Draws against Scotland and Russia and a 3-1 defeat yesterday by England gave Ireland a creditable second-place finish at the Four Nations' tournament in Belfield over the weekend, a campaign that marked the beginning of the build-up to August's European Championships in Germany for all four teams.

In truth, it wasn't until the second half of the game against England that the Irish produced a display to raise the spirits, but for coach Riet Kuper the most heartening aspect of the weekend was the form of debutantes Caitriona Carey and Pamela Magill. Both players, one suspects, will be playing at senior international level for some time to come.

Like the rest of their team-mates, it took them time to settle against England yesterday and when Tina Cullen gave the visitors the lead after just four minutes, pouncing on a rebound after Tara Browne had saved Sue Chandler's penalty corner strike, Ireland seemed in danger of suffering a trouncing similar to Scotland's on Saturday when the English beat them 5-0. But they responded with spirit, only denied an immediate equaliser by Katy Roberts who saved from Jill Orbinson and Carey after good work down the right wing by Claire McMahon. Carey's efforts were rewarded in the ninth minute by Ireland's first penalty corner of the game, which Arlene Thompson converted with a beautiful strike in to the bottom right corner of the goal. Cullen, though, restored England's lead just five minutes later, slotting home Sarah Blanks's perfectly-weighted lay-off in the Irish circle. They would have extended that lead but for some defiant Irish defending, not least by Magill, Thompson and Browne who denied Jennie Bimson, Anna Bennett and Chandler again in a period of intense English pressure.

Blanks finally made it 3-1 to England in the 47th minute, firing past Browne after Sarah Kelleher was dispossessed at the edge of the Irish circle, but between then and the end of the game Ireland, prompted by excellent midfield play from Mary Logue, Rachel Kohler and Kelleher, created enough chances to at least level the score.

Kelleher and Logue sent McMahon clear on three occasions, but the Pegasus striker failed to take advantage of one-on-ones with substitute goalkeeper Hilary Rose, who kept her nerve and cleared the danger each time.

Carey, too, was denied by Rose, who saved her first-time strike from Logue's right-wing cross and made a double save near the end after yet more fine work by the Irish captain. The performance was a vast improvement on Saturday's display against Russia who held out for a 2-2 draw despite being reduced to 10 players after sweeper Nadejda Tchegourdaeva was sent off for upending a goal-bound McMahon. They were even down to nine players for five second-half minutes when Elena Polokova was yellow-carded for another foul, but Ireland failed to take advantage. Tchegourdaeva's twin sister, Marina, gave the Russians the lead after six minutes and equalised 10 minutes in to the second half after Orbinson and Kohler had put Ireland ahead by halftime. Kuper simply described the performance as "poor" but was much more upbeat after yesterday's game. "I was proud of the way they played," she said. "By the time we get to Europe we will put our chances away, I know we will. For now, I'm just happy that we are creating so many goal-scoring opportunities against top quality defences."

And what did she think of Magill, who was superb in defence, and Carey? "Oooh, I would assume there's a fair chance they will be around for a while," she said, with a smile. "They didn't show any respect for anyone which is perfect, that's exactly what you want."

Ireland: T Browne, K Humphreys, A Thompson, P Magill, C O'Kelly, M Logue (capt), S Kelleher, R Kohler, C McMahon, C Carey, J Orbinson. Subs: J Burke, K O'Brien, D Sixsmith.

England: K Roberts, L Newcombe (capt), K Brown, F Greenham, K Walsh, L King, S Chandler, J Bimson, A Bennett, T Cullen, S Blanks. Subs: H Rose, J Smith, J Sixsmith, D Marston-Smith, L Catchpole. Umpires: M Boyle and Y Brada.

Four Nations' Tournament (at Belfield): Saturday: England 5 (T Cullen, L King, J Sixsmith, J Brimson, D Marston-Smith pen), Scotland 0; Ireland 2 (J Orbinson, R Kohler), Russia 2 (M Tchegourdaeva 2). Yesterday: Russia 1 (N Kravtchenko), Scotland 1 (S Gilmour pen); Ireland 1 (A Thompson), England 3 (T Cullen 2, S Blanks).