Bronze cheer for Ireland

IRELAND earned the bronze medal and some consolation for their failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics with a 2-1 win over Canada at the University of Victoria yesterday.

Jenny McDonough put the Irish in front after just six minutes, deflecting Ciara O’Brien’s penalty corner strike to the net to silence a vociferous home crowd looking to see their team end their campaign on a winning note.

Julia O’Halloran, Alex Speers and Lisa Jacob were all unfortunate not to extend Ireland’s lead, but Mary Goode had to be alert at the other end to thwart two Canadian attacks.