IRELAND suffer Olympic heartbreak as Great Britain are the victors of the bronze medal match in Valencia, which means that Ireland will not travel to the Paris games.
Great Britain went into this game having qualified for every Olympics except 2004. Ireland’s women on the other hand had only ever qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo which were deferred until 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
It was the 2016 Gold medalists who had the first chance of the game when Katie Robertson lobbed McFerren, but Charlotte Beggs cleared it off the line. Her second effort was then hit away by McFerren in the 8th minute with Ireland dominating possession in the closing stages of the first quarter.
Great Britain took the lead on the 18th minute after a counterattack into the Irish D they were awarded a penalty corner with Sarah Jones deflecting the ball past Ayeisha McFerren.
After the goal, Great Britain enjoyed the majority of the possession for the rest of the half but couldn’t find another goal meaning at the break it was Ireland 0 Great Britain 1.
Ireland suffered a major blow in the third quarter when Deirdre Duke was unable to play on after she picked up an injury.
Then, Sarah Jones cross was kicked clear by Ayeisha McFerren and Ireland were awarded a penalty corner in the 41st minute, but were only able to win a long corner from it.
Katie Robertson got her first Great Britain goal of her career to double Great Britain’s advantage in the 46th minute before Ireland withdrew goalkeeper McFerren in favour of an extra outfield player with six minutes to go.
Sarah Torrans shot was wide just before Ireland were awarded a penalty corner which Great Britain referred to the video umpire. However, the decision was upheld meaning they lost their video referral. Heesh saved McLoughlin’s resulting effort.
Ireland were looking for another penalty corner, which was referred to the video umpire by Ireland, the penalty corner was awarded, but once again Heesh saved and also blocked the rebound from Niamh Carey .
In the final minute Ireland were awarded another penalty corner with McLoughlin’s first effort striking a foot, giving them another penalty corner. This time, Ireland made no mistake with Hannah McLoughlin finding the back of the net with the last hit of the game.
