Last minute equaliser leads Ireland to level the game at 2-2 in FIH Champions Challenge II
The Irish men scored a last minute equaliser against France in a Pool B match in the FIH Champions Challenge II event played on Sunday, July 3 in Lille, France. The match eventually concluded at 2-2.
The match was a close contest in fact it became pretty sensational and thrilling in its dying moments when Ireland scored the equaliser. Both the periods were fairly balanced between the opponents as the Irish men dominated the early minutes of the first
half and the later part of the second half, whereas France remained on the top in the middle stages of the match, the ending minutes of the first half and the early part of the second half.
The Irish men started the first half in full flow and made a number of good attacks to find an early lead. They showed wonderful efforts in the opening minutes of the first half and ran through the French defence line on few occasions, but their best scoring
chance came in the 15th minute when they were awarded a penalty-corner, after they beautifully penetrated into the French circle. Gareth Watkins converted the penalty-corner into a goal that came after a wonderful effort as he made a reverse shot
from the left-hand side and put Ireland ahead of their opponents by a solitary goal.
On the other side the French side gained momentum in the last ten minutes. In fact they made their first penetration into the Irish circle in the 22nd minute, but the real misfortune of the Irish men appeared in the last two minutes of the first
half when France scored two goals in a short span of two minutes. Catonnet made the double-strike for the French team by scoring the first goal in the 34thminute on open play and the second on 35th minute through a drag flick. The first
half closed at 2-1 to France.
In the second half, Ireland played well, but the Frenchmen were at their best as they defended their goal-post until the end. In the 57th minute, Caruth found the French goal-post, but unluckily the ball hit the cross-bar and rebounded. However,
the Irish did not lose their heart and persistently continued their struggle and it brought the required result in the last minute of the match, when Eugene Magee scored the equaliser on a penalty-corner in 70th minute. The match concluded at 2-2.
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