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The 42
a day ago
- Sport
- The 42
France frustrate Ireland in EuroHockey Championship pool stage tie
France 1 Ireland 0 A DOGGED FRANCE side managed to frustrate the Ireland in their pool stage encounter of the EuroHockey Championship today. Ireland dominated the opening quarter, winning seven penalty corners and hitting the post twice, but France held firm, nabbing a goal from a penalty corner of their own in the final quarter to secure the three points. Ireland were lively from the off, Katie Mullan hitting the post after an excellent pass from Emily Kealy, with her follow up shot just over the bar. Ellen Curran won Ireland their first of a flurry of penalty corners, with Christina Hamill hitting the post from Ireland's fourth and final of the sequence. A fortunate penalty corner for France soon after gave them their first chance of note in the first quarter, but Ireland did well to deny them. FULL TIME: IRL 0 - 1 FRA A tough result for our IRL Women as France edge the encounter with a goal in the final quarter. Our IRL Women will play their final EuroHockey Championship pool stage match when they face hosts Germany on Wednesday, August 13 at 19:00 Irish Time.… — Hockey Ireland (@irishhockey) August 11, 2025 Advertisement Ireland camped themselves on the edge of the French circle for the final minutes of the first quarter, winning a number of corners and penetrating the circle several times, but had to settle for 0-0 after the opening 15 minutes. Ireland's dominance continued into the second quarter, but a penalty corner for France gave them the first chance of the period. Despite finding the net, Ireland referred, and the goal was overturned as the first shot was above the backboard. Another corner for France gave them a second opportunity, which Ireland defended well. A scrappy period closed out the first half as the teams remained locked on level terms. Ireland made an excellent start to the second half, winning a penalty corner inside the first minute. Hannah McLoughlin's shot forced a good save from French goalkeeper Lucie Ehrmann. France, however, settled soon after, reinstating their deep defensive press. Ireland managed to find their way through it in the latter stages of quarter three, with Niamh Carey almost connecting with Katie Mullan on the back post, and Mullan doing well on the edge of the circle to drive in and win a penalty corner. Ireland tested Ehrmann once again from the penalty corner, but the keeper was equal to the effort. France stepped up their efforts in the final quarter, with the underdogs breaking the deadlock from their second penalty corner of the period thanks to a Mathilde Duffrene dragflick. Now chasing the game, Ireland substituted goalkeeper Elizabeth Murphy with five minutes remaining in an effort to pull a goal back. They were immediately rewarded, with Ellen Curran winning a penalty corner. Hannah McLoughlin struck from the top of the circle once again, but her effort went just wide of the far post. Ireland however, lost their player advantage soon after when Katie Mullan was shown a frustrating yellow card as she attempted to win the ball on the edge of the French circle. A penalty corner in the final minute for France gave them a chance to double their lead, but Sarah McAuley denied them on the goal-line. Ireland will face hosts Germany in their final pool stage encounter of the EuroHockey Championship on Wednesday, 13 August at 7pm Irish Time. A win in their final game could be enough to see Ireland progress to the semi-finals should Germany suffer a heavy defeat to the Netherlands in their second pool stage match.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Misfiring Ireland punished by France
Ireland paid for their profligacy in front of goal at the EuroHockey Championships in Germany, as France recorded a 1-0 victory over Gareth Grundie's charges, and their hopes of progressing to a first continental semi-final hang by the most frayed of threads. Ireland opened Pool A in Monchengladbach with a 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands on Saturday. However, the Dutch top the global standings, and a win in that encounter was always a remote prospect. An Ireland side ranked 11th in the world faced 19th-ranked France in North Rhine-Westphalia on Monday afternoon as favourites in a de facto must-win game before playing the hosts in their pool finale. Ireland had their chances, more than enough to win the game, but no goals from 13 penalty corners is a damning statistic that will weigh heavily on the squad for the remainder of the tournament. Luck also deserted Gareth Grundie's side, and they hit the post twice in an opening quarter that saw them earn seven penalty corners. Katie Mullan was the first Ireland player to find the woodwork after an excellent pass from Emily Kealy, with her follow up shot just over the bar, and Christina Hamill was denied by the post from a penalty