MEN'S HOCKEY: This has been, by any measure, a successful international year for Ireland coach John Clarke and his assistants, Seoul gold medallist Jimmy Kirkwood and Tokyo Olympian David Judge, as well as a promising week in the European Championship qualifier at Belfield. On Saturday, a 1-0 victory was achieved against Wales to clinch a berth in Barcelona 2003 and yesterday the home team finished an abrasive match against the Italians as deserving winners of the tournament.
That they left it until 12 minutes before the end for Justin Sherriff to slip in his second goal of the match kept the crowd nicely on edge, but Ireland were the technically stronger side.
Pressing for most of the match but always aware of the stinging counter-attacking ability of their opponents, Ireland fell behind twice before clawing their way back and finally taking the spoils.
In Pembroke's Gordon Elliott, Ireland also had the joint top scorer of the competition along with Italian striker Gian Luca Cirilli. They hit eight goals each.
Cirilli pushed in his first of the match and seventh of the tournament after just four minutes as Ireland took a little time to tighten their defence. The forward, darting into the circle from a left channel, was allowed an unchallenged flick, which slipped past the unprotected Nigel Henderson.
On 16 minutes, Sherriff linked with Graham Shaw for his first goal, a free flick from a few yards out, before Cirilli again demonstrated his sharpness, snapping up the rebound from Henderson's pads after Michele Cirina had forced the clearance kick on 33 minutes.
A fractious second half followed as Italy remained half court, Cirilli picking up Italy's fourth yellow card and Errol Lutton Ireland's first, while Elliott set the teams level. Picking up a tight ball in the circle and making space, he threaded the ball through goalkeeper Colina Massimo's pads just three minutes after the break.
Ireland remained composed and held their shape, Sherriff stretching the Italian defence on 58 minutes and with only the goalkeeper to beat for the second time in the match, slid it under his pads for 3-2. A frantic finish ensued as Italy threw everything forward but they failed to close the gap.
Apart from the necessity of a couple of early clearances from Henderson, Ireland were in control against Wales, with Shaw delivering the cross for Julian Stevenson to put away the winning goal in the 31st minute. Thrusts by Mark Raphael and Sherriff went close to increasing the margin.
IRELAND: N Henderson (capt.); P Brown, D Smyth E Lutton, J Black; M Raphael, C Jackson, M Black; G Elliott, M Irwin, G Shaw. Rolling subs: J Sherriff, S Butler, J Stevenson, D Hobbs.
ITALY: C Massimo; L Ponpei, L Pepe (capt.), M Faggian, F Ardito, S Serra, L Perelli, S Fughelli, M Cirina, G Cirilli, M Lanzano. Rolling subs: F Congiu, A Debortoli, M Barbero, S Leone.
Final: Ireland 3 (J Sherriff 2, G Elliott), Italy 2 (G Cirilli 2); 3rd-4th: Wales 4 (S Organ, J Westerman, M Hoskin, J Davis-Yandle), Austria 2 (P Proksch 2); 5th-6th: Gibraltar 1 Greece 0. 7th-8th: Finland 2, Malta 0.
