IRELAND 4 – 1 AUSTRALIA
Sunday, February 15 – Hobart, Australia: The Irish women’s hockey team recorded a historic first FIH Hockey Pro League victory over Australia in Hobart, concluding the second phase of the competition. After being a goal behind, Ireland fought back to record a comprehensive win, with Ellen Curran, Katie Mullan, Sarah Hawkshaw and Hannah McLoughlin all on the scoresheet, while Roisin Upton collected the Player of the Match award for an imperious defensive performance.
A less than ideal start for Ireland saw Australia take an early lead in Hobart, squeezing the ball into the net from a tight angle to open the scoring. However, Ireland responded in almost perfect fashion, going to the other end almost immediately as Katie Mullan found Michelle Carey whose effort on goal was saved by Zoe Newman.
Ireland continued to apply the pressure, working the ball to Sarah Torrans, who fell just short of making clean contact on her first attempt on goal, much to Australia’s relief.
Ireland’s quick thinking produced a penalty corner, which Caoimhe Perdue tapped home, but her effort was saved on the line. Ireland ended the opening quarter by testing Newman once again, but they thrived on Christina Hamill’s effort from close range and Australia held on to their one-goal lead.
Ireland carried their positive play into the second quarter with a perfect exchange from the back which ended in Sarah Torrans deflecting the ball to an Australian foot inside the circle for a penalty corner. Hannah McLoughlin’s strike on goal took a deflection off Ellen Curran to find the back of the net and level the score.
Two green cards in quick succession for Australia gave Ireland the opportunity to try and make use of their extra field players, which Ireland used to find Sarah Hawkshaw free on the baseline, who pulled the ball back to Katie Mullan to hit the net.
Ireland continued their momentum in the early stages of the second of the second half, winning a penalty corner. They opted for a new penalty corner and went back to injector Sarah Torrans who delivered the ball to Sarah Hawkshaw with the plan to tap in.
Ireland almost had a fourth place moments later when Katie Mullan’s throw found a stick in the circle and pinged off the crossbar.
Ireland faced a late period of pressure from the Hockeyroos, with Elizabeth Murphy finding the Irish net and a second Australian effort going wide of the post just a few minutes later, but Ireland held on to maintain their lead.
The battle showed no signs of letting up as both sides threw everything at each other. Ireland looked even livelier as Jessica McMaster quickly came onto the pitch, found inches of space in the circle and shot across goal. The deflection fell to Niamh Carey, who was denied by a good save from Zoe Newman.
A rare penalty corner for Australia gave them a lifeline. The Hockeyroos thought they had pulled a goal back after a goal from the penalty corner, but Ireland used their video referral and the goal was pulled back by a foot in the build-up.
A penalty corner for a cynical tackle on Michelle Carey with five minutes remaining gave Ireland the chance to grab a fourth place and seal the match, which they happily took when Hannah McLoughlin struck the back of the net.
Ireland’s focus will now shift to the upcoming FIH Hockey World Cup qualifiers in Santiago, Chile, taking place from March 1 to 8. The IRL Women have been drawn in Pool B and begin their qualifying match against Malaysia (#22) on Monday 2 March at 6.15pm Irish time. The teams have not met since 2019, when Ireland defeated Malaysia 2-1 in Banbridge during their FIH Women’s Series campaign. Japan (#11) will be the second match of the IRL Women’s, taking place the following day at 6:45 PM Irish time, and will likely be the biggest test for the side as they are the top-ranked team in their pool. Ireland will conclude their Pool Stage campaign with a match against Canada (#21) on Thursday 5 March at 6:15pm Irish time, with the sides meeting for the first time since Ireland’s historic victory in Dublin in 2019, which secured a first-ever Olympic place for the women’s team.
If the team advances, the team could face Australia (#6), Chile (#15), France (#17) or Switzerland (#40) in the semi-finals.
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