Coaches hope to hit qualifiers injury free

There were few surprises as Ireland’s coaches revealed their hands for this month’s Olympic qualifiers, but fitness concerns could give Paul Revington and Gene Muller sleepless nights yet.

Revington’s men’s side are on home turf at UCD from March 10-18, with many games close to selling out in what will be one of the biggest showcases of international hockey in this country for years.

The South African has made just one change to the 18-man side that finished a joint-record fifth at last summer’s Europeans, with Stuart Loughrey replacing injured Glenanne defender Joe Brennan.

Top goalscorer John Jermyn, recently returned from a fractured ankle, is being fitness tested in this weekend’s warm-up games against the Czech Republic, and he nabbed a cracker from play in a 7-2 win during the first of those last night.

Ireland’s results have been mixed in the build-up to the tournament following a sterling 2011 that saw them trounce Korea, the top-ranked side in this qualifier, 5-1. Skipper Ronan Gormley insists his side have paid little heed to scorelines, preferring to focus on performances.

“There isn’t really excitement in the build-up games as such when you do [beat higher-ranked opposition],” said Gormley. “It’s another match ticked off; what did we do well and what can we learn for the next match? There’s handshakes and a pat on the back but, after the match, results against that sort of opposition are accumulating. It’s not something you have a skip and a jump about.”

Meanwhile, Irish women’s coach Muller is sweating over the fitness of captain Alex Speers and her deputy Emma Clarke ahead of their qualifying tournament in Beerschot, Belgium (March 17-25).

“The big if for us is around Alex [broken hand] and Emma [had her tonsils out],” he told The Hook website. “Clarkie’s health was going up and down for six months, always breaking down when we had a ramp up in intensity.

“A specialist said she needed her tonsils out and so it was a race against time. Both are expected to make it back. You want to say things are going well, but when your captain and vice-captain are doubtful, you need to be lucky as well to start the first game at full strength.”

His squad sees two changes from the Europeans, with Nicci Daly and Nikki Evans in for Julia O’Halloran — now departed from the international scene — and Niamh Small, but Megan Frazer misses out. Muller feels that having successfully fought a relegation battle at the Euros, the pressure will be reduced this time around, despite the carrot of a berth in London.

He said: “I certainly have a much better feeling going into it. The Europeans was a cliff-hanging, nail-biting thing. We were under pressure, playing to survive for six days, only knowing on Saturday whether we were up or down. We are physically fresher going into this. You’re able to access better performances when you’re fresh and I feel that is the big difference from the Euros.”