HOCKEY/Men's European Championships: Netherlands -1 Ireland - 0The Irish men's team made the "gallant losers" tag their own yesterday as they went down by a solitary goal to the much vaunted Dutch in Manchester.
Coach Dave Passmore was anything but passive in defeat, pointing to the fact his side won as many corners as their opponents and produced just as many shots.
The ultimate difference was that Taeke Taekema's goal on the quarter-hour was ruled good while loud Irish appeals for a penalty four minutes from the end were turned down.
Replays on the big screen in Bellevue tended to support the contention that John Jermyn's shot was kept out of the net by a defender's mask but the umpires had failed to spot the foul.
With just one point on the board after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Spain, Ireland are not yet quite out of the hunt for medals and the automatic place at the Olympics that go with a top-three place in the European event.
But with Spain trouncing France 6-0 in yesterday's opening game, Passmore's men need to whip the French today and depend on the Netherlands to do likewise to Spain, who are seven ahead of Ireland on goal difference.
Ireland took a clearly defensive approach yesterday, though John Jermyn was given liberty to venture forward sporadically from right back.
They were remarkably effective in drawing the Dutch sting in open play but goalkeeper David Harte was left groping air when Taekema struck at their second corner.
Ireland had their share of the set pieces too but their three first-half efforts failed to produce a score.
Stephen Butler's attempt was charged down by the sprinters racing off the line, while goalkeeper Guus Vogels bent low to deal with flicks from Jermyn and Mark Gleghorne.
Ireland maintained their conservative format after the changeover as Ronan Gormley and Graham Shaw led the way in terms of tackles made.
Only in the closing 10 minutes was Jermyn let off the leash once more, and he was several times involved, along with Stephen Butler and Gleghorne, in the charge that earned the final corner.
Jermyn was entrusted with the shot, aimed high. Vogels put a glove on it for sure but the touch on a team-mate's face-mask passed in a blur.
The Dutch coach, Roelant Oltimans, later warned the Irish that, though they may be a much better team than France, they would need to be "creative and make their own chances".
IRELAND: D Harte, P Brown, R Gormley, S Butler, M Irwin, J Jermyn, E Magee, G Shaw, D Hobbs, A Barbour, I Lewers. Subs: K Burns, M Gleghorne, M Black, P Maguire.
