HOCKEY/European Championships/Ireland 1 England 1:The French albatross remains firmly tethered around Irish necks despite a hard-earned point yesterday against England in the relegation play-offs at the European hockey championships in Manchester.
With the French later out-classing the Czech Republic at Bellevue, they added three more points to Wednesday's haul from Ireland, and are now safe from the drop.
All Ireland can hope for is to beat the Czechs on Sunday and look to France to defy all known form by defeating England.
Ireland's record at the set-pieces was lamentable earlier in the tournament but John Jermyn converted their only corner of the first half yesterday with perfect power and placement on 11 minutes.
However, the sides were soon back all square after James Tindall collected the ball with his back to goal but found the space to swivel and score with a well crafted reverse stick shot.
Harte was deceived on that occasion but he was not bamboozled soon afterwards by Matt Daly, the young Cork man putting a firm glove on a drag flick from the England number 10. He was also in the right place to deny Barry Middleton on the stroke of half-time to preserve the status quo going into the break.
Harte was much the busier of the two goalkeepers thereafter, though England net-minder James Fair was first into second-half action, standing up to Jermyn and Mark Gleghorne.
The balance of attacking play shifted to the host nation who dominated the closing stages and there were a couple of shaky moments for the Irish defence.
Harte made a painful half save from Simon Mantell's fierce drive on 57 minutes and required several minutes recovery time before resuming in invincible mode - though he needed some assistance to keep the English at bay.
David Hobbs appeared on the goal-line to sweep the ball clear as Tindall loomed on the hour and it was the turn of Iain Lewers to do the necessary as the man on the post defending a last second penalty corner.
"Harte has been fantastic," said coach Dave Passmore afterwards on the subject of his 19-year-old goalkeeping prodigy. "I did not think he would hit such heights at such a tender age."
Others who excelled yesterday were Lewers, who is on his way to club hockey in the Netherlands, Eugene Magee and Graham Shaw. Shaw controlled much of the midfield play with confidence remarkable in one who was considered a fringe player by Passmore just last year.
IRELAND: D Harte; P Brown, R Gormley, S Butler, M Gleghorne, J Jermyn, G Shaw, A Barbour, M Black, P Maguire, I Lewers. Subs: K Burns, M Irwin, D Hobbs, T Cockram, E Magee.
ENGLAND: J Fair; G Kirkham, R Alexander, R Mantell, S Mantell, B Gerrard, J Clarke, A Wilson, B Middleton, J Bleby, B Marsden. Subs: A Jackson, M Daly, R Moore, S Cordon, J Tindall.
Umpires: JM Requena (Spain), M Knulle (France).
Results: Day-five: 5th-8th place play-offs - Ireland 1 (J Jermyn) England 1 (J Tindall); France 3 Czech Republic 0.
Standings after two rounds: 1 France 6 pts; 2 England 4 pts; 3 Ireland 1 pt; 4 Czech Republic 0 pts.
REMAINING FIXTURES (tomorrow): Ireland v Czech Republic 9pm; England v France. Semi- finals - Germany Spain Netherlands Belgium
Pembroke Wanderers have been drawn in a pool with Club Egara of Spain and Poland's KS Pocztowiec Poznan in round one of the inaugural European Hockey League, the competition that will involve 24 men's clubs from 12 countries. The matches, which will be hosted by Belgium's Royal Antwerp, will take place between November 2th-4th.
