Latest news with #Hawkshaw
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ireland miss out on EuroHockey semi-final following gruelling stalemate with Germany
An elusive semi-final berth for Irish women's hockey went begging last night — and so did a first goal at these EuroHockey Championships — as Germany knocked Gareth Grundie's side out of medal contention with a gruelling 0-0 draw. Needing to win by two goals to set up a last four clash for the first time with Belgium, Ireland missed a first-half penalty stroke and failed to make inroads from a 20th penalty corner taken at these Championships. Yet they dominated passages of play on a tense night for the host nation, as they put in their best all-round performance to stifle the world No.6 side. 'We knew it was a tall order coming in and on another day we could have got the 2-0 over them,' said Sarah Hawkshaw, Ireland's captain. 'We have to look at our penalty corner as we need to be converting more. That could have changed the tournament for us. As a nation we need to be producing performances where we are matching opposition sides throughout the entire game, not just through corners.' Hawkshaw had insisted pre-match that her team needed to keep Germany out of the Irish circle and they did that with some aplomb throughout, yet the hosts had two early penalty corner sighters. Their first found the net but was ruled out for height while the second saw Lizzie Murphy go down early to smother out danger. With six minutes left of the first quarter, Emily Kealy was then illegally tackled as she lined up her shot after a swift break into the German circle. One could sense the nerves as Hannah McLoughlin — with Roisin Upton off the pitch — stepped up and her shot was easily saved courtesy of Julia Sonntag's left glove. Kathryn Mullan weaves her way through two German players. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/Inpho Still, Ireland played with tempo, rhythm and created a flurry of meaningful attacks during a bright first-half. The telling touch was missing, however, with a first circle entry in the third quarter seeing Katie Mullan misdirect her shot wide. As the third quarter drew to a close, Ireland went down to nine players after two green cards in quick succession, but Ireland managed to defend stoutly with the German overload. A match of few clear cut chances saw Germany come close to breaking the deadlock in the final quarter when a corner sweep to the far post went inches wide. With 10 minutes remaining, Murphy remained in Ireland's goal when offering an extra outfield threat and causing nerves for the hosts was needed most. A fourth penalty corner routine of the night was then easily dealt with by Germany's post runners. Murphy was eventually hauled off with under five minutes left. At the other end, Ireland's 20th corner of the tournament was then cleared at the second attempt as the hooter sounded on the Green Army's fruitless campaign. 'We had better connections through the lines and manipulated their shape against a German side which pride themselves on structure,' said Hawkshaw. 'It shows that we can compete. It's a long year of hockey and now we are in the Pro League we will come up against them a few more times. 'There's never been a Europeans I have played in where the decider has happened after your second game of the pool. That's the beauty of this tournament and it shows how close the European standard is.' Ireland will now aim to finish fifth for a third time in the last four editions. This time, however, there is no jeopardy of relegation from Europe's top flight. The 2027 Championships in London will be reformatted with more teams, meaning no demotions at the current tournament.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ireland eye upset against Germany to keep EuroHockey hopes alive
Ireland women will have to produce one of their best attacking performances in recent years to topple Germany on Wednesday and advance to a first EuroHockey Championships semi-final. Gareth Grundie's side are yet to find the net after a spirited defeat to the Netherlands and an insipid loss to France. It means that world No.13 Ireland need to beat Germany by two clear goals, assuming that the Dutch, unbeaten at the Euros in a decade, beat France in the final pool matches. 'We were proud of our Dutch performance and our defensive effort where Lizzy [Murphy] was incredible in goal,' said captain Sarah Hawkshaw. 'But we were disappointed with how clinical we were in the France game with not putting it away. 'We hit the post twice and sometimes an inch to the left and the game changes quickly. It will be a game of the two circles against Germany and we have to be incredibly clinical.' Hawkshaw, 29, was part of an Ireland side that held Germany to a 1-1 draw at her first senior EuroHockey Championships in 2019 held in Belgium, where, incidentally, nine Irish players will be playing club hockey next season. Since that result, world No.6 Germany have won five in a row, while Ireland's last victory came at a 3 Nations event in 2018. At the 2023 Euros in Monchengladbach, Ireland also needed to beat Germany by two goals to progress to the semi-finals but came unstuck in a 5-0 defeat. 'The Europeans is one of the most challenging tournaments in hockey and playing the host team in their stadium at 8pm is what you want,' added Hawkshaw. 'It's why you commit yourself to the sport. We will go for it and we will bring a lot after our performance against France.' Germany possess solid ball retention but had little joy against the Dutch in their 5-1 defeat on Monday. Ireland will aim to keep the hosts out of their own circle and will also need to focus on moving the ball quicker to have any chance of finding the two-goal cushion required. 'It is a huge opportunity for us to perform,' said Katie Mullan. 'We didn't perform to the level we are capable of against France. 'We were incredibly proud with our defensive performance against the Dutch, but we also looked dangerous with a few of our attacking opportunities which was a real positive and a step forward. 'We always targeted the last group game. This is tournament hockey and we know all too well the turnaround time is really tight now and we will want to show up against Germany.' Their hopes of reaching a first semi-final could be scuppered before pushback should France achieve a seismic shock and beat the defending champions. It is an unlikely outcome. France have only played the Netherlands twice, losing 6-2 at the Paris Olympics and 11-0 a decade ago. Mullan added: 'Our focus is around putting on a performance we can be proud of at the end of 60 minutes. That way we will enjoy our game which is when we are at our best. 'We are still chasing our first goal and that's a huge motivator for us.'
