Belgian women defeat Ireland 3-0 in EuroHockey Nations Championship in Monchengladbach, Germany
The Belgian outfits defeated their Irish counterparts by 3-0 in their second Pool B match of the GANT EuroHockey Nations Championship (women), played at the Warsteiner Hockey Park in Monchengladbach, Germany on Sunday, August 21.
The game was quite an entertaining encounter where the Irish ladies dominated the most part of the first thirty five minutes but they remained unlucky on a number of occasions as they could not find the Belgian net in the first half whereas their opponents
made a double blow in the first part of the game. Although the Irish ladies were more dominant in the first half but the luck was never along with them and they struggled to score throughout the match where as their rivals scored another goal in the second
half to steal the victory.
The first half started with an early action by the Belgians as they controlled the ball very well throughout the first thirty five minutes and created a number of good scoring chances early in the first half. The Irish were tested early in the 3rd
minute, with a great shot from the Belgians, but Emma Gray, the Irish goalkeeper, was superb in her work and saved the shot in a beautiful style. However, the Belgians scored their opening goal just six minutes into the first half when Charlotte De Vos, the
Belgian skipper, made a beautiful effort and put her team ahead by scoring a wonderful field goal in the 6th minute.
The Irish team had a considerable number of penalty corners but they could not make any impression to the scoreboard in the entire match. The Belgian ladies were once again in action just moments before the interval when the skipper, Charlotte De Vos, again
ticked the scoreboard in the 34th minute to make it 2-0 to Belgium that lasted till the interval.
The second half was once again the Belgians show as they again find the Irish net just ten minutes into the field after the interval when Lieselotte Van Lindt scored the third and the final goal of the match in the 45th minute as there was no
further goal was scored after that. The match concluded at 3-0 victory to Belgium.
The head coach, Gene Muller, looked disappointed with the performance of his athletes against a team like Belgium.
"I am deeply disappointed for the team, we did not start strong enough and Belgium fed off our mistakes, we did not have enough confidence,” Gene Muller, the coach of the Irish Women’s national hockey team stated after the match.
The Irish team will be looking to improve their performance before their next match-up in the tournament.
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