Irish men's hockey squad named

Irish men's coach Paul Revington has revealed the 18 players he will bring to the EuroHockey Nations Trophy taking place from the 1-8 August in Wrexham, Wales.

Revington has had ample opportunity to assess potential squad members since he took over the reins last January through club and Inter-provincial performances as well as regional and international training camps.

In the last seven weeks alone, athletes have had their chances to impress before the squad was selected for what is the most important event for this team in the Summer Programme, with a total of 12 internationals taking place since the start of June (Wales series (2); Celtic Cup (3); Champions Challenge (5); Belgium Series (2)).

Revington's selection sees two changes from the squad that played in the recent Champions Challenge II final against Poland.

Explaining the changes he said: 'Michael Watt has unfortunately been ruled out through the hand injury sustained in the Champions Challenge II final against Poland and Peter Caruth has been brought in to replace him.

'Andy McConnell has withdrawn himself from selection contention due to university exams and this has made way for Alan Giles. Alan has been selected on the back of his strong performances at the Celtic Cup and will bring a strong drive to the team as a result of the multiple successes he has enjoyed over the past club season and more recently at the Celtic Cup.'

He added: 'The team are excited for this event and will look to putting all their hard work from this summer into producing positive results in Wales.'

Ireland head into this tournament with the best world ranking at 18th and will face Italy (26th), Russia (25th) and Belarus (36th) in Pool A, while Pool B pits hosts Wales (30th), Scotland (23rd), Czech Republic (24th) and Switzerland (28th).

Ireland, who were relegated from the Championship to the Trophy in 2007, will be aiming for promotion which they can gain by either finishing in first or second place.

If recent performances and form are anything to go by, this is a goal that is within reach of this team, whose average age is just 24, promotion very importantly will also give the side a chance at 2012 Olympic qualification through the 2011 EuroHockey Championships.

EuroHockey Nations Trophy - IRISH SQUAD
David Harte (GK) Pembroke Wanderers 38 Caps
Iain Walker (GK) YMCA 21
Ronan Gormley (C) Pembroke Wanderers 82
Tim Lewis Pembroke Wanderers 48
Joe Brennan Glenanne 25
Connor Harte Pembroke Wanderers 26
John Jackson Loughborough 27
Graham Shaw (V/C) Glenanne 136
Stephen Butler Glenanne 150
David Hobbs Cork C of I 135
Geoff McCabe Banbridge 47
John Jermyn Cork C of I 97
Alan Sothern Pembroke Wanderers 23
Eugene Magee Banbridge 88
Timmy Cockram Lisnagarvey 81
Mitch Darling Three Rock Rovers 26
Alan Giles Pembroke Wanderers 3
Peter Caruth Annadale 9

Management details: Paul Revington, Craig Fulton, Arul Anthoni, Peter Jackson, Sinead Murphy, Tristan Seaton-Stedham, Nigel Henderson, Stephen Barry.

Non-Travelling Reserves: Mark Ruddle (GK), Gareth Lennox, Karl Burns, Keith Black, Phelie Maguire, David Ames, Andrew Herbert, Gareth Watkins, Chris Cargo.

Match Schedule:
Saturday 1 August
Ireland -v- Belarus 10.00am

Sunday 2 August
Ireland -v- Italy 3.30pm

Tuesday 4 August
Ireland -v- Russia 1.30pm

Thursday 6 August/Saturday 8 August
Classification/Finals Day