Ireland in fine fettle, says hotshot Abbas

PAKISTAN hitman Sohail Abbas gunned down Ireland in the UCD Four Nations final on Saturday — but then insisted he’s never seen Paul Revington’s side in better nick.

Ireland gave up too many penalty corners in front of a rare-super-charged full house at the National Hockey Stadium, and Abbas slung in two bullet drag-flicks either side of a similar stunner from tournament top goalscorer John Jermyn in a 2-1 win for the Asian outfit.

But Abbas nonetheless had words of encouragement for the Irish: “They are really improving and it’s the first time I’ve seen them playing this good. I think they’ll do something in the European Cup.”

Ireland goalkeeper David Harte walked away with a deserved player of the tournament award, having held out Abbas and Muhammad Imran until midway through the second half in the decider.

“There’s a lot of respect (when you face someone like Abbas),” said Harte. “But you look forward to it, it’s not every day you play against a world record holder,” he said. “There are massive positives, coming close against Pakistan twice. We’re moving in the right direction.”

There’s no respite for Ireland in the coming days; they play Egypt four times and China once in friendlies at UCD this week before flying to Lille on Saturday for the eight-day Champions Challenge II tournament.

Meanwhile, Ireland senior women’s coach Gene Muller admitted his side were left with a “bittersweet” feeling after losing the 5th/6th place playoff to South Africa 2-1 despite putting in another quality performance. The girls in green went behind to a Sulette Damons reverse only for Nikki Symmons to convert a switched corner. But another world record goalscorer, Pieree Coetzee slung a drag-flick into Emma Gray’s top corner for the winner.

“There is a bittersweet feeling in the team, they are extremely disappointed at losing a close match but satisfied we performed so well,” said Muller, whose side nonetheless beat their pre-tournament seeding by one place.

“We will gain confidence from our performances over the course of this tournament.”

Scotland saw off Spain on penalty strokes to take bronze following a thrilling 3-3 tie, while Japan came from two goals down to see off USA 3-2 in a thrilling final to take overall honours.