Ireland 1-2 Australia
Ireland were narrowly defeated 2-1 by the highly rated Australians in their second Pool B match at the Olympics.
Mark Tumilty's side came into the game off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in their Paris Games opener, and things did not get any easier as they felt the full force of the Australian attack from the opening exchanges.
And the Aussies put that possession to good use as they opened the scoring in the ninth minute thanks to a fine finish from Corey Weyer.
It all came from a penalty corner, and Weyer was on hand to take the ball rebounding from the post from the initial shot before dispatching it high over David Harte’s right shoulder and into the roof of the net.
But Ireland responded in the second quarter as they started to build some momentum inside the Australia half and they were rewarded in the 25 minute as Lee Cole grabbed an equaliser (below).
Again, it came from a short corner, and with Australia appearing to anticipate a near-post shot, the ball continued to Cole, who slammed it inside the far post with a perfectly-executed effort.
Australia looked to hit back before the break, and while Ireland survived two penalty corners, they ultimately conceded a penalty stroke with just seconds remaining in the half.
And Blake Govers made no mistake with the penalty, as he slammed it low and hard into the right corner, which beat Harte for pace to hand Australia the lead at the break.
Australia came out to finish the game off in the third quarter, however, Ireland dug in and maintained a scoreline throughout the 15-minute period, while also dealing with a two-minute spell with ten men as Michael Robson received a green card.
Just one goal in it heading into the final quarter, Ireland stepped up their attack as they went in search of an equaliser to take something from the game, and while they caused Australia some serious issues in attack, they were not able to capitalise on the possession.
Ireland now go in search of their opening victory in France as they take on India in their next group game with a place in the quarter-finals still within their grasp.
Harte said he was proud of Ireland's performance but was disappointed as he believed they could have got something from the game.
He said: "To be very honest, I'm pretty disappointed, we put so much into that 60 minutes - you could see it by the time the final whistle went the boys were out on their feet.
"But that also goes for Australia, and it goes to show we matched one of the most physical teams in world hockey, toe-to-toe we went with them and unfortunately just came up a bit short.
"If anyone asks me how I feel, proud would probably be the first word that would come to mind, but also disappointed in the fact we could have got something from it."
Harte said the team knew going into the game that they would have had to take their chances when coming up against a nation like Australia.
Paris 2024: "We matched one of the most physical teams in world hockey."
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2024
Ireland goalkeeper David Harte reacts after a 2-1 defeat to Australia in Ireland's second Pool B match. #RTESport #Paris2024
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"There were some chances, some balls that fell in front of the keeper, not enough conviction in front of the goal and if you're going to get a result against these nations when you realise you might only have one corner, three chances, those have to fall in the goal and unfortunately again it didn’t for us.
"We got the one of course, but unfortunately the second half was a bit like ping pong, up and down, and we were unable to convert," he said.
Attention will now turn to India, who Ireland come up against tomorrow at 12.15pm Irish time in their next Pool B fixture.
Harte said the team will focus on their recovery this evening and seeing family and friends.
He said: "Tomorrow we recognise that there's going to be some heat protocols in place. I think we’re playing at the midday slot, 35 degrees.
"We’ll have the ice jackets in place but before that of course like any other athlete, we’ll get back, recovery, ice bath, see some family and friends which is also incredibly important.
"It’s not often you stand in an arena like this and you hear that crowd, Ireland being chanted around by neutrals and our Irish support, so thank you everyone for their support today and we hope to see you tomorrow."
