Ireland miss out on EuroHockey semi-final following gruelling stalemate with Germany

Niamh Carey battles for possession in Monchengladbach. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/Inpho

An elusive semi-final berth for Irish women’s hockey went begging last night — and so did a first goal at these EuroHockey Championships — as Germany knocked Gareth Grundie’s side out of medal contention with a gruelling 0-0 draw.

Needing to win by two goals to set up a last four clash for the first time with Belgium, Ireland missed a first-half penalty stroke and failed to make inroads from a 20th penalty corner taken at these Championships.

Yet they dominated passages of play on a tense night for the host nation, as they put in their best all-round performance to stifle the world No.6 side.

“We knew it was a tall order coming in and on another day we could have got the 2-0 over them,” said Sarah Hawkshaw, Ireland’s captain.

“We have to look at our penalty corner as we need to be converting more. That could have changed the tournament for us. As a nation we need to be producing performances where we are matching opposition sides throughout the entire game, not just through corners.”

Hawkshaw had insisted pre-match that her team needed to keep Germany out of the Irish circle and they did that with some aplomb throughout, yet the hosts had two early penalty corner sighters.

Their first found the net but was ruled out for height while the second saw Lizzie Murphy go down early to smother out danger.

With six minutes left of the first quarter, Emily Kealy was then illegally tackled as she lined up her shot after a swift break into the German circle.

One could sense the nerves as Hannah McLoughlin — with Roisin Upton off the pitch — stepped up and her shot was easily saved courtesy of Julia Sonntag’s left glove.

Kathryn Mullan weaves her way through two German players. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek/Inpho

Still, Ireland played with tempo, rhythm and created a flurry of meaningful attacks during a bright first-half. The telling touch was missing, however, with a first circle entry in the third quarter seeing Katie Mullan misdirect her shot wide.

As the third quarter drew to a close, Ireland went down to nine players after two green cards in quick succession, but Ireland managed to defend stoutly with the German overload.

A match of few clear cut chances saw Germany come close to breaking the deadlock in the final quarter when a corner sweep to the far post went inches wide.

With 10 minutes remaining, Murphy remained in Ireland’s goal when offering an extra outfield threat and causing nerves for the hosts was needed most.

A fourth penalty corner routine of the night was then easily dealt with by Germany’s post runners.

Murphy was eventually hauled off with under five minutes left. At the other end, Ireland’s 20th corner of the tournament was then cleared at the second attempt as the hooter sounded on the Green Army’s fruitless campaign.

“We had better connections through the lines and manipulated their shape against a German side which pride themselves on structure,” said Hawkshaw. “It shows that we can compete. It’s a long year of hockey and now we are in the Pro League we will come up against them a few more times.

“There’s never been a Europeans I have played in where the decider has happened after your second game of the pool. That’s the beauty of this tournament and it shows how close the European standard is.” Ireland will now aim to finish fifth for a third time in the last four editions.

This time, however, there is no jeopardy of relegation from Europe’s top flight. The 2027 Championships in London will be reformatted with more teams, meaning no demotions at the current tournament.