McCarthy earns respect

The Irish players might have been given three weeks to recover from their exertions at the World Cup qualifier before resuming club hockey, but no such breather has been afforded Denise McCarthy. The Irish manager makes her debut as Railway Union coach in tomorrow's Division One game against Corinthian at Whitechurch, just six days after returning home from France.

By common consent the flawless Daphne Sixsmith (Hermes) was Ireland's player of the qualifier with 21-year-old Ciara O'Brien (UCD) the "find" of the tournament, but McCarthy's thoroughly professional handling of last weekend's controversy with Lithuania - both in her presentation of Ireland's protest against the "invalid" penalty strokes competition, which was her duty to lodge, and the manner in which she spoke to the foreign media after Lithuania's expulsion from the tournament - earned her as much respect as any player.

Seated between Tournament Director Claire Peeters-Monseu and International Hockey Federation (FIH) Vice President Antonio von Ondarza last Sunday, McCarthy successfully conveyed to the listening press the Irish camp's sympathy for the Lithuanians and its reluctance to celebrate World Cup qualification in light of the circumstances.

She consequently did much to salvage Ireland's image at a time when many officials were, privately, eager to attach a "bad losers" tag to the camp.

And, indeed, "bad losers" appears to be the verdict of most hockey devotees on Ireland's protest last weekend, if the sports' sundry internet discussion sites are anything to go by. All, however, appear to miss the point that whatever the result of the original strokes shoot-out, it would have been deemed invalid, with a protest from whoever lost out a matter of course. The fault was with the bungling officials.

While the FIH waits to see if the Lithuanians intend acting on their threat to take further action, Peeters-Monseu confirmed that Ireland will "definitely" be at next year's World Cup, although Irish sweeper Arlene Boyles feels the affair is far from over.

"I am sure Lithuania will take it further," she said. "I think they will probably lodge an official appeal to the FIH in the light of what happened.

"Obviously it wasn't their fault that the technical delegates got it wrong, even though our captain tried to put them right on three occasions, so it's hard to believe they will let it lie."

The FIH might be left with further headaches as a result of the events, not least that Lithuania's withdrawal means the US team must travel to India for a three-match play-off series for the final World Cup qualifying spot before the end of February. Whether or not the Americans will be prepared to travel in the current political climate remains to be seen.

And whether or not Lithuania are still prepared to host one of next summer's two European Nations Cup qualifiers (the second is in Dublin) is also a matter of conjecture - such was their camp's mood when they left Amiens on Sunday it is difficult to imagine them accommodating the hockey authorities.

The dubious nature of the final pool fixture between the Lithuanians and Russia left some observers struggling to find sympathy for Lithuania. Russia needed a win of any margin to avoid England in the semi-finals, Lithuania needed to avoid a heavy defeat to finish above Scotland and set up a meeting with Ireland, rather than India, in the play-offs.

Lithuania rested several key players but still managed to lose just 2-1, helped by Russia's reluctance to chase a third goal or to defend with any great effort when their opponents successfully sought a consolation score. Both teams celebrated together on the pitch after the game, a sight that led many to view Russia's later support of Lithuania in the controversy as . . . interesting.