below their Irish counterparts – snatched victory when Mathilde Duffrene netted the only goal of the game early in the fourth quarter.
She connected from a penalty corner and turned past Ireland goalkeeper Lizzie Murphy, with Grundie's side unable to conjure up a response as they succumbed to a second straight loss.
Ireland were beaten in their pool stage opener 2-0 by the World No.1-ranked Netherlands in their tournament opener on Saturday and produced a display that inspired confidence they could hit back against far lower-ranked opposition.
But France turned the tables and came away with the maximum spoils, with Ireland still on the hunt for their first point and goal of the competition heading into their final pool outing.
Despite those successive reverses, Ireland retain a mathematical chance of qualifying for the Semi-Finals and will be hoping the Dutch record an emphatic victory over hosts Germany – who are sixth in the world – to cut their +3 goal difference down to size in their clash on Monday evening.
However, the odds are firmly stacked against Grundie's outfit as far as their knock-out hopes are concerned ahead of their last pool game against the Germans on Wednesday.
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