IRELAND, though disappointed to fly home yesterday with the fourth place trophy from the 14 Nation World Cup preliminary tournament in Cagliari, should still be "buoyed by the fact that they finished top scorers with 29 goals from eight matches. "This will call for respect from all opposition in the second phase of the competition in Kuala Lumpur in March.
Signs of tiredness in a depleted squad were factors in their 5-4 defeat by Poland on Saturday, yet it was an admirable spectacle as Ireland refused to capitulate. Down 2-0 and 3-1, they fought back to trail merely by 3-2 at half time, thanks notably to a goal line clearance by Alan Dowd, and matched the Poles in a second half of further fine goals and extravagant misses.
Indeed, as play zipped from end to end in a frenetic finish Ireland barely failed to take the game into extra time Krzyszfof Wybieralski had notched his fourth goal to make it 5-3 in the 69th minute but immediately Colin Hade sent Robbie Ryan powering through to cut the margin to the minimum and 30 seconds from the final hooter Daniel Clarke fired in a shot which was kept out only by the stoutest of saves by Marcin Pobuta.
As was the case in the first period, the Poles had started in the second half with a flourish and Karol Podorsky - foiled earlier by Peter Darley - pierced the cover to give his side a 4-2 lead. However, Ireland responded spiritedly and, after being denied by a flurry of saves by Pobuta, pegged the deficit back to 4-3 as Neil Cooke - the team's most persistent and forceful figure - delivered a long pass through the middle for the industrious Alistair Dunne to beat Pobuta at the second attempt, That left the last 10 minutes wide open but this time it was the Poles who prevailed, after loosing the pool match 5-2.
The first half had seen Ireland in a vulnerable state as Polski Telecom's leading light, Wybieralski, had skinned the defence to register a hat trick. Ireland, thought, managed to keep in touch with Robbie Taylor potting his 7th short corner goal of the tournament - which, in set piece terms, is unique in the annals of Irish hockey.
Then, before the interval, after Clarke had seen his superb reverse stick shot touched over the bar by Pobuta, Ireland's most prolific attacker positioned himself from a Taylor free to nick home a goal of undoubted class. Clarke emerged with Wybieralski and Podorski as the tournament's most effective open play strikers.
In contrast, while New Zealand and Canada deservedly contested the final, as the most accomplished teams in the competition it was ironic that this was only the second match out of a total of 55 that ended scoreless. Even in extra time, no one could break the deadlock with a "golden goal" with the Canadian keeper Mike Mahood being especially defiant. But in the shoot out it was his, New Zealand opposite number Scott Anderson who decided the destiny of the gold medals in saving three strokes as his team won out, 3-1.
The New Zealanders, incidentally, are going to prepare for the next stage of the World Cup in the tropics of Northern Australia so as to be ready for the heat and humidity of Malaysia. Ireland may acclimatise by taking in stop over matches against Egypt in Cairo. Another excursion to Holland is also envisaged, as well possibly as a 4 Nations exercise in Brussels or Zurich.
In these challenging times, members of the squad have been advised to rest from club hockey for the remainder of this month and, after Christmas, devote themselves only to national training before the departure to Kuala Lumpur at the end of February.
. Top five qualify for second stage in Kuala Lumpur where they will be joined by Argentina, South Korea, Spain, South Africa, Belgium, Belarus and Malaysia. Then top six qualify for finals in Utrecht in 1998. Here, the automatic qualifiers are Pakistan, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, India, England.
