Belief the key to World Cup dreams
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.
Unlike Brown and Black, however, they have had little experience of the bad old days when Ireland were the whipping boys of European and world hockey.
Jermyn experienced the shambles of Barcelona in 2003 when the powers-that-be were finally forced to take serious steps to rectify the sad situation.
“We’re lucky in that we came through the ranks in successful teams,” Gleghorne says, “so, although JJ was in Barcelona, we never knew what it was like for guys like Jason and Paddy for all those years. Winning has been a habit for us and we’re used to it.
“We want more and we want World Cups and we want to win. I’ve been dreaming of playing in the big competitions as long as I can remember.”
The Loughborough College Sport and Exercise Science student is very much the model of a modern hockey player and the game for him, to all intents and purposes, is a full-time occupation. Like Jermyn, he fits his studies in around his hockey commitments, but unlike Black and Brown, doesn’t have to hold down a full-time job as well.
“It is not easy for guys like Paddy and Jason,” Jermyn says, “with the commitments they have, but they are totally into what they’re doing and that’s inspirational for the younger squad members.
“I was in Barcelona and it was my first major tournament and I thought it was pretty cool to be playing against Germany and teams like that, but I didn’t really know what was going on.
“It is very different now and while it would be brilliant to qualify for Germany, the difference between now and then is that everyone in the squad now believes we can actually do it.”
Both agree there is a self-belief in the squad that was missing in the past.
“The likes of JJ, myself, Timmy Cockram and Iain Lewers came through the ranks and winning is part of the mindset,” Gleghorne maintains.
The duo believe that the current Irish regime is as close to professionalism as is possible and they admit that the 5-1 reverse to England in their opening game was something of a shock to the system.
“In fairness, the score didn’t reflect well on our performance, but it didn’t tell the full story either. We played well, but the result was a kick in the backside,” Gleghorne says.
They agree that the 2-1 win on Thursday against Canada was a better reflection of Ireland’s capabilities, but say that Ireland have to continue to improve if the World Cup dream is to be realised.
“We knew when we won (the Nations Cup) in Rome last year that the potential to qualify for Germany was there, but there has been a big gap in standards between Rome and here in China,” Jermyn says. “Even so, the focus is on one thing only and we believe we can do it.”
Gleghorne reckons that the fighting performance against the Canadians was a sign of growing maturity in the squad as a whole, commenting: “It was a real battle, but in the end we wanted it more.”
Jermyn agrees, pointing out that even pre-tournament fears about Pool A favourites Pakistan have been diminished since their arrival in China.
“Guys like myself and Mark have never played Pakistan and were obviously worried about it. But their results haven’t been great this week, so you begin to think about the reasons why you could beat them rather than why you couldn’t.”
As they prepare to face Belgium today in what will be a critical game in Pool A, both are focusing on the positives they have taken from their two games so far. And, like Messrs Brown and Black, they’re still dreaming of the World Cup.
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