corner. France then won a penalty corner of their own – their only chance of the first quarter– but Ireland did well to deny them and camped themselves on the edge of the French circle for the final minutes of the first quarter without finding a way to break the deadlock. Ireland's dominance continued into the second quarter, but a penalty corner for France gave them the first chance of the period. Despite finding the net, Ireland referred, and the goal was overturned as the first shot was above the backboard. Ireland made an excellent start to the second half, winning a penalty corner inside the first minute. Hannah McLoughlin's shot forced a good save from France goalkeeper Lucie Ehrmann. France have upset Ireland 1-0 in Pool A at the EuroHockey Championship, with Mathilde Duffrene scoring the only goal of the game — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 11, 2025 More wasted penalty corners followed for Ireland, and they were punished in the final quarter when Mathilde Duffrene showed her opponents just how to convert the set-piece, with an adroitly struck dragflick. Chasing the game, Ireland substituted goalkeeper Elizabeth Murphy with five minutes remaining in an effort to pull a goal back, but the advantage of an extra outfield player was negated when Katie Mullan was shown a yellow card as she attempted to win the ball on the edge of the France circle. A penalty corner in the final minute for France gave them a chance to double their lead, but Sarah McAuley denied them on the goal line. Ireland will face hosts Germany in their final pool game on Wednesday at 7pm Irish time. A win in that game and a heavy defeat for Germany against the Netherlands later today could still see Grundie's side reach the knockouts. 'We have to take a hard look at ourselves in attack' - Katie Mullan cites Ireland's lack of clinical finishing as key in their 1-0 loss to France at the EuroHockey Championship — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 11, 2025
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Ireland's EuroHockey hopes dashed by loss to France
Ireland's hopes of reaching the EuroHockey semi-finals for the first time are in tatters after a shocking 1-0 defeat by France in only goal of the game came early in the fourth quarter from a penalty corner as Mathilde Duffrene's shot beat Ireland goalkeeper Lizzie had plenty of possession and opportunities, as well as hitting a couple of posts, but lost the initiative as the game wore will now be reliant on a big win for the Netherlands over Germany on Monday evening to give themselves any shot at making the last four. Ireland dominated the first quarter but could not find the opening score. Katie Mullan had an early opportunity but hit the post and then could not control the rebound as it flew over the bar. There then came a flurry of penalty corners in a row, five in all for Ireland. Christina Hamill saw her effort hit the post and Niamh Carey's deflection went sounded a warning to Ireland early in the second quarter when they had a goal disallowed from a short corner as the ball was lifted into the net above the height of the sides then struggled in the heat to create any meaningful circle penetrations before started the second half with attacking intent and Hannah McLoughlin saw two strikes at goal saved by Lucie the French were growing in confidence and Lizzie Murphy had to make a point blank save from Gabrielle Verrier to keep the game longer the game wore on the more panic there was in Ireland's play. They would pay the price when Duffrene's effort from a penalty corner found its way into the back of the Irish net with ten minutes remaining. 'We had enough chances to win the game, I think early on, and we tried to stay steady throughout the four quarters,' explained Irish captain Sarah Hawkshaw.'Even in the last quarter we had multiple chances that we could have put it away, but they sat so defensively and then once they got the goal on it made it more difficult.'We knew penalty corner attack would be important and we had enough of them to slot it away as well, so yeah, very disappointed in that end, but we'll have to put it to bed, the moment's over and we'll look at the next one.'Ireland had thirteen penalty corners in the game and couldn't convert and at this level that simply isn't good they must pick themselves up for a final Pool game against Germany on Wednesday night, no matter where they find themselves in the tournament.'We know how up and down it can be, but we try to maintain quite a steady mood in camp and that's really important.'We'll obviously take our learnings from this game, but we have a good sense of where we are, a sense in international hockey and we need to remember that and not let moments like this bring us down.'So yeah, as I said, the moment's over, we need to quickly be disappointed, look at what we need to fix and go into Germany,' added Hawkshaw.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ireland targeting best ever Women's EuroHockey finish
