Men's hockeyAndrew Meredith's tenure as Ireland men's senior coach got off to a sticky start, with two defeats over the weekend in Quilmes, Argentina. They fell to the host nation on Saturday and Japan yesterday, and look set for a tough quarter-final next Thursday.
Against Japan, Ireland enjoyed the vast majority of possession but were stung by quick counter-attacks as they ultimately lost 3-0 to goals from Kazuhiro Tsubouchi, Tomonori Ono and Shinji Kawauchi.
It compounded Saturday’s loss to Argentina, one in which Ireland let slip a 2-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes to fall 4-3.
The results increase the possibility of facing one of the fancied sides in the competition, namely Malaysia, coached by ex-Ireland coach Paul Revington, and Korea. First, though, is a tie with South Africa tomorrow to close out the initial phase of the competition.
Domestically, Pembroke re-established their five-point lead in Leinster Division One with 5-1 win over Railway Union. Locked at 1-1 with 15 minutes remaining, Maurice Elliott struck twice, while Craig Wilson and Alan Sothern also netted.
Nearest rivals Three Rock Rovers were downed 3-0 by Monkstown, with Stephen Cole returning from illness to start the rout.
Avoca and Fingal’s hopes of avoiding the drop are still very much in the air as Alistair Addison’s late penalty stroke earned the former a 3-3 draw.
IRELAND (vs Japan): D Harte; C Harte; J Jackson; R Gormley; P Gleghorne; E Magee; G McCabe; A McConnell; P Caruth; M Watt; M Darling Subs: B McCandless; T Cockram; J Jermyn; S Loughrey; P Caruth; C Cargo.
