Ireland's men got their Eurohockey Nations Championship campaign off to a good start today, with a well-deserved 1-1 draw with World No 3 and defending European champions Spain.
Ireland were well worth their point today and matched the classy
Spanish well for the whole 70 minutes, with captain Patrick Brown
leading by example with a vintage display in defence. But all
players contributed to an excellent Irish display which keeps their
dreams of Olympic qualification very much alive.
Ireland got off to the best possible start they could have hoped for, taking the lead after just one minute. A free hit on the Spanish circle was rolled into the D and crashed to the back post by Mark Black for Mark Gleghorne to deflect home from close range.
Ireland continued to dominate early proceedings and Gleghorne had another shot on goal in the fourth minute, but it was easily saved by Cortes in the Spanish goal. And Andy Barbour forced a turnover deep in Spanish territory but couldn't beat the Spanish defender as he broke into the circle.
After their slow start, Spain started to raise their game and a
rare mistake by Patrick Brown on eight minutes let in Eduard Tabau, but he was denied by a magnificent covering tackle by John Jermyn.
Spain began to impose themselves more on the game, with a dangerous cross from the right in the 12th minute being cleared and Victor Sojo running dangerously into the circle four minutes later, but firing his backhand shot high and wide.
And the Spaniards' first penalty corner of the game in the 17th minute was well blocked by Eugene Magee, with Alex Fabregas shooting wastefully wide from the top of the circle, with plenty of time to measure his shot.
After this initial surge of pressure from Spain, Ireland settled
into a period of controlled possession with captain Patrick Brown
marshalling his defence well and Ronan Gormley also excelling. And in the 28th minute, Ireland nearly doubled their lead when Eugene Magee burst into the circle at pace and rifled a shot that Cortes saved well.
The teams went in at half time with Ireland deservedly leading and a huge upset against the defending champions suddenly looked possible. But Spain came out in the second half with much more purpose and intensity and put Ireland under heavy pressure early on.
And after six minutes of the second half, Spain finally got
back on terms, when Xavier Ribas converted the third of three
consecutive penalty corners, his drag flick beating Harte low to
his right, despite the Munster man getting a stick to it.
Harte then produced an excellent stick save to his right to deny
Victor Sojo two minutes later from Spain's fifth penalty corner.
Spain continued to pressure Ireland and Harte was forced into two more saves from free play. But Ireland nearly prized open a scoring opportunity themselves when a brilliant 40 metre pass from Brown found Irwin deep in Spanish territory, but he was denied by a despairing Spanish tackle as he raced along the by-line towards goal.
Harte then denied Ribas twice from a brace of penalty corners
with ten minutes to go, the first a brilliant stick block low to
his right and the second well saved high with the glove.
Spain piled on more pressure but Ireland's composed defence held firm. And Ireland went out to win the game in an exciting final five minutes.
Andy Barbour's shot on the turn was blocked and with three minutes to go Ireland had convincing calls for a penalty corner ignored after frenzied action in the Spanish circle, following a rasping cross from Stephen Butler from the right. But neither side could forge a winner and the game finished 1-1 in a result that will please Ireland more than the defending champions Spain.
Speaking afterwards, Ireland coach Dave Passmore was pleased with the display.
He said: 'I'm naturally happy with a point against the European champions. We stuck to our game plan well today and this was a
composed performance.
'We are aware that it is only the first game and the players have
their feet on the ground. But the players were fantastic in and around the circle today and there is a great togetherness in the
squad.'
Passmore enthused over the performance of young goalkeeper David Harte.
'To include a 19-year-old in the squad and then to start him in the
first game raised a few eyebrows but he's got a lot of character
and he had a massive game today,' said Passmore.
Passmore has to be happy with the start to his team's campaign
after injury problems plagued the final preparations for the
tournament.
He credited the rotation system he has instilled in the squad to combat these problems.
He said: 'We were potentially coming into this tournament without three key players. We crucially now have a culture in the squad where players are comfortable playing in a number of positions. That was obviously key today in that we were able to play John Jermyn in our back four with uncertainty around Iain Lewers fitness.
'The back four were massive today, but it was an eleven man defence and the whole team deserves great credit.'
Mark Gleghorne spoke modestly of his opening goal of the campaign. He said: 'I was at the back post and couldn't really miss. We didn't get many chances, so it was important to take those that came along. It is all about taking those chances at this level.'
Ireland's next game is against Holland on Tuesday at 11am. Ireland's women take on the same nation on Monday at 3pm.
