Grundie takes command of Green Army

Gareth Grundie has taken on the role of Irish women’s interim head coach in recent weeks as the Olympic qualifier preparations kick up a gear.

The squad has just completed a rigourous testing weekend in St Gerard’s and have stepped up their regime to include one midweek and two weekend group sessions in addition to their regular club training.

Former Ards and Irish U18 boss Grundie has worked as an assistant coach with the senior panel since 2017 and was part of the backroom team at the 2018 World Cup.

He takes on the role on an interim basis following Graham Shaw’s decision in early March to resign in favour of the gig in New Zealand. Shaw led the Green Army to their best ever performance on the world stage, raising the profile to unimaginable new heights.

The comedown in January and February, though, was tricky to manage, with just one win in nine matches against Spain, India, and Chile before Shaw stepped down.

Midfielder Nicci Daly, though, says a recent training week in England has seen green shoots of form in three behind-closed-doors matches against Great Britain. “We struggled in Chile and in Spain in the matches,” the midfielder said.

There were lots of things happening around the squad, new players coming in, lots not around so we struggled for consistency.

“We now know we can do it but I would struggle to put a finger on an exact reason why it didn’t come together. But the Bisham trip came at the right time and we got up to a much better level.

“It’s been a fresh approach [with Grundie], new drills, new tactics and we played our best hockey since the World Cup.”

April will be hectic for the panel as the club season nears an end, with Daly’s Loreto and UCD also taking in European campaigns. They will then prepare for challenge matches against Canada in May ahead of the Hockey Series Finals in Banbridge in June.

Meanwhile, the Irish men had their first fixtures since the World Cup on Tuesday and Wednesday in two uncapped matches against France, winning 2-1 and 2-0. Monkstown’s Guy Sarratt made his first appearance for the senior side. There were welcome returns for John Jackson, Sam O’Connor, Neal Glassey, and Corkman Julian Dale.

Domestically, it is another big weekend in the EY Hockey League. This year’s men’s fixture list has thrown up plenty of oddities due to the midseason World Cup and this one is no exception for Cork C of I.

Their season will probably be defined by what they can get from two games against Monkstown in two days, home on Saturday, away on Sunday. It will be their fourth double-weekend since the start of February after just six league games pre-Christmas. At least one win is a necessity if C of I are to have a chance of escaping the drop.