Pakistan beat Ireland by 2-1 at Four-Nations Cup
The Greenshirts defeated their Irish counterparts by 2-1 in an important match at Four Nations Cup which is being played at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland on June 24.
Having lost their first match against France by 4-2, the Greenshirts made a strong comeback in their second match against China and recorded their first victory in the event by 3-2. The third match against Ireland was an important one for the Greenshirts
as it will decide the finalists of the event. The Greenshirts made it through to the final by winning it quite closely.
Pakistan started very well from the beginning and played with an attacking strategy throughout the first half and it eventually it worked for them and paid with two goals before the interval. The Irish men showed very daring efforts in their defence,
but did not stop the Greenshirts’ attacks on their goal-post. They too had their chances, but could not utilise those chances to the full and remained goal-less throughout the first half. Waseem Ahmed scored the opening goal for the Greenshirts in 24th minute
with a splendid individual effort while the lead was doubled by Sohail Abbas, the penalty-corner specialist, just before seven minutes to the interval. Pakistan led the first half by 2-0.
The second half was even tougher as the Irish men further tightened their defence and did not allow Pakistan to make any further damage, instead they reduced Greenshirts’ lead to one goal, early in the second half. The match ended at 2-1 to Pakistan.
On the other side the Irish national hockey team coach, Paul Revington, looked very disappointed with his team’s performance in this match.
“We were disappointed to concede two goals that we believe we should be controlling and will need to improve on this area before tomorrow. The team are excited to be playing Pakistan again tomorrow in the final and are confident that our improvements
will lead to a more competitive performance,” Paul Revington stated after the match.
Meanwhile, China defeated France by 2-1 in another match of the event, but they could not qualify for the final which is now going to be played between Pakistan and Ireland today on June 25.
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