Mark Tumilty call for 'more confident' Team Ireland as Olympic Games opener ends in defeat to Belgium
Team Ireland hockey coach Mark Tumilty delivered a message to his players “we need to be more confident” following defeat by 2-0 to Belgium in the opening Olympics Games clash.
The Pool B meeting featured a deflected Tom Boon strike and converted penalty corner by Alexander Hendrickx for Belgium’s victory.
It marked the third meeting between the teams in 2024 – with Ireland having recorded back-to-back wins over Belgium on the way to ninth in the Pro League debut campaign.
However, defending Olympic champions Belgium claimed the upper hand in Paris.
"It was a very tough game,” said Tumilty. “I thought Belgium were excellent in how they set up.
"They were set up to stop our best players getting on the ball and being able to create any real danger.
"A tough one, but we need to develop as we go through the tournament. We need to be more confident; it was our first time at this stage.
"The bits we were pleased with would have been the defending and goalkeeping.
“Australia (on Monday) is going to be another significant challenge. They have a range of different playing styles that they can adapt to at different stages of the game.
"We have to value possession of the ball, if we turn over against them, we will be punished! They are obviously very physical and clinical.
“Nick Page took a significant whack on the hand, and we won't know how serious that is until we go back to the village.
"The reserve players are here in Paris, which is convenient in the event we need to call someone in."
The squad featured Northern Ireland’s Sean Murray, Peter Brown, Kyle Marshall, Johnny McKee, Peter McKibbin, Matthew Nelson and Michael Robson – plus Australia-born Tim Cross, the former Annadale club player.
IRELAND: David Harte, Tim Cross, Kyle Marshall, Shane O'Dononghue, Peter McKibbin, Lee Cole, Nicholas Page, Daragh Walsh, Sean Murray (captain), Michael Robson, Peter Brown, John McKee, Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Duncan, Ben Johnson.
For Great Britain, David Ames - the former Cookstown player who was born in South Africa – led the side to a 4-0 win as captain over Spain in Pool A.