HOCKEY/OLYMPIC QUALIFIER/Ireland 3 Malaysia 0: IRELAND HUFFED and puffed and eventually blew a defenceminded Malaysia away in their opening assignment at the Olympic hockey qualifier in Vancouver yesterday.
The Malaysian rearguard was under the proverbial cosh from the start but survived a string of close calls before Claire Parkhill made the Irish pressure tell.
With captain Eimear Cregan revving up Ireland's forward momentum from midfield, goalkeeper Emawati Mahmud had to distinguish herself with a marvellous stick save to deny Nikki Symmons. However, the goalie's full -length block on Parkhill's penalty-corner drive served only to deflect the ball high into the net for the opener on 22 minutes.
Ireland were two ahead by the break, as the ball broke to Cregan off Mahmud's block from Louisa Moore's shot at yet another corner, leaving the skipper the simplest of jobs to touch it over the line from six inches. Ireland could have been even further ahead but Julia O'Halloran saw a shot deflected onto the crossbar.
The balance of power was more pronounced after the break, though Malaysian luck largely held as they packed their own circle to absorb the unceasing pressure. Remarkably they conceded just one penalty corner in the second half, a considerable feat in light of the amount of time they spent in their own circle.
They cracked just once more, Cathy McKean putting a marvellously effective touch to a cross from the right by a bustling Jenny McDonagh. Chances of improving the "goals for" tally went astray as McKean and McDonagh sent shots wide of Mahmud's left-hand post when better things beckoned.
Afterwards, coach Gene Muller was relieved. "Malaysia will pose problems at this tournament. I'm just happy that they did not pose them for us," he said.
Next up for Ireland are Canada, whose early fire was doused by Italy, who had to come from behind to claim their 2-1 victory.
Meanwhile, favourites Korea ruthlessly demolished Uruguay with five goals in each half.
IRELAND: M Goode, E Cregan, E Clarke, B McKeever, S McCay, J McDonagh, C McKean, C O'Brien, L Moore, N Symmons, C Parkhill. Subs: E Stewart, A Speers, J O'Halloran, H Moffett, L Jacob.
MALAYSIA: E Mahmud, NH Md Ali. J Mohamad Din, N Hashim, NN Md Mokhtar, CD Arumugam, M Abdul Rahman, N Hashim, SR Othman, SSN Ismail, N Abdul Rashid. Subs: R Asran, IN Ahmad Khushani, S Kari, K Arumugam, F Sylvester Silin.
Umpires: L Roach (Australia), L Miao (China).
DAY ONE RESULTS: Korea 10, Uruguay 0; Italy 2, Canada 1; Ireland 3 (C Parkhill, E Cregan, C McKean), Malaysia 0.
