Ireland suffered a 4-0 loss to Olympic bronze medalists India in the first of a two-game series at Pembroke this evening.
Early attacking pressure from the visitors called the Irish defensive line into action in the opening minutes.
India eventually managed to break the deadlock through Mandeep Singh, latching onto a pullback from the baseline to find the net on the back post.
They added a second shortly after, with Harmanpreet Singh tucking away a penalty corner to double their lead before the end of the first quarter.
Ireland grew into the game in the second quarter, applying pressure of the own early on and winning a number of penalty corners for their effort following some smart attacking play from Fergus Gibson and Adam McAllister.
Luke Madeley's first effort forced a good save, with the second penalty corner resulting in a mis-trap.
Despite the pressure, India did eventually add a third to their tally, Dilpreet Singh latching onto a loose ball to fire home on his reverse.
Ireland almost pulled one back in the third quarter, Jermey Duncan coming close but his flick from a tight angle glanced off the crossbar, before the Indians made it 4-0 at the end of the quarter.
The sides meet again in Pembroke tomorrow for the second and final game of the India Series before both depart for the Netherlands for the next stage of the FIH Pro League.
