The Irish women’s hockey team is now one step closer to joining the world’s leading clubs in the forthcoming FIH Pro League, having secured a place in the Nations Cup final in Spain over the weekend with a 2-1 win against New Zealand. This marks their first triumph over the Kiwi team, who are ranked tenth globally, two spots above the Irish, since they scored the same victory in Wellington 16 years ago. Goals from Sarah Hawkshaw and Sarah Torrans turned the tide for Ireland, who started the match trailing.
Goalkeeper Liz Murphy fended off two strikes from Rose Tynan in the 35th minute, however, Tynan eventually broke through at the third attempt. Yet, Hawkshaw had Ireland back on level terms just four minutes later after neatly converting a pass from Katie Mullan at a short corner. Nine minutes before the end of the match, Hawkshaw created the opportunity for the decisive goal by cutting into the circle from the right, leading to Torrans deflecting her cross past Kiwi goalkeeper Brooke Roberts. In response, New Zealand replaced their goalkeeper with an extra outfield player but failed to penetrate the Irish defence.
The victory marked a significant achievement for the Irish team, which had recently lost several key players due to retirement and injury, and for interim coach Facu Quirorga who took over from Sean Dancer in March. The upcoming final on Sunday evening, however, presents a formidable task with Spain, ranked seventh globally and the home team, who are confident after their recent 2-1 semi-final victory over Chile.
Despite suffering a 5-1 defeat in their recent match against Spain, the Irish team bounced back with 3-0 and 4-0 victories against Italy and Korea respectively, earning them a place in the semi-finals. Hawkshaw commented, “We realised that the opening match against Spain wasn’t a true reflection of our abilities and wouldn’t be the benchmark for our performance in this tournament. We’ve made considerable progress since then.” Such acquired wisdom will undoubtedly be crucial in Sunday evening’s showdown.
The Ireland team was comprised of L Murphy, L Neill, S McAuley, R Upton, E Curran, S Torrans, C Beggs, K McKee, M Carey, N Carroll and captain K Mullan. They were supported by reserves H McLoughlin, C Perdue, S Hawkshaw, C Hamill, N Carey, and S O’Brien.