Olympic dream drives Jackson

John Jackson has revealed himself as the ‘hard man’ of Ireland’s senior men’s hockey squad, after admitting he was willing to continue playing even if he lost the sight in one eye.

This weekend, the Mossley man hopes to help Ireland qualify for the Olympics on home turf at UCD as the FIH Electric Ireland Road to London 2012 gets under way with six countries battling for one qualifying spot.

But that looked a distant dream when Jackson was left with a triple cheek bone fracture and a double skull fracture following a clash of heads during a game in 2010.