IRELAND hockey captain Katie Mullan (above) welcomed the team’s pairing with Spain in their Olympic qualifying semi-final in Valencia.
Ireland secured their last four place by defeating South Korea 3-1 in their last group game. This followed a 0-0 draw with group winners Belgium and an 8-0 win over Ukraine.
Ireland and Spain are no strangers, having met regularly in the past.
Asked if it is good to have a familiar opponent in the semi-finals, Ballymoney player Katie replied: “Yeah, we’ve played Spain a lot and we have lot of experience of playing against them, and on this type of pitch. I’ve no doubt that it will be a good battle but we’ll be ready for it.
“It feels great to be in the semi-final and we are very excited. This is the place we wanted to be in. I’m really proud of the girls. It was another game and another job done. And we put in a brilliant performance. Everyone did their job and we are ready to go for the semi-final.”
Sarah Harkshaw scored Ireland’s opener to put them on their with Deirdre Duke and Róisín, with a penalty stroke, the other scorers.
Sarah revealed later that her goal was one from the training ground.
“Look , for that to come off , all the basics have to be right,” Sarah explained. “Hannah McLoughlin delivered a great ball. So I just had the small matter of touching it in.”
Sarah was one of several Ireland players green carded and the team played much of the second half down to 10 players.
Asked if being short-handed increased the pressure, Sarah said: “We always like to make it a little bit more exciting don’t we? It is a bit more pressure, but we practice those scenarios. We know what it’s like to be down players because of cards. Cards come freely in the game. We have to be used to it. We showed a lot of resilience I think to hold them out.”
Ireland have two chances to make the Olympics. If they can beat Spain on Thursday that will be enough but if they lose they’ll take on either Great Britain or Belgium in the third place play-off, with the winners clinching the final place in Paris.
IRELAND: Ayeisha McFerren, Róisín Upton, Hannah McLoughlin, Ellen Curran, Beth Harper, Katie McKee, Sarah Hawkshaw, Katie Mullan (C ), Charlotte Beggs, Naomi Carroll, Niamh Carey
Subs used: Sarah McAuley (5 mins), Michelle Carey (6 mins), Sarah Torrans (6 mins), Elena Neill (5 mins), Chloe Watkins (6 mins), Deirdre Duke (5 mins), Liz Murphy (GK) (not used)
Sarah Hawkshaw
