Ireland 'frustrated' after suffering third hockey defeat in Paris

Ireland will now turn their attention to Thursday's Pool B match where it doesn’t get much easier as they line up against world number seven ranked Argentina.

Ireland hockey captain Sean Murray. Picture: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The Irish men's hockey team suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists India in their third pool match of Paris 2024 on Tuesday afternoon. Ireland had previously lost to Australia and Belgium. 

Harmanpreet Singh scored a first-half double to give India an early lead at the historic Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, and although Ireland created a number of goal-scoring opportunities, the world number five ranked side held firm to see out the win.

Mark Tumilty's Ireland side now have a rest day on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's clash with Argentina at 12.15pm Irish time, before they conclude the pool stages against New Zealand on Friday at 4pm Irish time.

In sweltering midday sun conditions in Paris, Ireland started positively and looked to hit India on the counter-attack, showing real intent in the final third but Singh's penalty stroke gave India the early advantage on the scoreboard. 

Sharpshooter Singh doubled his and India's score in the second quarter, his powerful penalty corner deflecting off Ben Walker's stick and into the roof of the net, giving Davey Harte no chance.

Ireland rallied impressively after the half-time break and dominated the third quarter, winning a number of penalty corners but they were unable to convert as Lee Cole and Shane O'Donoghue were both denied, while Walker went agonisingly close after great work in the circle from Matthew Nelson. 

Tumilty's men will now turn their attention to Thursday's Pool B match as they search for their first win of Paris 2024. It doesn’t get much easier as they line up against world number seven ranked Argentina

“I think frustrated of course not to get the result there," said Ireland captain Seán Murray.

"I think the second half we found our second wind and we were really pushing hard, created lots of nice chances but unfortunately didn’t take them. 

"You know it’s those finer details at this top level that make the difference and credit to India, they played well, defended with their lives, and managed to get the win in the end.

“Still really positive, before the tournament we probably wanted to target the last three games to get those wins to get to the quarter-final, now we’ve got two more to go so we need to get there and I think we’ll keep our heads high and have the confidence to tune the finer details and try and get those two wins.”