Belfast Telegraph
6 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Ireland take pride in two-goal loss to European champions: ‘I'm so proud of our defensive effort'
Although the world number one's ran out 2-0 winners with goals from Joosje Burg and Yibbi Jansen, Hawkshaw was proud of the team's performance in the opening game of the EuroHockey Championship. The skipper said: 'The Dutch are the best in the world, and they're the best in the world for a reason. But I am just so proud of the team for the defensive effort. To run down so many penalty corner attacks from one of the World's best dragflickers, I'm just so proud.' Ireland now face France at 2.45pm on Monday in their second game of the tournament. Hawkshaw said: 'We approach that game no different to any other. We have a solid defence and we want to maintain that. We want to get more out of opportunities on the ball, be more patient and build in attack, and grow into the game a little bit more.'
BBC News
26-01-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Glasgow grind out narrow URC win over Connacht
United Rugby ChampionshipGlasgow Warriors (17) 22Tries: Cancelliere 2, Afshar Cons: Weir 2 Pens: WeirConnacht (5) 19Tries: Hawkshaw 2, O'Conor Cons: Hanrahan 2 Glasgow strengthened their grip on second place in the United Rugby Championship table by grinding out victory over a resolute Connacht at Irish side crossed the whitewash first through David Hawkshaw, but Warriors hit back with tries from Sebastian Cancelliere and Ben Ashfar to lead 17-5 at the and Cancelliere exchanged further scores in the second half and although Piers O'Conor crossed late on for the visitors, Glasgow held firm to secure the Smith's side now lead third-placed Bulls by seven points having played two games more than the South African both teams shorn of a raft of internationals before the Six Nations kicking off next weekend, a lack of cohesion was evident for large spells of what was a scrappy contest in difficult first joined the club back in 2010, Duncan Weir was leading the Glasgow side as captain for the first time and the fly-half banged over a penalty to get Warriors up and were dominating the exchanges in the opening quarter however, and got their reward when Hawkshaw charged down Ollie Smith's attempted clearance kick before gathering to Venter got Glasgow back on the front foot with a powerful burst and when the ball was whipped wide Cancelliere darted through a gap to go over for Glasgow's first game was bobbing along without much happening until a majestic show-and-go from prop Fin Richardson saw him slip through the Connacht defence, before offloading to Alex Samuel who sent Ashfar sprinting free to the try led by 12 at the break but it was Connacht who struck early in the second half, some neat handling sending Hawkshaw away for his second try of the played into a strong breeze in the first half, the Irish side now had the wind at their backs and had an opportunity to reduce the deficit to two points, only for JJ Hanrahan's penalty attempt to come back off the gave themselves some breathing space with their third try. Strong carries from Smith and Jack Mann took Glasgow to the brink of the Connacht line before Cancelliere found himself in the right place at the right time again to dot visitors were not done yet and O'Conor raced over two minutes from time to set up a nervy finish, but Glasgow managed the final moments well to see it out for the win. Line-ups Glasgow Warriors: McKay, Cancelliere, Smith, Munn, Cordero, Weir, Afshar; Schickerling, Matthews, Richardson, Ferrie, Samuel, Miller, Venter, Stewart, McBeth, Talakai, Duncan, Roberts, Fraser; Kennedy, Cordero, Mullins, O'Conor, Hawkshaw, Ralston, Hanrahan, Blade; Dooley, Heffernan, Aungier, O'Connor, Joyce, Murphy, Hurley-Langton, Tierney-Martin, Duggan, Illo, Dowling, Boyle, Devine, Carty, Ben Breakspear
