Match between Ireland and Spain ends in draw by 1-1 in FIH Champions Challenge
The final group match between Ireland and Spain at FIH Champions Challenge tournament, which is being played at University College Dublin (UCD), in Dublin, Ireland, ended in a draw at a score of 1-1.
The coach of the Irish women team was very pleased with the effort which his players displayed on the field.
“We are very pleased to come back from a goal down to tie the game. Spain caused us some problems in the first half but I felt we bossed the second half. We lacked technically fluidity today but the players managed to get a result against a team that
we have struggled against in the past,” Muller, the coach of Irish women hockey team, stated after the match.
The first half ended goal-less as both of the teams failed to break the scoring deadlock despite of some wonderful efforts. Both the opponents crated their chances throughout the first half but remained goal-less till the interval. Spain had their
best chance in the 15th minute, but it was comfortably cleared by the Irish goal-keeper. In the 25th minute there were Irish with a scoring opportunity, but the Spanish did the same as the Irish did in 15th minute.
So neither of the teams could manage to convert the scoring opportunities into goals and the first half ended at 0-0.
In the second half, the Irish women seemed more clinical as compared with the first half. They exhibited some great passing among them and also created a couple of chances in the 44th minute, when they were awarded with two
consecutive penalty-corners, but the Spanish defence remarkably made a great effort in saving those chances.
However, the Spanish women scored the first goal of the match in the 50thminute when Barbara Malda made a beautiful goal with open play and put her team ahead of the hosts. But the Irish women equalised just after two minutes, when Emma
Clarke scored a beautiful field goal for Ireland in 52nd minute. The score stood at 1-1 till the end.
The Irish women have remained at the top spot in their group by winning two of their three games with one draw in the ongoing tournament and they will be up against USA, who finished last in their group. The quarter-final will be played on June 23,
in Dublin.
Tags: