Ireland clinch series after controversial game

IRELAND drew 2-2 with Wales in adverse weather conditions at Belfield yesterday to give them a narrow victory in the two match series after winning Saturday's opening game 2-1.

The Irish women should really have had yesterday's game wrapped up by half time, such was their superiority, but a combination of missed chances and some atrocious refereeing decisions, contrived to deny them victory.

Indeed, Ireland coach Terry Gregg launched a scathing attack on the Welsh referee after the match. A clearly incensed Gregg said "We had to deal with the extraordinarily appalling refereeing displayed by the Welsh referee. Both the Welsh goals should not have been scored, in the first goal the Welsh striker fouled the hall prior to it going into the goal and for the second goal, which came from a short corner, the short corner should never have been awarded."

To be fair to Gregg, he had reason to be annoyed. Apart from the incidents he described, Ireland also had a perfectly legitimate goal from Sarah Kelleher disallowed in the second half, with the referee refusing to reveal why she had disallowed it. Furthermore, on a number of occasions after Welsh players had fooled by accidentally kicking the ball, the referee did not award a free even though both the Irish and Welsh teams had stopped playing as a result of the foul. This reporter believes that the ILHU should log a complaint with the International Hockey Federation, to ensure that a display such as the one witnessed yesterday will never occur again.

As for the game itself, a miss by Mary Logue who had celebrated setting a new record of 87 international appearances on Saturday by scoring both of Ireland's goals in the opening minutes set the tenor for the afternoon.

Midway through the half, Clare McMahon and Sarah Kelleher had efforts saved heroically by Welsh goalkeeper Louise Ellis. Then, against the run of play, Wales drew first blood in the 22nd minute, when Rachel O'Brien scored as the Irish women stood back waiting for the referee's whistle after she had clearly kicked the ball.

Shocked and angry, the Irish team's play degenerated but to their credit they did not become bad tempered and gained just reward when Arlene Thompson cleared the ball from Ireland's circle, a Welsh defender's clearance fell to Mary Logue, who brought it into the circle on the right hand side before passing to Clare McMahon, who smashed it into the goal for the equaliser.

However, just before half time, Wales were back in front when Lynda Watkins scored from a controversially awarded short corner. But Ireland rallied after the interval and were back on level terms midway through the half, when McMahon got her second goal of the afternoon after latching on to a loose ball following a short corner.