Ireland suffer comprehensive defeat to Australia
IRELAND SUFFERED A 6-1 defeat to Australia in the teams' second FIH Pro League encounter in Antwerp today.
Mark Tumilty's men were beaten by the same scoreline against the Aussies on Tuesday.
A decent start saw Ireland level with the current FIH Pro League title holders and the world-ranked number five side in the early stages.
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Lee Cole scored from a penalty corner to equalise, after Nathan Ephraums opened the scoring.
But Jeremy Hayward soon restored the Kookaburra's lead through a penalty corner of their own, before Ephraums extended his side's advantage.
Craig Marais capitalised on a defensive error to score his side's fourth before Davis Atkin added a fifth after Jonny Lynch had been yellow-carded for a collision in the middle of the park.
Ky Willott made it six in the final quarter, but the game had long since become a formality.
The victory moves Australia to second in the FIH Pro League table behind leaders The Netherlands.
'We let ourselves down playing with 10 players for large parts,' Ireland captain Kyle Marshall said afterwards. 'A couple of green and yellow cards that we have to be disappointed with ourselves for receiving. We know that teams will hurt you when you are playing with one less player.
'We definitely applied ourselves well during those periods, but the longer you are in those periods, the more you are open to conceding goals, and little mistakes compound.'
Ireland play their final two FIH Pro League matches of the 2024-25 season against Spain on 21 and 22 June at 9.30am Irish time.
Both games will be available to watch live on the TG4 player.
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