Ireland do enough to seal A-Division spot

WOMENS HOCKEY:IRELAND FLIRTED with disaster for the duration of their final EuroHockey Nations Championships but eventually closed out the draw they needed to maintain their A-Division status against Russia on Saturday in Amsterdam.

Lisa Jacob’s stunning 13th-minute strike should have been the prelude to a comfortable fixture for Gene Muller’s charges against physically strong but technically lacking opponents.

But Ireland’s inexperience – with an average age of 23 and just two players over 22 in the starting midfield and defence lines – became apparent from then on.

Passes went astray as Russia stepped up their pressing game, eventually leading to Olga Shentsova’s equaliser two minutes from half-time.

Ireland played the second half in a frantic manner, creating a series of top chances for Megan Frazer, Lizzie Colvin and Jacob but equally giving Russia a sniff of an upset. Indeed, Russia needed the win to keep their A-Division status too and won two late penalty corners to really set the nerves jangling. But Emma Gray – making her first appearance of the tournament – stood tall between the posts and closed out the draw.

Combined with Azerbaijan’s 3-1 win over Scotland, it meant Ireland completed the tournament in fifth place overall; matching their best ever finish from 2005 in Dublin.

Furthermore, staying in this tier of competition means Ireland are guaranteed two chances to make it to the 2012 Olympics when the qualifying series set off in earnest in two and a half year’s time.

Speaking about the final fixture, Muller repeated his tournament mantra but wished his side could have made it in less stressful fashion.

“The number-one milestone was always to stay up. It was frustrating today. We could have taken the game away from them but our finishing and in certain areas of the field, we didn’t play as well as we needed to. The result was we couldn’t put them away and that’s why the result was in the balance right to the end. It needn’t have been like that.”

IRELAND: E Gray, R Flinn, C Sargent, E Cregan (capt), E Clarke, E Stewart, B Cleland, S McCay, C McKean, N Symmons, E Smyth. Subs: A Speers, L Colvin, L Jacob, M Frazer, M Harvey.

RUSSIA: O Serezhkina, E Sorokina, G Timshina, E Cherkasova, M Nikitina, N Vershinia, O Shentsova (capt), Y Ashuurova, I Osipova, S Grigorieva, M Drepenkina. Subs: O Boyko, K Shamina, K Shumilinia, I Kuzmina, E Butina.

EuroHockey Nations Championships (relegation pool):Ireland 1 (L Jacob) Russia 1 (O Shentsova); Azerbaijan 3 Scotland 1. Final: Netherlands 3 Germany 2; Bronze medal match: England 2 Spain 1. Relegation Pool: 1. Ireland 5pts (+1) 2. Azerbaijan 4pts (+1) 3. Russia 3pts (0) 4. Scotland 2pts (-2). Final rankings: 1. Netherlands 2. Germany 3. England 4. Spain 5. Ireland 6. Azerbaijan 7. Russia 8. Scotland.