Irish defeat Wales, 3-2 in first of the three Test match series: Women Hockey
The Irish women hockey team has defeated the Wales’ women hockey team by 3-2 in a nail-biting game, played in University College Dublin UCD, Ireland. The victory was a team effort as each and every player showed her contribution by the Irish side.
The first half of the match was full of sensation and thrill by the Irish women, who scored all of their three goals in the first half. It proved in just a matter of seconds, after the play started, as the Irish team broke the dead-lock in the very first
minute when Andy McDonald, the seasoned Irish player, put her team ahead of their opponents by a goal.
After the first goal, in the remaining part of the first half, both of the teams played good hockey, a fine blend of defence and attack, but none of them become able to completely deteriorate their opponents’ defence line till the 33rd minute.
The last two minutes of the first half were as sensational as the first one of the first half. Irish women did it again by scoring two quick goals in the dying moments of the first half. Peter Blakeney scored the second goal with the help of a penalty corner
in the 33rd minute while the third goal was scored by Peter Caruth just a minute before the end of first half. First half finished at 3-0 to Ireland.
The second half seemed an opposite picture of the first half as the Welsh women looked very desperate to open their account. But they had to wait till the 45th minute, when Ben Croxall scored a beautiful field goal and reduced the score margin
for her team. The Irish side tried to put pressure on the Welsh, but could not hold on as they did in first half. In 59th minute, Joe Naughalty scored the second goal for Wales and further reduced the Irish lead. In the last minutes both of the
sides fought very hard, but no more goals were scored after that and the match finished at 3-2 to Ireland.
“Winning in a test match is very important as you take these results and you take the confidence with you when you win. Playing with a younger team tonight is a big boost for us as it enables us to increase our pool of players and their match experience”,
The remaining two matches of the series will be played on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12 at the same venue, University College Dublin.
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