Ireland’s EuroHockey hopes rocked by shock defeat to France

Ireland's Katie Mullan said her side "should take a hard look at ourselves in attack". They failed to convert any of the 13 penalty corner opportunities which they had against France. Pic: ©INPHO/Frank Uijlenbroek

Ireland women’s EuroHockey campaign was left hanging by a thread after a lacklustre 1-0 defeat against France where 13 penalty corners went begging and they twice hit the post.

A feast of Irish goals over a 13-year unbeaten record against the French completely deserted them in Monchengladbach, as Mathilde Duffrene’s second-half penalty corner proved the difference while goalkeeper Lucie Ehrmann produced an outstanding display to thwart Ireland’s forward lines.

Victory for lower-ranked France was their first at a EuroHockey since 2003. Defeat leaves Ireland’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals resting on beating hosts Germany by a two-goal margin tomorrow night.

“We are gutted,” said Katie Mullan. “We had a lot of opportunities, the French goalkeeper was phenomenal, but we should take a hard look at ourselves in attack as we expect more from ourselves and we are able to produce more quality in the final third.” 

The outcome may have been vastly different had an unmarked Mullan not hit the post and then blazed over in the first quarter.

This before Ireland had five penalty corner chances in a row. They couldn’t convert, with the post being rattled either side of post runner Emma Van Der Zanden charging down the castle hits.

The Green Army had seven corners in all during the first 15 minutes, each one lacking injection speed and control from the top.

With a high press, Ireland continued to move the ball with purpose as they dominated the last third in the second quarter.

Yet it was France who found the net first from a corner midway through the quarter, although the sweep shot was ruled out for illegal height.

Ireland had scored no less than four goals in each of their seven previous wins over the French. However, Les Bleues have come a long way since their 7-1 hammering to the Irish at the 2015 EuroHockey.

At the start of the second half, goalkeeper Ehrmann’s body protection came to the fore while at the other end an advancing Lizzy Murphy made a sprawling body save from Van Der Zanden.

It paved the way for more Irish circle penetration and increasing desperation to find the net as more corner set pieces went begging.

Eleven minutes from time, and with Ireland down to 10 after a green card to Michelle Carey, France scored against the run of play thanks to Duffrene’s incisive penalty corner flick.

Ireland then went to 11 outfielders when Murphy was taken off with five minutes left. To sum up Ireland’s afternoon, Mullan was handed a yellow card for physical play two minutes later.

Coach Gareth Grundie said: “We were impatient with the ball but we had enough opportunities to win it comfortably. We will have to take that one on the chin.

“We kept trying to be too direct and we could have done better with our 13 corners.” 

Meanwhile, Olympic, world and defending European champions Netherlands beat Germany 5-1 last night to give Ireland a glimmer of hope.