Irish Women defeat Azerbaijan 3-1 in EuroHockey Nations Championship in Germany
The Irish Women’s team have defeated the Azerbaijani outfit by 3-1 in the second match of Pool C at the GANT EuroHockey Nations Championship (women), played at the Warsteiner Hockey Park in Monchengladbach, Germany on Thursday, August 25.
The game was played in a tight environment where the Irish remained more dominant for most of the time. Particularly in the second part of the game in which they made a dual strike while they scored a single goal in the first thirty five minutes whereas
their opponents could only score a single goal in the later part of the game. The Irish showed a wonderful display of aggressive attacking and solid defence that led them to an impressive victory over the talented Azerbaijanis.
In the first thirty five minutes the Irish had to face tough resistance by their opponents who did not allow them to play freely for most of the time in the first half. The Irish ladies really put some great efforts into play but they remained goalless until
the ending minutes of the first half. The Azerbaijani defensive line was very clinical and resolute throughout the first half. However, the Irish ladies eventually managed to open their account just before the interval when they were awarded a penalty corner
in the 32nd minute to which Michelle Harvey made no mistake and put Ireland ahead of their opponents just before the break. The score lasted till the interval.
In the second half, the Irish ladies had to wait for a long time to score further goal like the first half. The Irish doubled their lead in the fourth quarter of the game when Emma Clarke scored a beautiful field goal in the 58th minute while
the lead was further increased by Nicola Symmons in the 63rd minute. The Azerbaijani women scored their solitary goal of the match just two minutes before the close of the play when Yoon Seon Kim converted a penalty corner into goal. The match concluded
at 3-1 to Ireland.
The Irish coach looked very pleased and happy with the overall performance of his team in the entire tournament.
"He was very happy with the team and the overall performance. They defended really well and took the chances created. It is still all to play for and will now focus on Italy who are a totally different side than the one we have just played," Gene Muller,
the coach of the Irish women’s hockey team, stated pleasantly about the performance of his athletes in the match and their next fixture against Italy.
It will be interesting to see how the Irish team manages to carry their winning momentum forward into their next match up of the exciting tournament.
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