It's been seven years since Ireland played in the World Cup final against the Netherlands. Heady days. Nobody saw it coming. But when it did, Ireland's success grabbed the country. The World Cup venue adjacent to the Olympic Stadium on the east side of London was taken over as sunshine melted the roads around Canning Town and Stratford. Irish hockey had never seen anything like it. The current Irish captain Sarah Hawkshaw, a good friend of the 2018 captain Katie Mullan, who remains in the current squad with another World Cup medal winner, Róisín Upton, tells the story Mullan told her of knocking down stereotypes, lancing perceptions. 'In terms of the World Cup we would speak a bit of how as a team they were able to get themselves in a position that they were so motivated to succeed,' says Hawkshaw. READ MORE 'Even the funny stories, where they had to check into the room every day because people would write them off and they'd keep winning and they'd keep having to check in again the next day because they were due to leave.' It's a greatly changed group of players now but looking towards the 2025 European Championships next week in Mönchengladbach, if there is one thing the squad understands it is believing that they are as good as they want to be. They do not create limitations based on other people's perceptions. Hawkshaw has been team captain since December of last year and is a veteran of the 2023 Euros and the Tokyo Olympic Games. Ireland agonisingly fell just short of qualifying for Paris when they were beaten by Great Britain in January 2024 at the qualifiers in Valencia. Ireland's Sarah McCauley and Michelle Carey dejected after losing to Great Britain in 2023. Photograph: Frank Uijlenbroek/Inpho 'Personally it was very, very hard for a while to retain motivation, to get going again,' says Hawkshaw of that defeat. 'Attaching your motivation to a new goal can be hard, when you have almost given everything for the last goal, that you didn't achieve. It took time to process that, but I found I must be happy in my life to be able to perform in my sport. That became a big focus for me.' But Tokyo 2020 was a game changer, too, in that it was the first time an Irish women's hockey team had qualified for an Olympic Games. Sarah Torrans, Hannah McLoughlin and Sarah McAuley, who are travelling to Germany, were also part of the Olympic squad. Aside from the transition in players, the management has changed too. Since 2018, World Cup coach Graham Shaw has left. Sean Dancer joined as head coach in May 2019, having moved from his role as assistant coach in New Zealand, and took the team to the Olympics, a World Cup and to fifth in Europe, equalling the team's best result. The current coach, Gareth Grundie, was appointed last October. 'I think a lot of change has happened in the last year that's been good for the squad,' says Hawkshaw. 'Gareth has come in and he has challenged a lot of the ways that we play and the standards we set. But he was with us in the lead-up to Tokyo under Sean Dancer so we have that understanding of the hockey he brings. 'A lot of our players have also played in the European Leagues for the past three years and that changes things a lot. Hockey is quite a small world when you get outside of Ireland and play. That dynamic has brought up the standard and brought up the level of expectations we have of each other and ourselves as a country.' Ireland's Ireland head coach Gareth Grundie. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho But for her school, Mount Sackville in Dublin, Hawkshaw may never have played hockey. As a child she joined local GAA club St Brigid's and began playing football. Good enough to play underage and minors for Dublin, she was in secondary school before a hockey stick was ever put in her hand. She was also a competitive cross-country athlete, who ran for her school and with Clonliffe Harriers. Her brother David, who played rugby with Leinster and is now with Connacht, was also a talented St Brigid's hurler. Hewon a Leinster minor hurling championship with Dublin in 2016 and played in an All-Ireland minor semi-final against Limerick at Croke Park. A sports scholarship took Hawkshaw to the University of Massachusetts, where she played collegiate hockey for four years, making her Ireland debut against Chile in 2019. 'Through the years of football, under-16s, minor, I still remember those days as amazing, what team culture can be and how you can be part of something that is bigger than yourself and you can carry that through life,' she says. 'Something I always had was good fitness. I used to run quite competitively, so I was put on [in GAA] just to run after somebody, so that worked in my favour. I was midfield. I was probably a player who valued feeling connected to the players around me to be able to perform. 