By www.hookhockey.com
INSEP Senior Men’s Five Nations: Ireland 3 (Phelie Maguire 2, Ronan Gormley) France 3 (Fabian Magner 3)
Phelie Maguire (pictured) struck his first international goals since February 2008 to help Ireland maintain their unbeaten start to the INSEP Five Nations in Paris this evening, in spite of Fabian Magner’s hat-trick.
But a 3-3 draw against tournament hosts, France, means they need to at least win over 100pc Malaysia in their next tie on Saturday to maintain hopes of winning the title.
In a much livelier affair than yesterday’s blank against Poland, Ireland hit the front very early when skipper Ronan Gormley scored from a corner move, touching in at the post in the fourth minute.
Paul Gleghorne, however, was sin-binned for a ten-minute spell and it was during this spell, Magner turned the game. The first of his three set-piece goals came with the numerical advantage, levelling in the 19th minute from a corner.
And a minute after Gleghorne’s reinstatement he gave his side the half-time impetus from the penalty stroke spot.
Ireland also made use of a numerical advantage when – with the returning Arnaud Becuwe in the bin – Maguire, in his own stylish manner, brought the side level for a second time 11 minutes into the second period when he turned his man on the left of the circle before firing past Matthias Dierckens for 2-2.
Magner whipped home his second corner of the day seven minutes later for Scott Goodheart’s side but their second yellow – Lucas Sevestre this time – coincided with Maguire’s second. This time, he first-timed a bouncing ball to make it 3-3 and set up a lively closing 11 minutes.
France spent the majority of that time when Mathieu Catonnet and subsequently captain Francois Scheefer were shown the French side’s third and fourth yellow cards.
But Ireland were unable to capitalise again and assistant coach Arul Anthoni was left to rue a half-dozen corners which went unconverted.
“We are disappointed in not getting the full points due to the number of chances we created and corners we had. Hopefully we can rectify this for tomorrow focusing on our final touches.” His side next play Malaysia on Saturday at 2.30pm (Irish time) when Alan Sothern could become the fourth player in a week to earn his 50th cap for Ireland following John Jackson, Mitch Darling and Conor Harte who reached the milestone today.
Malaysia, meanwhile, continued their winning start to the competition by beating Scotland 3-1 with goals from Ahmad Tajudin, Hanfi Hafifihafiz and Mahammad Razie – three of the star men in last week’s series in Dublin – and they lead the tournament by three points.
Ireland: David Harte, John Jackson, Ronan Gormley (capt), Eugene Magee, Andy McConnell, Mitch Darling, Timmy Cockram, David Ames, Paul Gleghorne, Conor Harte
Subs: Chris Cargo, Alan Giles, Joe Brennan, Phelie Maguire, Alan Sothern
France: Matthias Dierckens, Tom Genestet, Olivier Sanchez, Arnaud Becuwe, Joost Jansen, Fabien Magner, Bastien Dierckens, Yannick Schambert, Francois Scheefer (capt), Martin Genestet, Valentin Migneau
Subs: Matthieu Catonnet, Lois Sevestre, Guillaume Samson, Lucas Sevestre, Jean-Baptiste Pauchet
Results: Ireland 3 (Phelie Maguire 2, Ronan Gormley) France 3 (Fabian Magner 3); Malaysia 3 (Ahmad Tajudin, Hanfi Hafifihafiz, Mahammad Razie) Scotland 1 (Mark Ralph)
Standings: 1. Malaysia 6pts (+4) 2. Scotland 3pts (-2) 3. Ireland 2pts (0) 4. Poland 1pt (-1) 5. France 1pt (-1)
Match Schedule (Irish Time):
Friday (3pm): Poland vs Scotland
Saturday (2.30pm): Ireland vs Malaysia; (5pm) France vs Poland
Sunday (1.30pm): Ireland vs Scotland; (3pm) France vs Malaysia
