Europeans next target for boss Revington

PAUL REVINGTON refuses to let his Ireland senior men’s side rest on their laurels despite watching them complete a remarkable underdog victory at the INSEP Five Nations in Paris yesterday.

Ranked lowest of the five participants in a high-quality tournament, Ireland overturned the odds in some style over the past six days, thrashing world number six Korea 5-1 and 11th-ranked Argentina 4-1 en route to their third trophy of the summer.

Only a 4-2 loss to world number one Australia blotted their copybook, and they went on to beat hosts France 2-0 in a controlled performance on Saturday to put themselves in the driving seat for overall honours.

There were plenty of positives in that game, notably a first international goal for defender John Jackson — a wicked reverse-stick shot after a trademark John Jermyn drag-flick had broken the deadlock — as well as a clean sheet for rookie goalkeeper David Fitzgerald.

That left Argentina needing to beat the Koreans by eight goals to take the title, but the South Americans went down 2-1 allowing Ireland to claim overall honours on goal difference.

Nonetheless, Revington was keen to remind his charges that there is still plenty of room for improvement ahead of the European championships in Germany later this month, where Olympic qualification is up for grabs.

“The overall performance (against France) was not as strong as the previous three games which was a little disappointing, but I am pleased we created several good chances,” he said.

“We have taken several positive steps but we are still frustrated we did not produce a higher standard against Australia.”

Revington has plenty of selection headaches before he names his panel for the Euros on Wednesday, ahead of two more friendly clashes with Argentina in Dublin next weekend.

Seventeen-year-old midfield tyro Ian Sloan has looked comfortable in illustrious company, while of those excluded from the INSEP panel, Joe Brennan, Gareth Watkins and Bruce McCandless in particular are in with a shout for a return while Den Bosch hitman Alan Sothern is battling back from injury.