Ireland 4-2 England
Ireland have beaten England to take the bronze medal at the EuroHockey Championships for the first time in their history.
The win also means Ireland have finished three places above their seeded position in a tournament that had four of the world’s top five teams taking part.
Any time Ireland face England, in any sport, it is always a passionate battle and today in London was no different.
It was England who got off to the better start and David Harte was called into action early on to deny them the opener.
Harry Martin got the scoreboard ticking in the 11th minute for England as he found himself unmarked in front of Harte to flick in.
But the Green Machine used the skill, discipline and hunger that has been on display the entire tournament to get themselves back into the match. Shane O’Donoghue, a constant threat, drag-flicked Ireland back to 1-1 two minutes later.
England used their numbers advantage, after a Peter Caruth yellow card, to earn themselves a penalty corner in the 23rd minute. Jackson dragged it low and hard, and the waiting Dixon deflected it home to make it 2-1.
But again, maturity and commitment came to the forefront for Ireland as they defended stoically. Just before the half ended a creative PC routine saw Eugene Magee spin around the defender and set Alan Southern up to dink the ball past George Pinner to leave it 2-2 at half-time.
It was the ever-present figure of Magee that fired Ireland into the lead. His drag-flick went straight through the number one runner and left Pinner with no chance.
Ireland’s defence then came under waves of attack, no fewer than 29 circle entries by the English, but every member of the Irish team put their body on the line to keep the ball out of Harte’s goal.
Throughout the tournament the Irish attack has been clinical and today was no different.
After holding out another English attempt on goal, Kirk Shimmins broke free but was barged off the ball by Iain Lewers and won a penalty stroke.
Goalie Pinner had already been taken off as England attempted to draw the match so Mark Gleghorne, brother to Irish man of the match Paul, was the stand-in goalie and could only watch as O’Donoghue’s pinpoint shot went in to seal a 4-2 victory.
Speaking after the final whistle, coach Craig Fulton said: “A great result today for the performance we have put in this past week. To all the management team and players… we made history, well done! I know there is more to come.”
Ireland arrive into Dublin airport Terminal 1 on Sunday at approximately 7.25pm.
Meanwhile Germany were handed a Dutch masterclass as Holland claimed their first European title since 2007, and their fourth overall, with a 6-1 victory. Mink van der Weerden scored two of their five first-half goals.
Elsewhere, Spain beat France 4-3 to maintain their place in the top tier and Belgium's Tom Boon raced to the top of the tournament's goal charts by scoring seven times in an 11-4 win over Russia.
