Nelson fast tracks to 50 cap Ireland milestone
ULSTERMAN Matthew Nelson will become the fastest Irish player to 50 international caps when he reaches the milestone against Australia in the opening Pool B game at the World Cup finals in India today (11.30am).
The Lisnagarvey teenager, a former Wallace High pupil, couldn’t have asked for tougher opposition for such a memorable game, unquestionably the world’s best team.
Current world champions and current World No.1 in the rankings ladder, it’s no surprise that the Irish have never beaten the Kookaburras in any competition.
And, to be realistic, the chances of them pulling off a shock result in the Odisha city of Bhubaneswar are extremely slim.
To put things into perspective, the Aussies won the last two World Cup competitions, won seven of the last eight Champions Trophy competitions, won three of the four World League series, won every Commonwealth Games tournament, won every Oceania Cup tournament, won five of the last seven Sultan Azlan Shah competitions, and have won some colour of medals at six of the last seven Olympic Games.
True, star players like Jamie Dwyer and Mark Knowles are no longer in their ranks, but there is still bags of experience including Eddie Ockenden, who has already amassed 332 caps.
Although the Irish have risen to tenth in the world rankings, the reality is that any defeat less than six goals will probably go down as a good result, with Tuesday’s clash with China the crucial must-win if they are to avoid early elimination.
Nevertheless, it’s a big occasion for Nelson, who is experiencing the Asian culture for the first time, and he’s hoping he can mark it with what could be his lucky 13th international goal.
Irish coach Alexander Cox has confirmed that defender Luke Madeley and striker Jeremy Duncan are the two who didn’t make the final cut of 18, although they remain in Bhubaneswar and continue to train with the squad.
That means the Ulster contingent remains at eight — Jonathan Bell, Matthew Bell, Paul Gleghorne, Chris Cargo, Michael Robson, Sean Murray and Eugene Magee join Nelson, while manager Gareth Kidd is part of the backroom staff.
England, who are situated alongside Ireland in Pool B, will be taking on China this afternoon (1.30pm) and include three former Ireland players in Ulstermen Ian Sloan (Cookstown), Mark Gleg- horne (Instonians) and David Ames (Cookstown).
Ireland and England meet in the final pool game on Friday December 7, hoping that both will have avoided the early elimination.
Yesterday, Pool A favourites Argentina squeezed through 4-3 against Spain while New Zealand edged out France 2-1, which means there have been no shocks in the opening four games.
Meanwhile, the McCullough Cup final has been put back one week to accommodate a handful of Sullivan Upper players who are scheduled to take in cross-channel university interviews.
Sullivan are due to meet Wallace High, whom they beat in the 2015 final, but next Wednesday’s date had that unfortunate clash, and so Ulster Hockey has agreed to reschedule the decider for Wednesday, December 12 at Lisnagarvey.
On the women’s front, Ireland had mixed fortunes in Valencia in their first games since the World Cup, losing 3-2 in their opening game and drawing the second 2-2 against their Spanish hosts.
Gillian Pinder and Nikki Evans were on target in the first game, while Pegasus midfielder Ruth Maguire scored her first senior international goal in the drawn game, with Lena Tice also on the mark.
Shirley McCay, who is taking a break from international hockey, hit a hat-trick as Pegasus opened their Denman Ulster Shield account with a 6-0 win over Queen’s.
And Ards got their first victory of the season as Brenna McEwan scored the winner in a 3-2 victory at Dungannon, while last season’s runners-up Lurgan were comfortable 5-2 winners over Lisnagarvey. World Cup finals: Argentina 4 (G Peillat 2, A Mazzilli 2) Spain 3 (E Gonzalez, J Romeu, Ruiz); New Zealand 2 (K Russell, S Jenness) France 1 (V Charlet)
Women’s Friendlies: Spain 3 Ireland 2 (G Pinder, N Evans); Spain 2 Ireland 2 (L Tice, R Maguire)
Denman Ulster Shield: Lisnagarvey 2 (L Hughes, J McQueen) Lurgan 5 (S McClure
2, J-A Reid 2, N Barr); Queen’s 0 Pegasus 6 (S McCay 3, T Doherty, A Speers, L McKee); Dungannon 2 (J Hood, L White) Ards 3 (B McEwan 2, F Brown)