HOCKEY/European Championship Holland 4 Ireland 0: Even before they set foot on the Belfield pitch last night Ireland's hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the European Championship had been struck a near fatal blow by Spain's 6-0 trouncing of France in the game just before.
That result left Ireland level on points with the Spanish, but trailing on goal difference, and so they needed a draw against Holland to advance to the last four. The European champions, though, are not in the habit of dropping points to teams 13 places below them in the world rankings.
It was 4-0 in the end for Holland, but their margin of victory would have been at least doubled if it wasn't for a flurry of missed chances, some fine goalkeeping by Angela Platt and some valiant defending, most notably by the increasingly impressive Bridget McKeever, in the face of endless waves of Dutch attacks.
Better teams than Ireland have suffered a similar fate at the hands of Holland, who treated the sell-out crowd to what, at times, amounted to a master class in hockey. They converted their first short corner of the game in the eighth minute, the first goal Ireland conceded in the tournament, when Maartje Paumen sent a powerful drag-flick low to Platt's right.
Between then and the 28th minute, when they finally doubled their lead, Holland missed a hatful of chances, Jiske Snoeks and Sylvia Karres the chief culprits, but came within inches of scoring through short-corner strikes by Naomi Van As and Kim Lammers. It was a sublime touch on a Lammers centre from the right by Saskia Fuchs at the near post that made it 2-0 for the Dutch, reward for their complete domination of the game.
Eight minutes after the break Minke Smabers picked herself, having been upended by Platt in the circle, to convert a penalty stroke and five minutes later it was 4-0, Paumen drag-flicking home another short corner. It wasn't until the 56th minute that Ireland finally threatened the Dutch goal, Eimear Cregan's strike from her team's first short corner of the game going wide. But normal service was resumed immediately after, with Holland pinning Ireland into their own half for the remainder of the game.
It was with some relief, then, that the final hooter sounded, leaving Ireland to turn their minds to a crucial encounter with Scotland tomorrow morning (9.30). The losers in that game will be relegated to the B division of the European Championship, as will France or Ukraine who meet in the tournament's other fifth-eighth place play-off.
Last month Ireland beat Scotland 1-0 in the Celtic Cup in Edinburgh and will desperately hope for a repeat result to ensure their survival in the A division - victory would also guarantee a place in the line-up of next year's World Cup Qualifier.
"We are disappointed, of course," said Irish captain Lynsey McVicker, "but we have to be realistic, Holland are number one in the world. We were on the backfoot for most of the game, the speed of their ball and their individual skills were just brilliant."
"A fantastic display of hockey," said Irish coach Riet Kuper.
The Dutch meet England in tomorrow's semi-finals (today is a rest day), while Spain are paired with Olympic champions Germany, Pool B toppers following their 1-0 win over England yesterday, Fanny Rinne getting their goal in the 18th minute.
Jill Orbinson won her 100th cap for Ireland in last night's match.
IRELAND: A Platt, F Connery, C O'Brien, B McKeever, K Smyth, L Caulfield, J Orbinson, J Burke, J McDonough, C Carey, L McVicker (capt). Subs: E Cregan, C McKean, E Stewart, D Casey, C Parkhill.
HOLLAND: L De Roever, F Moreira de Melo, J Snoeks, M Scheepstra, S Karres, M Smabers, M Booij (capt), J Schopman, C De Bruijn, M Paumen, E Hoog. Subs: S Fuchs, M Goderie, L Voskamp, N Van As, K Lammers.
