Ireland 1-1 New Zealand
Ireland drew 1-1 with New Zealand in the 6 Nations Tournament in Valencia, Spain today.
Ireland started the brighter and earned their first penalty corner in the opening two minutes. The shot and rebound were well saved but it was a marker of things to come, with a plethora of penalty corners awarded to each side during the match.
Indeed, a penalty corner minutes later offered Shane O’Donoghue a chance and he made no mistake when drag flicking the ball into Devon Manchester's net to give Ireland the lead in the sixth minute.
The Blacksticks penalty corner count ran well into double digits but a combination of composed defence and inaccurate finishing meant their conversion rate was kept at nil.
However, David Harte was deemed to have fouled an attacker and a penalty stroke, courtesy of Shea McAleese, meant the teams went into half time tied 1-1.
The script didn’t change dramatically in the second half as New Zealand continued to increase their penalty corner count, often thanks to a pacey and agile midfield line that seemed to have the Irish on the back foot at times.
However, as per the first 30 minutes, shots and passes fizzed across the face of goal or were ably dealt with by Harte.
The final chance of the game fell to the Blacksticks with a penalty corner in the closing minute but Kyle Good was fast out of the blocks and the effort didn’t trouble Harte’s goal.
Ireland next face Germany tomorrow.
