IRELAND - with David Harte in goal - opened their account in Pool B of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with their third competitive match of 2024 against World Ranked number three Belgium and with two FIH PRO League wins from two in their previous meetings.
Belgium, the reigning Olympic champions, had finished a disappointing fifth in the recent FIH Pro League, one in which they went in as possible favourites to win, Ireland finished ninth in their debut outing at that level. Belgium were also finalists in the last Men's World Cup so the weight of expectation was heavy on their shoulders. However, the Belgians were not burdened by those expectations and secured a solid 2-0 victory.
The first quarter was scoreless. A deflected Tom Boon strike in the 25th minute gave Belgium a 1-0 lead. It was 1-0 at half-time. There was no scoring in the third quarter, so it was still 1-0 heading into the fourth quarter. Alexander Hendrickx converted a penalty corner in the 49th minute to make it 2-0 to Belgium. There was to be no further scoring.
Ireland's first chance of the game came in the fifth minute as Tim Cross won possession and found Jeremy Duncan, but his ball hit Ben Walker's body and a free hit was awarded to Belgium. Belgium's best early effort didn't come until the ninth minute Arno Van Dessel's shot from outside the circle, but the ball didn't get the necessary deflection to send it goalward and it went wide of Harte's right-hand post. A minute later Gauthier Boccard had an effort across the face of the Irish goal.
'Incredibly proud of the effort we put in'
David Harte reacts to the courageous 2-0 defeat to defending gold medallists Belgium#rtesport #paris2024
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In the 12th minute McKibbin deflected an effort over his own crossbar at the expense of a long corner. David Harte saved the shot from the resultant long corner. Belgium's first penalty corner came in the 13th minute. John-John Dohmen's drag flick was blocked on the line by Lee Cole. Belgium's second penalty corner came in the 15th minute of the first quarter. Luypaert's drag flick went wide. They went in 0-0 at the break.
The defending champions started the second quarter well and David Harte had to be at his best to deny them their opening goal in the 17th minute. He denied Wegnez in the 20th minute and he was also at his sharpest in the 23rd minute to deny the Belgians a goal. But the opening goal did come eventually. Belgium took the lead in the 25th minute when a crashball was deflected to the net by Tom Boon. 1-0 to the defending gold medalists.
Ireland forced a penalty corner within a minute and Shane O'Donoghue's drag flick was saved by a diving Vincent Vanasch in the Belgian goal. Ireland dominated the closing minutes of the half while Belgium had a chance or two, with two minutes to go to half-time. Belgium led 1-0 at half-time.
In the 33rd minute Kyle Marshall won a long corner. When Murray's long corner went back to a teammate it was Lee Cole who shot from outside the circle and rattled the backboard but it didn't get the deflection required inside the circle for it to be a score and so no goal was awarded.
David Harte denied Wegnez and then Dohmen in less than a minute to keep the score at 1-0. Ireland's best chance of the third quarter came in the final minute when Shane O'Donoghue broke from deep and about 5 metres outside the circle his attempted pass to a teammate was intercepted. It was still 1-0 at the end of quarter three.
Ireland started the fourth quarter well, but the first chance of the game was a penalty corner to Belgium in the 48th minute. The first penalty corner was blocked by Matthew Nelson at the expense of another penalty corner. And in the 49th minute Alexander Hendrickx's drag flick found its way through to the back board to make it 2-0 to Belgium. In the 56th minute Nelson Onana won a penalty corner. Alexander Hendrickx's drag flick was saved by David Harte. Belgium forced three penalty corners in a row in the 58th minute. David Harte saved from Arthur Van Doren for the first one. The second one went behind for another penalty corner and the third one went out for a long corner. Ireland had an attack in the final seconds which amounted to nothing. And the game ended 2-0 to Belgium.
Speaking after the match Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty said: 'It was a very tough game. I thought Belgium were excellent in how they set up. They were set up to stop our best players getting on the ball and being able to create any real danger. A tough one, but we need to develop as we go through the tournament. We need to be more confident; it was our first time at this stage. The bits we were pleased with would have been the defending and goalkeeping.
'Australia is going to be another significant challenge. They have a range of different playing styles that they can adapt to at different stages of the game. We have to value possession of the ball, if we turn over against them, we will be punished! They are obviously very physical and clinical.'
BELGIUM: Vincent Vanasch; Arthur Van Doren; Gauthier Boccard; Nicholas de Kerper; Alexander Hendrickx; Arthur de Sloover; Loick Luypaert; John-John Dohmen; Felix De Nayer [c]; Antoine Kina; Victor Wagenez; Arno Van Dassel; Thibeau Stockbroekx; Florent Van Aubel; Tom Boon ; Nelson Onana:
IRELAND: David Harte; Tim Cross; Kyle Marshall; Shane O'Dononghue; Peter McKibbin; Lee Cole; Nicholas Page; Daragh Walsh; Sean Murray [c]; Michael Robson; Peter Brown; John McKee; Matthew Nelson; Jeremy Duncan; Ben Johnson.
