Ireland 0
india 1
India’s last-minute goal sank Ireland in the fourth match of the Bhubaneswar phase of the FIH Pro League.
Playing against the hosts in front of a crowd of over 20,000 partisan supporters at Kalinga Stadium was always a challenge. Especially considering it was Ireland’s second game in two days at the end of a week of games.
India will be coached by former Ireland national team coach Craig Fulton, whose daughter Milla has won a senior cap for Ireland in indoor hockey.
And while Fulton’s team played committed defense, Fulton’s team looked more than capable of countering anything the Irish could throw at them offensively.
The teams were almost evenly matched in the early stages, and it wasn’t a big surprise that they were scoreless at the end of the first half.
In the third quarter, Akashdeep Singh put the ball in the net, but goalkeeper Jamie Kerr was sent off, giving Ireland a free hit-out. Two minutes later, India had the ball in the net again and Ireland were awarded a free hit-out, but the goal was canceled for another foul.
Ireland forced a long corner kick in the 38th minute, but the shot was saved by Krishan Pathak.
Ireland earned a penalty corner in the 51st minute, which was saved by Sreejesh Paratu.
Jeremy Duncan was given a green card in the 52nd minute, temporarily reducing Ireland to 10 men. Ireland’s best chance during this period came from Ben Johnson, whose pass across the face of goal was kicked away by PR Sreejesh.
Sreet Singh was the key to getting the most out of the Indians’ attacking play. Dara Walsh was equally important to Ireland’s attacking movement, but if I had to choose an Irish player as player of the match, Kerr probably gave the standout performance.
Gujjant Singh scored from the edge of the D-line in the 59th minute when it looked like Ireland would have enough to take their first point in FIH Pro League history.
Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty said: When I think about Jamie Carr tonight, he’s frustrated with that last minute goal. It was one of those disappointing goals.
“We want to get some points from India and go home. We are moving in the right direction. We are playing against the best teams in the world, most of whom are full-time players. He’s a professional athlete, but he’s proven he can compete at this level. We need to build on that, take some chances and take advantage of our corners.”
Ireland: Jamie Kerr, Luke Madeley, John Mackie, Darragh Walsh, Shane O’Donoghue, Sean Murray (C), Peter McKibbin, Jeremy Duncan, Peter Brown, Lee Cole, Nicholas Page. Subs used: Matthew Nelson (4 minutes), Kevin O’Dea (6 minutes), Michael Robson (6 minutes), Jonathan Lynch (4 minutes), Sam Hyland (6 minutes), Ben Johnson ( 6 minutes)
India: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Germanpreet Singh, Abhishek Akashdeep Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Nilakanta Sharma, Akashdeep Singh , Amit Rohidas, Subs used: Sumit (5 minutes), Amir Ali (3 minutes), Raj Kumar Pal (4 minutes), Ravichandra Moiranthim (5 minutes) Sukhjeet Singh, Araijeet Singh – Hundal (4 minutes), Sreejesh Palattu, Raveen Prave