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22 July 05 (PR11/05)
WELSH MEN DRAW & WOMEN LOSE
IN CELTIC CUPS
In their first matches in the Celtic Cups being played in
Edinburgh, the Welsh teams had mixed fortunes with the men
drawing 1-1 and women losing 0-1, both against Ireland.
In the Men’s match, Ireland starting the stronger and after only
5 minutes Mark Irwin opened the scoring for the Irish through an
open play goal. Wales slowly came back into the game but were
unable to equalise before the break.
In the second half the fortunes were reversed with Wales having
the majority of the play and following an award of their second
penalty corner, Oliver Cooper drag flicked the ball high into
the roof of the net to leave the final score 1-1.
The match represented the first cap for Dominic Graham (Belper)
whilst at the other end of the scale Paul Edwards (Cannock) will
become the holder of the highest number of caps over the
weekend.
In the Women’s game, Carys Hopkins forced a number of good saves
from the opposition goalkeeper and following an excellent run by
Beth Fisher a penalty corner was awarded which went unconverted.
Ireland also went close on a number of occasions with Michelle
Thomas making equally good saves. In a match played mostly in
the midfield it was no surprise that the half ended 0-0.
With Tina Evans & Leah Wilkinson both performing well in winning
their first caps, Wales could not stop a period of sustained
pressure from Ireland which resulted in an excellent save from
Ria Male who had come on to replace Michelle Thomas. Regretfully
the defence failed to clear the ball leaving a clear shot for
Ireland to take the lead with 9 minutes remaining. Wales could
not force an equaliser despite an excellent attempt from Carys
Hopkins who went narrowly wide with a reverse sweep shot with
the final score remaining at Wales 0 -
Ireland 1.
Manager Andy Ible said “we were disappointed not to get at least
a draw out of the match but are looking forward to the remaining
games. We must also bear in mind that the other three teams are
all 1 month further forward in their preparation for the
European Nations as our tournaments take place at different
times”.
[ends]
For information regarding the Welsh Hockey Union, please contact
Chris Brewer on 029 2057 3945 or 07976 982092
Please note: Information published in news
stories was correct at the time of publication. Information,
circumstances and data may have chance since.
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