Ireland 2-3 India
Ireland were beaten in their first Olympic hockey match in 108 years, narrowly losing their opening encounter 3-2 to India in Rio.
India’s greater set-piece accuracy gave the Irish a harsh lesson as three penalty corner goals to two told the tale in the intense heat of Deodoro this morning.
India were quick out of the blocks as they put Ireland under pressure straight away as Nikkin Thimmaiah’s breathtaking turn of speed drew a top stop from David Harte on the baseline.
Ireland were quick to respond, however, as Peter Caruth and Eugene Magee both fizzed first-half efforts over the bar.
But India took the lead on the quarter-time hooter after a string of back-to-back penalty corners.
Ronan Gormley cleared one scuffed effort off the line but a follow-up strike from VR Raghunath broke the deadlock.
Ireland then had a leveller chalked off from Jermyn’s switch-move as umpire Paco Vazquez deemed the dummy that delivered the ball to the flicker illegal. Conor Harte then dragged another corner shot wide.
India, meanwhile, were more efficient, Rupinder Pal Singh scoring from their second set of corners, hitting the top corner for 2-0 lead at half-time.
But Craig Fulton’s side kept creating chances in the second half with O’Donoghue firing over before John Jermyn grabbed his 91st international goal as his low, bullet effort crashed off the backboard.
That strike set up an epic final 15 minutes.
Rupinder Pal Singh restored the two-goal wedge with a drag that popped off John Jackson at a vicious speed.
Conor Harte pulled one back with five minutes left when he beat a man off a corner spin-move before volleying home when the second tackle popped up chest-high.
Ireland were hunting in packs at this stage, hungry for the equaliser. It almost came from a sixth Irish corner but O’Donoghue’s flick went inches past the right post.
Head coach Fulton put it down to “accuracy” as Ireland matched and outdid the eight-time Olympic champions for many periods.
“We just didn’t take our chances today,” said Fulton after the tie. “It ebbed and flowed for three quarters and we finished strong in the last quarter after John Jermyn’s goal. We were playing well and had a good few chances but were just not accurate enough.
“As a team, we normally pride ourselves on that accuracy and today it didn’t fire for us. All of our flickers are good and you can see that the shots were on, we just missed the target.”
And looking ahead to the remainder of the competition, Fulton added: “You have got to be a realist; it’s not like you are playing in a club match. There’s a lot at stake but we’ll be back. Looking behind the result, I see some really good things but it came down to set pieces.
“Tomorrow, we are fully focussed on the Netherlands and getting a result from that. For now, less is more in terms of training and I think we are in an ok place.”
Ireland play the world number two ranked Dutch at 10pm Irish time (5pm in Brazil) tomorrow. The Dutch opened their account with a 3-3 draw against Argentina.
Mark Irwin on Ireland's loss to India @IreMenHockey #rterio2016 https://t.co/3w09Iy8nYi
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 6, 2016
Ireland: D Harte, J Jackson, R Gormley, M Watt, C Cargo, J Jermyn, P Caruth, S O’Donoghue, M Darling, P Gleghorne, C Harte.
Subs: J Bell, A Sothern, E Magee, K Shimmins, K Good
India: PR Sreejesh, H Singh, K Khadangbam, S Kumar, M Singh, S Singh, VR Raghunath, SK Uthappa, D Mujtaba, SV Sunil, A Singh.
Subs: R Singh, D Walmiki, C Kangujam, R Singh, C Thimmaiah
Umpires: M Grime, P Vazquez.
