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.