Ireland go down battling at hands of Australia

The Hawkes Bay Cup match began at a blistering pace as both sides had attempts on goal inside the opening 90 seconds.

Frazer set out her stall early on with a jinking run into the circle in the opening minutes but it was the Australians who broke the deadlock in the 11th minute.

A wayward pass lead to a long corner which the Hockeyroos used to distribute the ball to Parker who cleverly dragged Tice the wrong way before shooting low on the reverse.

Nelson, on the cusp of 200 caps, deflected a training ground penalty corner drag from Kenny to give Australia a 2-0 lead in the 40th minute.

McFerran, making some superb saves look simple, denied the Aussies sixth and seventh penalty corners in the opening minutes of the final quarter. However final goal left McFerran with no chance as Parker scored another quality goal on the reverse in the 56th minute.