Ireland coach celebrates 'progress' in second FIH Pro League defeat up against world's number one side

Opening the second round of a first-ever FIH Pro League campaign against a Netherlands outfit who had previously defeated Ireland by 5-1 in the India tournament, Tumilty’s men kicked off the scoring.

A penalty corner on 11 minutes featured Shane O’Donoghue’s first effort blocked but Matthew Nelson reacted first to net the rebound.

Netherlands responded for a final 2-1 victory.

"We have definitely made progress from block one,” said Tumilty. “We should have held on to the lead a bit better.

"Overall, we defended well and Shane O'Donoghue was excellent – but so were a few others.

"Matthew Nelson...we know what he is capable of and he showed that out there today against the number one-ranked team in the world."

NETHERLANDS: Maurits Visser, Jip Janssen, Jorrit Croon, Terrence Pieters, Justen Blok, Derck de Vilder, Floris Wortelboer, Koen Bijen, Joep de Mol, Max de Bie, Duco Telgenkamp.

Subs (used): Floris Middendorp (3 mins), Seve Van Ass (4 mins), Jasper Brinkmann (4 mins), Guus Jansen (5 mins), Teun Beins (5 mins).

IRELAND: Jamie Carr, Luke Witherow, Luke Madeley, Tim Cross, Matthew Nelson, Daragh Walsh, Shane O'Donoghue, Sean Murray, Peter McKibbin, Michael Robson, Ben Walker.

Subs (used): Ben Johnson (4 mins), Nicholas Page (4 mins), Conor Empey (5 mins), Peter Brown (5 mins), Kevin O'Dea (6 mins).