Brave Irish give Aussies a battle

IRISH coach Riet Kuper was left frustrated yesterday after she witnessed her Irish hockey team played brilliantly but lose 2-1 to world champions Australia in the World Cup in Perth to remain point-less at the bottom of their pool.

She was delighted with the way Ireland played and described it as "a very good team performance", but one which left her frustrated.

"I have a very good Irish side but no points. We lost our opening two games because of individual errors and lack of discipline but tonight we played as a unit and almost brought off the shock of the tournament. We scored the first goal against the champions and with a little luck could have drawn, " she said.

Goalkeeper 23-year-old Angela Platt from Ballymoney earned a special mention from Kuper, who said she was outstanding, particularly in a hectic last 15 minutes when Australia forced 10 open corners but failed to score.

Ireland's Jenny Burke, who scored a spectacular first half goal, was disappointed afterwards, but felt the performance would stand the Irish in good stead.

"It was great, I really enjoyed the match. I think it will give us a great lift going into our remaining games," she said.

In yesterday's match of the day, Ireland's next opponents, the Dutch, survived a torrid encounter with a confident English team, winning 2-1.

The teams were evenly matched, England looked slightly more composed and penetrative in both the midfield and in attack.

Netherlands were lucky to earn a dubious outside-the-circle penalty corner that allowed Boomgaardt to score the winning goal with 12 minutes to go.

England looked every bit a top four contender, and the Netherlands showed their experience in winning under enormous pressure.

The day opened with Spain punishing South Africa 3-1 for some poor defence, and lack of finishing in attack.

Despite periods of attacking pressure, South Africa was unable to convert numerous promising moves into goal shots.

To their credit, the Spanish were clinical in their finishing, and are showing that they are a genuine top eight contender.

In game two, Japan dominated the match except for the scoreboard with a solid 2-1 win over the USA.

Japan's second goal with 20 minutes to go in the game injected some life into the match, but Japan withstood any pressure to run out the winners of a fairly low standard match.

Australia and Netherlands head up Pool B with nine points each.

England, Spain and Japan all trail on four points each. Tomorrow's matches return to Pool A, with all four encounters expected to be close.

Elsewhere, Irish umpire Mary Power described her first Women's World Hockey Cup as "awesome".

Mary created a little bit of history in Perth by being only the second Irish umpire to have officiated at a World Cup tournament.

The first was Dubliner Ann Murray in 1994.

Mary's appointment was a last minute surprise two weeks before the tournament she was advised that she had been selected to fill a vacancy in the 18-woman umpires panel.

Mary said she was thrilled to get the opportunity to umpire at this level.

A language teacher in Midleton College, Mary's appointment has made history in that she joins Irish captain Rachel Kohler, a past pupil of Midleton, to create a unique double for the school.

She received tremendous support from headmaster Brian Cairns, himself an international hockey umpire, and the school's board of management.

She umpired her second match yesterday when she officiated between Japan and USA.