Ireland 'delighted' at World Cup result after topping Pool H despite France defeat
Jeremy Duncan insists Ireland’s men are “delighted” to be entering a 9th/10th play-off fixture at the FIH Hockey World Cup after finishing top of Pool H despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to France on Sunday.
Ireland’s men have already guaranteed their best-ever World Cup result – this month’s event in Belgium is their fourth appearance after 1978 (12th), 1990 (12th) and 2018 (14th).
They were beaten by Australia and Spain in the group stages but celebrated a 4-1 victory over South Africa before heading to the second phase classification round.
Despite losing out to the French in Wavre after strikes from Victor Charlet and Timothée Clément cancelled out Duncan’s opener, Ireland have still progressed top of Pool H and will face either Pakistan or New Zealand on Friday.
“It’s brilliant,” said Duncan. “One of our goals at the start of the tournament if we didn’t get into the top eight was to be in that 9th/10th play-off.
"We are delighted to be in that game. We are ninth in the world at the moment, and we want to finish at that ranking.”
Reflecting on Sunday’s defeat, Duncan added: “We knew it was going to be really tight.
"We would have liked to have hung on for a 1-1 draw or to have come back and make it 2-1. But it is always really close against those guys.”
Meanwhile, Ireland’s women have slipped to third place in Pool H after losing out 2-1 to Scotland on Saturday.
Having gone a goal down in the opening quarter through Ellie Mackenzie, Ireland’s Emily Kealy drew her side level before half-time.
However, Charlotte Watson’s stunning strike just minutes into the second half proved the difference as Scotland sealed maximum points.
Ireland face the United States of America, who currently top the group, in Wavre on Monday afternoon with the aim of also entering the 9th/10th play-off fixture, where England would await.