'I didn't know what hockey was until I went to Mount Sackville. We were all in Brigid's from the mini-leagues up. I absolutely loved it. Then the natural transition was when you go to Mount Sackville and pick up a hockey stick. That was it. The exciting new thing you do at the time. Sarah Hawkshaw in action for Ireland against the Netherlands in 2021. Photograph: Frank Uijlenbroek/Inpho 'I remember the first time I was trying to play hockey out on the road, ripping up the bottom of our sticks because we'd just bought them. We were playing camogie, didn't know what we were doing.' In Mönchengladbach, Ireland have been handed a tough draw for the pool games. The Netherlands, the number one ranked team in the world, are first up, then France, who are six places below Ireland's ranking of 11th, and finally the sixth-ranked home side Germany. A goal would be a semi-final as the top three teams qualify for the next World Cup, which take place in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2026. 'I don't mind putting goals to these tournaments,' says Hawkshaw. 'I think we have a tough group. I don't know how it is every single time in a major we draw Holland for the first game. But it's an unbelievable fixture to get. 'So we have Holland, Germany and France. France, we'd expect ourselves to be up to beat them. Germany is going to be a challenge, but we are targeting that game as one we can win. We get out if we do that and we can put ourselves in a semi-final spot. 'So, 100 per cent we are looking to push that finish [fifth] one or two steps farther. We know there is World Cup qualification that comes out of this as well. It's looking like it will have to be top three for us to qualify with another tournament next year if we don't get it from the Europeans.' Women's Eurohockey Championship schedule (all times Irish, all games live on RTÉ) Saturday, August 9th: Ireland v The Netherlands, 2.30pm; Monday, August 11th : Ireland v France, 2.45pm; Wednesday, August 13th: Ireland v Germany, 7pm; Friday, August 15th: Crossover match 1; Sunday, August 17th: Crossover match 2. Ireland squad : Elizabeth Murphy, Holly Micklem, Ellen Curran, Katie Larmour, Sarah McAuley, Hannah McLoughlin, Caoimhe Perdue, Róisín Upton, Charlotte Beggs, Michelle Carey, Christina Hamill, Sarah Hawkshaw (capt), Emily Kealy, Katie McKee, Niamh Carey, Katie Mullan, Mikayla Power, Sarah Torrans.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ireland keen for another crack at World No.1 Netherlands
Ireland women face the toughest test in world hockey when they take on world No.1 side the Netherlands on Saturday afternoon in their EuroHockey Championship opener. The Dutch are unbeaten in this event for 10 years and will become the first nation, male or female, to win five EuroHockey titles in a row should they claim gold next Sunday in Monchengladbach. Since losing the 2018 World Cup final, Ireland have now played the Oranje in every major tournament bar the 2023 EuroHockey. 'For years we didn't get to play the Dutch in the way fixtures worked out or in any Test series,' said Katie Mullan, who will be playing her sixth EuroHockey campaign. 'It's those games where we have grown a lot. In some aspects of our game we get closer every time and you always want to play the best and the ability to have a go.' Ireland also face France and then hosts Germany in their final pool game on Wednesday, which is likely to be a straight shoot-out for a last-four berth. The Green Army have finished fifth twice in their last three appearances. With five of the world's top eight nations competing, 11th-ranked Ireland will have their work cut out to reach the semi-finals for the first time ahead of a first appearance in next season's FIH Pro League. This summer, coach Gareth Grundie has given Ireland plenty of matches to fine-tune this side. Since June, they have played against USA, the Dutch under-21s in Dublin, away to Czech Republic and Belgium and at home against Spain last week. 'We haven't broken the back of the Europeans yet,' said Mullan. 'It's by far the hardest continent as you have so many good teams, so making the semi-finals would be huge for us. 'It's performance after performance and there are two things you want to do at an international tournament: to play the best team and play the hosts. 'To play Germany next Wednesday night will be one of those ones you will never forget. It is one of those spectacle games you strive to get up for.' Sarah Hawkshaw will captain Ireland in her first major tournament since taking over from Mullan, 31, after the Paris Olympics. Hawkshaw is joined by four teammates from her Belgian club Braxgata, including experienced defender Roisin Upton. Belfast Harlequins' Katie Larmour will be the least experienced Irish player when she lines up alongside Upton in the back lines. 'She is a very mature athlete, level-headed and really reliable at the back,' added Mullan. 'You will see the raw Irish mentality in her and her stability means we rely on her, even though she has one cap.'
