Indian junior women's hockey team goes down 1-4 to Ireland’s senior team
In their first warm-up match of the Ireland tour, the junior Indian women team went down fighting 1-4 to World Cup silver medalists Ireland. Sharmila scored the only goal for the visitors as the team prepares to participate in the Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations tournament.
On an extended road trip, which includes tours in Ireland and Belarus, the national team would aim to bring home valuable experience and positive results playing against some of the stronger teams in the world. However, in their first match, the Suman Devi-led team lost to the Irish senior team although the scoreline is not a fair reflection of how the game went down.
The two teams started the match on equal footing, with no team looking to have an edge over the other. However, the hosts went a goal ahead in the seventh minute albeit not dominating much. The first quarter thus was an intense one, with only one goal separating the two sides.
The Indian team looked more eager to attack in the second quarter, but their opposition’s experienced backline did a good job of keeping the ball out. As far as their attack was concerned, they won a penalty corner in the opening stages of the quarter, although India’s first choice goalie Bichu Devi pulled off a smart save to deny them from scoring again. India kept pressing, but without success, as the scoreline remained unchanged at the end of the first half.
Trailing for long and needing to score soon, the Indian team came out all guns blazing in the second half and were soon rewarded for their effort with an equalizer. With Sharmila Devi levelling the score 1-1, India gained momentum and kept attacking the opposition goal, even winning a PC in the process but only to be cleared by the Irish goalkeeper. However, the strategy soon back-fired as India were caught on the break allowing Sarah Hawkshaw right before the close of play in the penultimate quarter.
The final quarter was all about seeing the game through for the Irish, as India gave it their all to score another equalizer. However, this time around, they were unsuccessful, as they not only failed to score but also gave away a couple of goals on the counter to make the final score read 4-1.
The result may have been negative, but the performance was not and the young colts will look to come away with a better showing for their performance when they face Canada’s junior team in the final warm-up game on Thursday. The 4-nation tournament, consisting of India, Scotland, Ireland, and Canada kicks off on the last day of the month, with India beginning their campaign against Canada.
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