Ireland power past Australia in FIH Hockey Pro League
Ireland 4-1 Australia
Ireland picked up a first FIH Hockey Pro League victory over Australia in Hobart to close out the second stage of the competition in style.
Having gone a goal behind Ireland fought back to record a comprehensive win, with Ellen Curran, Katie Mullan, Sarah Hawkshaw and Hannah McLoughlin all on the scoresheet, while Roisin Upton picked up the player of the match award for an imperious defensive performance.
The victory leaves Ireland sixth in the nine-team table after picking up one win and two draws from their eight matches.
Australia hit the front early on, squeezing the ball into the net from a tight angle.
Ireland almost responded immediately when Mullan found Michelle Carey whose effort on goal was saved by Zoe Newman.
Ireland continued to put the pressure on, working the ball forward to Sarah Torrans who just couldn’t make clean contact on a first-time effort at goal.
Ireland ended the opening quarter by testing Newman once more, but she was alive to Christina Hamill’s close-range effort and Australia held onto their one goal lead.
They carried their positive play into the second quarter with a perfect interchange out of the back ending in Torrans deflecting the ball on to an Australian foot inside the circle for a penalty corner. McLoughlin’s slap on goal took a deflection from Ellen Curran to find the back of the net and level the scoring.
Two green cards in quick succession for Australia gave Ireland an opportunity to try and make use of their extra outfield players, which Ireland used to find Hawkshaw free on the baseline who pulled the ball back to Mullan to touch into the net.
In the early phases of the second half, another penalty corner went back to injector Torrans who delivered the ball to Hawkshaw on a plate to tap in.
Ireland almost had a fourth a moment later when Mullan’s delivery into the circle found a stick and pinged off the crossbar.
They had to weather a late period of pressure from the Hockeyroos, with Elizabeth Murphy in good form in the Irish net, but Ireland held strong.
A penalty corner for a cynical tackle on Michelle Carey with five minutes remaining gave Ireland a chance to grab a fourth and seal the game, which they gladly took as Hannah McLoughlin slapped into the back of the net.
Ireland’s focus will now turn to their upcoming FIH Hockey World Cup qualifiers in Santiago, Chile taking place from 1 to 8 March. They've been drawn in Pool B and will begin their bid for qualification with a match against Malaysia on Monday, 2 March at 6.15pm Irish time.
Japan will be the second game, taking place the following day at 6.45pm, and they will complete their pool stage against Canada on Thursday, 5 March at 6.15pm, with the sides meeting for the first time since Ireland’s historic penalty shootout win in Dublin in 2019 that secured a first ever Olympic place for the Women’s squad.
Ireland could face Australia, Chile, France, or Switzerland in the semi-finals should they advance.
