Ireland win hockey tournament

The Irish U-21 hockey team began their European ‘A’ Division tournament in Nivelles, Belgium, yesterday with a 1-0 win over Scotland.

Ireland, captained by Ronan Gormley had the best of the initial exchanges with Andrew Walker (YMCA) forcing an early penalty corner, which Ireland could not convert. The Scots rallied, however, and the Irish goalie Gareth Lennox (Banbridge) pulled off a number of high quality saves to keep the scores level. They finished the half the stronger but the Irish came back in the second half. Shortly after the restart Mark Gleghorne forced the ball over the line. The Irish absorbed the Scots’ late pressure and look forward to playing England today.