​Ireland secure spot in Olympic Games qualifiers

​Ireland’s first target from the Men’s EuroHockey Championship II tournament - to secure one of the two spots available in January’s Olympic Qualification Groups - was secured with a second-half onslaught against Scotland in yesterday’s 4-1 victory.
By Staff Reporter
Published 29th Jul 2023, 04:00 GMT
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As a result of that semi-final success in Dublin, Ireland now face Ukraine in tomorrow’s showdown.

Scotland began the game very well and created numerous opportunities and could have counted themselves unlucky not to have been 1-0 up by half-time.

The second half was a completely different story, however.

Ireland have reached the Men’s EuroHockey Championship II final, with semi-final success over Scotland helping securing a place in January's Olympic Qualification Groups. (Photo by Hockey Ireland)Ireland have reached the Men’s EuroHockey Championship II final, with semi-final success over Scotland helping securing a place in January's Olympic Qualification Groups. (Photo by Hockey Ireland)
Ireland have reached the Men’s EuroHockey Championship II final, with semi-final success over Scotland helping securing a place in January's Olympic Qualification Groups. (Photo by Hockey Ireland)
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Jeremy Duncan opened the scoring in the 31st minute from open play to make it 1-0.

Ben Johnson increased their lead from a goal from open play in the 40th minute to give a Ireland a 2-0 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Lee Cole converted two penalty corners in the 50th and 53rd minutes respectively to leave Ireland 4-0 ahead with only seven left to play.

Scotland finally got the goal their first-half play deserved when Alan Forsyth converted a penalty corner in the 58th minute to leave the score 4-1 to Ireland.

For Scotland, a third-place final with Italy awaits.

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Ireland take on Ukraine in the final from 4 o’clock with both sides having secured their place in January’s Olympic qualifiers and with a trophy up for grabs on Sunday.

"That's been our goal for the last 12 months - to get the job done, to secure that Olympic qualifier place next January is one target, now we want to go on and win the tournament on home turf," Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty was quoted on BBC Sport NI. "We tried to force too much in the first half.

"We wanted to win the game too easily and we had a chat at half-time about showing some more composure and keeping possession and going through phases of play and we executed the game plan in the second half.

"We've got to realise that we want to win every time we put an Irish shirt on, and we will have matches in preparation for the Olympic qualifiers.

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"So the final here in the first step towards that - we have to win, and we have to produce a performance as well.”

Valencia and Lahore will host the Olympic qualifiers in January, with eight nations involved across each tournament.

Ireland will discover which competition they will be competing in following the Continental Championships in November.

IRELAND: David Harte, Lee Witherow, John McKee, Kyle Marshall, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray, Michael Robson, Benjamin Walker, Lee Cole, Conor Empey, Sam Hyland.

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Subs (used): Charlie Rowe, Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Jonathan Lynch, Ben Johnson, Nicholas Page.

SCOTLAND: Thomas Alexander, Joe McConnell, Alan Forsyth, Robert Field, Andrew McConnell, Duncan Riddell, Lee Morton, Craig Falconer, Jamie Golden, Fraser Moran, Callum Mackenzie Subs (used): Thomas Austin, Struan Walker, Keir Robb, Andrew Lochrkin, Kyle White, Ali Douglas.

Group B winners Italy took on Group A’s second-placed nation Ukraine in the opening semi-final and produced a thriller that went all the way.

With the sides at 3-3, the semi-final went to a shoot-out won by Ukraine on a 4-3 tally.

Related topics:IrelandScotlandUkraineItaly