U21 World Lacrosse Championship
Ireland 12
Germany 5
Maguires Fields UL
Eoin Horkan
History was made on the fields in UL on Wednesday evening as it hosted the
u21 world lacrosse championship . With twenty three teams competing its going
to be a great 10 days in UL.
For anyone new to the sport the game is played in four quarters with substitutes
rolling on and off all game.
After the opening ceremony the Irish team got there campaign up and running
with a game against Germany on a score line of 12 goals to 5. The Irish team
made up of players from England and the USA had only trained together on a
handful of occasions before the tournament.
The Irish team flew out of the blocks, after a minute on the clock Liam Horkan
controlled a pass before firing into the net to give his side a dream start to the tie
and tournament. Ireland kept the attacks and pressure on Germany, but their net
minder was in fine form managing to keep out any goal bound effort. The
Germans managed to level the tie against the run of play ten minutes into the
tie. With a minute left in the quarter the Germans took the lead as they were
causing danger on the counterattack.
After a nervy opening quarter from both sides, the second quarter was much
more open as goals were flying in from both sides. Similar to the first quarter
Ireland took control and levelled the tie with a goal from Jack Doherty who
drove forward from midfield. Moments later the Germans managed to take the
lead again as both sides were shooting on every occasion. Both keepers were on
top for the next ten minutes of play. This was until Doherty finished well after
some great work from Aidan Dempsey. This looked like the tie would be level
going into the half time break . This wasn’t the case as the Germans managed to
break through to score on the whistle to give themselves the lead.
The 3 rd quarter also known as the moving quarter in other sports was a full on
Irish onslaught. The home side levelled the tie when Conor Foley cut back
against the defence before sliding the ball past the German net minder. The Irish
team were flying at this point firing in the next four goals . Jack Galvin burst
forward to feed his teammate to give his side a well-deserved lead. Horkan burst
through for his second before the ever dangerous Dempsey netted two more
before the end of the quarter.
The final quarter was much more of the same from the Irish team as that man
Galvin was flying up and down the field at every opportunity . His run this time
ended up with another Conlan finish. Conor Foley was on fire in the Irish attack
as he added two more goals to his tally . It was Dempsey who finished the
scoring for his side. The Germans fired a late consolation before the final
whistle.
This performance bodes well for a young Irish team as they play Latvia and
Jamacia at the weekend. The knockout stages will begin from next Monday
Ireland: Conor Breen; Matthew Brennan, Ben Collins , Gavin Conlan; Finn
Daly. Aidan Dempsey, Jack Doherty, Conor Foley, Jack Galvin, Joseph Gehle
Sean Horkan, Liam Horkan, Ridley Horton, Aedan Kearns, Fionn Kinsella ,
Matt Loftus, Sean Loftus, Patrick McKee, Brady Morin, Kevin Somerville,
Michael Songer, Jack Songer, Joe Walsh, Ronan Walsh.
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