Olympic Games progression dream still alive for Ireland's Mark Tumilty despite third consecutive defeat
Despite losing their opening three group games at the Olympics, Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty still hasn’t lost all hope of his side progressing into the quarter-finals after Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat against India.
Having started their campaign with a 2-0 loss at the hands of defending champions Belgium and followed it up by narrowly losing out 2-1 to Tokyo silver medalists Australia, Tumilty’s side faced off against India, who won bronze three years ago, at a sweltering Stade Yves-du-Manoir.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a first-half brace as they continued their unbeaten start to Group B and Tumilty felt Ireland paid their opponents “too much respect” in the early stages.
"I didn’t think we started the game very well,” he said. “We gave them a little too much respect, which they exploited to be fair, and they were very well set up.
"Our basics let us down in the first and second quarters. We just looked a little bit off it – which is probably the best way to describe it. We asked for a lot more intensity in quarters three and four and I thought we got it, but at this level we need to execute from penalty corners.
“I was impressed with how the team coped with the heat and conditions...we were the ones on the front foot in quarters three and four which is important for us.”
With the top four teams from each group progressing into the play-offs, winning their last two matches against Argentina (Thursday) and New Zealand (Friday) could yet still be enough to see Ireland qualify for the quarter-finals.
"It always felt coming into this tournament with the quality and starting off with the teams that won gold, silver and bronze in the last tournament was going to be a difficult passage to the quarter-finals and we need to be realistic around that, but I do think we've shown we can compete,” Tumilty added on RTE. “We must compete in these last two games and hope something falls for us in the final third.
"Who knows...two wins could be enough to qualify for the quarter-final. We just need to get a bit of luck or something to fall for us. Ben Walker had a big chance which would have helped us get back in the game. That's the way sport goes."