Relegation threat after France land killer blow

IRISH HOCKEY has had many depressing days over the years, but not many as bad as yesterday at these European Championships when a French team which had been thrashed 8-3 and 6-0 by Holland and Spain — teams which Ireland had performed so gamely against here in Belle Vue — managed to derail the Irish effort.

In a dogged, and often controversial, final game in Pool B for the Irish, the hope beforehand had been that a solid and productive outing against the decidedly poor French outfit could possibly put Ireland into the reckoning for a semi-final position.

Instead, the eventual outcome leaves Dave Passmore’s team fighting for their lives not to be relegated to the ‘B’ division of European hockey and clinging to thin hopes of making the Olympic qualifiers.