Ireland 4
Japan 5
UL Sports Fields
Eoin Horkan
At 3 o' clock on Friday the
Irish U21 team played their penultimate match of the world championships. It wasn’t
the Irish sides day as Japan managed to win by a solitary goal.
The first quarter of this tie
was a tough battle as both defences were on top of the attack especially Irish
goalie Joe Walsh as he pulled off three great saves. The Japanese thought they
had taken the lead eight minutes in but, they were penalized for a moving screen.
With five minutes left in the quarter the Irish team broke away. It was Kevin
Somerville who netted first in tie with an assist from Liam Horkan. Giving his
side a one goal lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was much
more one sided as Japan controlled the majority of it. They netted within 4
minutes to level the tie. The next five minutes was a defensive masterclass
from the Irish side with Patrick McKee and Walsh keeping the ball out of the
net . With five minutes to go the Irish defensive wall was broken as the
opposition managed to score two goals in the last five minutes of the quarter.
Leaving them two goals up at halftime.
The third quarter was a
quarter of missed opportunities from both sides as Ireland started to pressure
the Japanese defence . This pressure led to Liam Horkan narrowing the gap in
the tie finishing high into the roof of the net. With two minutes left in the quarter
Japan had control of the ball for nearly four minutes. They netted another goal
just before the end of the third quarter.
Japan won the face off at the
start of the fourth quarter and kept the pressure on the Irish defence. Within
two minutes they had netted a fifth goal. With a strong home crowd on the hill
in UL they started to become an extra man as the Irish team found another gear
in the last few minutes. With five minutes to go Jack Doherty broke through the
Japanese defence to narrow the gap to two with a well-executed goal. With the
crowd getting louder Ireland managed to win the face off which resulted in
Conor Foley narrowing the gap to the minimum . The Japanese were under pressure
as Ireland pushed forward. With a minute to go Conor Foley had netted but, unfortunately
this goal was disallowed.
Ireland tried to complete this
comeback but unfortunately it wasn’t to
be there day.
Ireland will play Puerto Rico in
their final match of the tournament as three thirty Saturday.
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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