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Irish Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Ireland fail to reach EuroHockey Championship semis after scoreless draw with Germany
Gareth Grundie's side needed to beat the hosts by a two-goal cushion to qualify for a first ever semi-final. They were the better side throughout here, but failed to score in the pool stages for the first time in the competition's history. 'We knew it was a tall order coming in and another day we could have got the 2-0 over them,' said Ireland captain Sarah Hawkshaw. '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.' In a match of few outright chances, Ireland will rue their penalty stroke opportunity. It came with six minutes left of the first quarter when Emily Kealy was illegally tackled as she lined up her shot after a swift break into the German circle. Hannah McLoughlin stepped up but Julia Sonntag saved with ease with her left glove. Conceding only three goals in their three pool games, following a stoic defeat to the Netherlands and a poor display against France, they now head into the race for fifth place having equalled their best defensive display at a EuroHockey Championships. Ireland will aim to finish fifth for a third time in their last four EuroHockey campaigns. However, this time there is no jeopardy of relegation from Europe's top A Division. The 2027 championships in London will be reformatted with more nations competing, meaning no relegation at the current tournament.
Irish Times
6 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.
Belfast Telegraph
6 days ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Belfast Harlequins ace tipped to inspire Ireland on European stage: ‘You will see the raw Irish mentality in her'
Mullan (31) will be playing with freedom in the forward lines at her sixth EuroHockey Championships after eight years as captain and handing over to Sarah Hawkshaw following the Paris Olympics. As Mullan nears 250 international caps, Larmour will compete against the fearsome Dutch on Saturday afternoon in just her second match after shining for Belfast Harlequins last season. 'She had a few tough injuries as a youngster, but she has fought to get to this place,' said Mullan. 'She is a very mature athlete, level-headed and really reliable at the back. I am very excited for her at this tournament. 'You will see the raw Irish mentality in her, and her stability means we rely on Katie, even though she has one cap.' The Dutch are unbeaten at the Europeans since 2015 as they aim to become the first nation of either gender to win five titles in a row. Five of the top eight teams in the world rankings are competing as world No.11 Ireland eye a EuroHockey Semi-Final berth for the first time after twice finishing fifth in their last three tournaments. '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.' Gareth Grundie's side will also play pool encounters against France and hosts Germany in a key competition before their first foray into the FIH Pro League in the 2025/26 season. 'There's a great energy in the group with a number of new faces getting their first taste of competition at this level,' Grundie said. 'It's an invaluable opportunity for them to gain experience and make their mark. 'We're not here just to take part; we want to challenge the top sides and push hard for a place in the Semi-Finals. The players are ready, and we're looking forward to seeing what we can deliver.'
