A masterclass performance saw Spain score 8 goals in the first half as they continue their pursuit of a fourth-place finish in the FIH Pro League, which would provide them with automatic qualification for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup.<\/p>\n
A late consolation goal for Ireland\u2019s Ben Nelson put a shine on an otherwise tough final outing in the FIH Pro League.<\/p>\n
Spain got things underway and immediately looked to impose themselves on the game.<\/p>\n
A penalty corner from their second circle entry gave them a chance to do that, but Louis Rowe was on hand to block their first attempt, with Jaime Carr able to clear the second. A third penalty corner two minutes later eventually saw Spain break the deadlock, Pepe Cunill flicking into the net.<\/p>\n
Spain continued to apply pressure, pressing Ireland more intensely in this encounter, a number of turnovers in the Irish backline eventually ended in a second goal for Spain Nicolas Alvarez\u2019 push at goal taking a fortunate deflection off Se\u00e1n Murray to sneak past Jaime Carr.<\/p>\n
Spain didn\u2019t have to wait long for a third opportunity, winning a penalty stroke just one minute later, which Marc Miralles dispatched.<\/p>\n
Ireland managed to manufacture their first chance of the game, Ben Nelson picking up from where he left off yesterday to drive Ireland forward on the break, he tried to find brother Matthew in the circle, but his pass was just out of reach.<\/p>\n
Spain piled further woe on just before the end of the first quarter, driving down the right side and delivering a ball to Alvaro Iglesias to slap into the net.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s dominances carried into the second quarter, despite Ireland\u2019s best efforts to respond.<\/p>\n
A penalty corner for Spain added a fifth to their tally through Pepe Cunill second goal of the game. A sixth came immediately after, Joaquin Menini firing past Carr. Jordi Bonastre added the seventh with a shot at the near post.<\/p>\n
Spain closed out the first half by adding an eighth. Sam Hyland blocked Pepe Cunill\u2019s penalty corner effort, but Marc Miralles got hold of the loose ball to fire into the roof of the net on his reverse.<\/p>\n
The half-time break gave Ireland a chance to reset, leading to a more positive period of possession to begin the third quarter.<\/p>\n
However, Spain continued their goalscoring form, Mark Miralles completing his hattrick from a penalty corner. Spain\u2019s press retreated, allowing Ireland more time on the ball but keeping them camped in their own half for the majority of the quarter.<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s improvements continued into the final period. An attacking opportunity from a turnover saw Se\u00e1n Murray release Ben Nelson down the left, whose reverse stick shot found the bottom right corner.<\/p>\n
A second chance for Nelson came a minute or so later, which forced a save from Spain Goalkeeper Luis Calzado.A last chance for Ireland in the final minute came for Ben Nelson yet again, a great delivery from Lee Cole to find him in the circle, but his shot on the half-volley went over the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely frustrating considering it\u2019s our last game [in the FIH Pro League 2024\/25]. We don\u2019t have a chance to put that one right so to speak. We definitely showed that we can play in the second half, but it\u2019s not where we want to be,\u201d Ireland captain Kyle Marshall said afterwards<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of Ireland\u2019s EuroHockey Championship II in Portugal, Marshall said: \u201cLuckily, we have something to aspire to. We need a top two finish in the EuroHockey Championship II. We could definitely put a bit of pressure on ourselves in the second half today to do what we expect of ourselves, our basic standards and hold ourselves accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attention of the Ireland men\u2019s hockey team will now turn to Lousada in Portugal with the tournament set to take place from July 27 to August 2.<\/p>\n
Ireland will hope to retain their 2023 title and add a fourth to their tally to continue their record as the competition\u2019s most successful side. A top two finish in the competition would provide Ireland with a place at the FIH World Cup Qualifiers in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A masterclass performance saw Spain score 8 goals in the first half as they continue their pursuit of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,6686,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-206236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-latest-news-ticker","11":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114729546574986751","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}