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.

Having had, as the coach admitted, “a long hard look at themselves” they will now face the Czech Republic and one of Belgium, England or Germany in the final two games which will decide their fate.

That the Irish did not come near the quality play they displayed in the draw against Spain and the heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Holland is a major worry for Passmore. So too the fact they have only scored once from play and not at all from set pieces during the course of this tournament.

Also, worrying was that the Irish, as Passmore admitted, completely lost their composure in the dying minutes of yesterday’s game, at a time when the French completely lost the plot and had four players yellow-carded in the final minutes of the game.

Ironically, had all four been off at the same time — only three were off the pitch simultaneously — under the rules the game would have been abandoned and the points awarded to the Irish.

The biggest single concern for the coach, however, was the sudden and inexplicable loss of form of his players after two commendable displays in the opening games. He said that maybe it had been the loss to Holland had drained them of their mental energy.

“When you lose a hugely competitive game like that, you burn up much more mental energy than you do in a three or four-nil loss and I can only think that’s what happened,” a rueful Passmore reflected.

In truth, the Irish did seem pedestrian from the off and while they were faced with similar defensive tactics from the French that they themselves had employed in their previous games, this was not entirely unexpected. What was so bothersome was that they couldn’t break the opposition down.

The Irish pressed and probed to no avail for 25 minutes until David Hobbs won a short corner, but the problems with Ireland’s set piece routines was highlighted when Stephen Butler’s drag-flick was blocked. John Jermyn then had a shot flash across the face of the French goal in the dying moments of the half and the nil-nil score at the break did not bode well.

Things went from bad to worse after seven minutes of the second period when, in a rare upfield foray, the French were awarded a short corner and their captain Frederic Soyez dispatched it with alacrity.

With 28 minutes left, it seemed there was plenty of time left for the Irish to rectify the situation, but as the clock ticked down, the desperation in the team became all the more evident.

In the last fifteen minutes they pressurised the French as much as they could and they secured a string of short corners. While their urgency was evident, inspiration was sadly lacking.

The French began losing their discipline and Matthieu Durchon was the recipient of their first yellow card, then Sebastian Jean-Jean was sent to the line for an injudicious flick at John Jermyn before Yannick Schambert joined them for a blatant foul in the circle.

That resulted in a short corner which Butler pounded off the French crossbar, but time was running out and so was Ireland’s composure. The French then lost their captain to another yellow card, but Durchon was back by then and they narrowly avoided forfeiting the game.

“We started running the ball rather than finding our passes and that cost us,” Passmore reflected. “We needed composure but it wasn’t there and they played down the clock much the same as we’d have done in their position. We now need to look long and hard at ourselves. We’re hugely disappointed, but this is a very close knit team.”

The coach and his side have gone from a very strong position to one of near despair and their strength of character will now be the main factor in how they perform for the rest of this tournament.

IRELAND: D. Harte, J. Jermyn, P. Brown, I. Lewers, R. Gormley, D. Hobbs, S. Butler, G. Shaw, E. Magee, M. Gleghorne, A. Barbour.

Rolling subs: K. Burns, M. Irwin, M. Black, T. Cockram, M. Ruddle.

FRANCE: J. Thamin, M. Durchon, N. Muesgens, C. Muesgens, M. Genestet, F. Soyez, S. Jean-Jean, C. Verrier, G. Branquart, F. Verrier, A. Gouedard Compte.

Rolling subs: Y. Schambert, T. Gourdin, F. Sheefer, A. Jansen, A. Becuwe.