Hockey: Cox’s Green Machine dismantled by flying Dutch

By Stephen Findlater

Ireland’s men endured a chastening 7-1 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in their third World Cup warm-up game in Valencia.

Alexander Cox’s side had opened the week in upbeat fashion, beating England 2-1, before playing out a close-run 1-0 loss to the Spanish hosts, Xavi Lleonart’s penalty stroke the only difference.

But a much fresher Dutch outfit ran riot with six different players on the mark as they continued their overwhelming dominance over Ireland, who have won just once in more than 30 meetings between the teams.

Alan Sothern did get one back with four minutes remaining but the damage had long been done.

Cox had previously been the assistant coach to the Dutch and this setback will give him plenty of food for thought. Ireland have a rest day on Friday before facing two more games in Spain over the weekend.

The impact of this international trip means a couple of men’s EY Hockey League ties are postponed, leaving just two ties on the card.

Both could have a big impact on the lower reaches of the table, with Cork C of I facing Cookstown and YMCA up against Glenanne.

For C of I, they have yet to win in the national division and so a result against the side one place and two points above them is vital. They actually have the second tightest defence in the division but the lack of goals from open play is the key concern since Julian Dale moved to Belgium.

In EYHL Division 2, Bandon host UCD in a really tough encounter. The students had set the world alight with big additions to their team like Mark Samuel, Ewan Ramsay, and Peter Lynch.

Big wins in Leinster greeted the start of their campaign but have stalled of late with a 0-0 blank in this national competition suggesting an opportunity for Ali Smith’s Bandon.

On the women’s side, club hockey returns following the intervarsities competition which UCD won again, despite several players being away.

Cork Harlequins welcome back Michelle Barry and Caoimhe Perdue from Irish U23 duty in Spain in time for their visit to Railway Union in the EY Hockey League. Their week started with a first win over Spanish opposition since 2005 for a female Irish underage team before the hosts won the next two ties.

They were part of a five-strong Munster contingent involved, with Emma Buckley — now with Racing Club de Bruxelles — in goal for two games with UCC’s Hannah Humphries and Catholic Institute’s Laura Foley the others.

Both Quins and Railway come into Saturday’s tie with a mixed bag of results, both on one win out of four.

In Division 2, Munster face Connacht as Catholic Institute meet NUIG on Saturday. UCC play Greenfields on Sunday.

UCC enjoyed a good week at the varsities with a 4-0 win over Trinity and 4-1 against DCU to help their new-look team gel. They eventually finished fourth and will look to carry on that decent form.