Belief the key to World Cup dreams

IRISH hockey veterans Paddy Brown and Jason Black are here at the World Cup qualifiers with the aim of finally tasting serious top level competition and closing out their careers on a high, but the scent of the World Cup finals is equally enticing for the younger members of the squad.

Brown has already hit the 100 cap mark and Black will hit that landmark in the final Pool A game against Pakistan next Wednesday. For both, it’s a final fling at next September’s World Cup finals in Germany.

On the other side of the coin, the likes of 23-year-old John Jermyn and 20-year-old Mark Gleghorne may be relatively tender in years, but they have already amassed more than 60 senior caps between them, not to mention untold appearances at the various junior international grades over the years.