Perfect 10 but unlucky Irish relegated

THEY may have ended the tournament being relegated once more to the second tier of European hockey, but Ireland ‘s men ended the EuroHockey Nations campaign in Belle Vue yesterday with an emphatic 10-0 win over the Czech Republic.

That briefly gave them a glimmer of hope of maintaining ‘A’ status, but they then needed France to beat England in the following game, but the French were thrashed 7-0 by the hosts and thus Ireland were relegated.

The Irish will nevertheless draw some comfort from the nature of their win over the Czechs as they refocus for the challenge early next year of trying to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.