Ireland 2-4 Belgium
Ireland lost 4-2 to red-hot Belgium in the second match of the men’s Olympic hockey qualifiers and must avoid losing to Japan in their final pool match in Valencia.
After Sunday’s 5-1 win over Ukraine in the eastern Spanish city, Mark Tumilty’s Ireland team knew they would face the toughest task in the four-team pool on Monday night, and that proved to be the case. Ta.
Belgium led 2-0 by the 25th minute with goals from Felix Denayer and Alexander Hendricks, the latter coming from a penalty corner.
After conceding their second goal, Ireland hit back with a goal from Ben Johnson in the 26th minute.
However, that resurgence was short-lived as William Ghislain and Thibault Stockbrooks scored fast-break goals between the half-time whistles and Matthew Nelson equalized for Ireland in the 53rd minute.
With this loss, Ireland moved to second place in Pool A, surpassing Japan in third place on goal difference. A draw in Wednesday’s head-to-head match would be enough to secure a place in the semi-finals.
The top two from each pool will advance to the top four, with the finalists and the third-place finisher in the mini-tournament qualifying for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
After the game head coach Tumilty said Ireland could have equalized before Belgium got back into the game.
“We probably weathered the storm in the first quarter and then scored two good goals. We had a chance to pull one back and make it 2-2, a chance that we would normally grab, but this opportunity… “I couldn’t get it,” he said.
“They scored two goals right away on either side of half-time and we were chasing for the rest of the game, so I was happy to get a great team goal late on.
“We have our final pool game against Japan, but there is no point in cutting corners with a draw. We need to play for the win. Ukraine showed it early on. They attacked Japan from the start and took a 2-0 lead, so we could be vulnerable early on and that gave us good opportunities. He gave it to me.”
Ireland: David Hart, Kyle Marshall, Lee Cole, Shane O’Donoghue, Tim Cross, Nicholas Page, John Mackie, Sean Murray, Michael Robson, Jeremy Duncan, Darragh Walsh
Subs used: Peter McKibbin. Sam Hyland, Ben Johnson, Jonathan Lynch, Luke Madeley.
Belgium: Vincent Vanache, Thibault Stockbrooks, Arthur Van Doren, Florent Van Ober, Gautier Bocard, Alexander Hendricks, Felix de Neyer, Arthur de Sluver, Victor Wegnes, Arno Van Dessel, Tom Boom
Subs used: Nelson Onana, Tanguy Causins, Loïc Ruipert, Maxime Van Oost, William Ghislain, John John Domen.